When an artist announces a sophomore piece of work, it's always treated with caution by critics - "Will it be as good as the first one? If the first one wasn't that great, will this one be better?" The "difficult second album/film/book etc" is always tricky territory, yet Richard Ayoade should breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to his second film.
The film, loosely based on a Dostoyevsky (a name that copy and paste was surely invented for) novella, tells the tale of lonely office worker Simon James, (a pathetic Jesse Eisenberg) who spends his days being forgotten by pretty much everyone in his life, working in a glorious ramshackle data-processing office, and staring at the girl of his dreams, Hannah, through a telescope, too scared to approach. But just as a sinister neighbour manages to bring him and Hannah together, his tentative attempts to forge a relationship are ruined by his exact double, James Simon (a cocky Jesse Eisenberg) showing up and wreaking havoc in Simon's life.
It's a pretty simple concept, which allows all the more room in the film for Ayoade's clear eye for detail and more cinematic experimentation than his previous film, Submarine. While Submarine was a good film, and definitely an achievement for a first-time director, there were times when it felt a little like a play-by-numbers copy of the techniques used by Wes Anderson and the directors of the New Wave. Here, Ayoade has more range to create an off-kilter world, somewhere that is not quite England, and just like his previous feature, shows no obvious signs of being set in a specific decade. The lighting in the film in particular is admirable and striking - none of the lighting is natural, due to the difficulties maintaining lighting whilst having two Eisenberg's appear in the the same frame - certain scenes, such as a brief few seconds where an elated Simon twirls down a halfway, the lights behind him changing to various primary colours, are a pure delight to behold.
Many have been critical of Ayoade's use of cinematic homage, and while the influences of various directors range from obvious (Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Billy Wilder and the Coen Brothers to name but a few) to slight, knowing little references, (I spotted tiny homages to Kieslowski and Carax, although I could've just been reading too much into the film) in my personal opinion this in no way lessens the brilliance of The Double. Directors such as Tarantino and Scorsese are constantly praised for their dedication to cinema, and for the knowing little references in their films, so why can the same not be said here? Ayoade's love of cinema, and his careful dedication to making every single shot look just so clearly shines through the film. There are sadly a handful of problems with the film - it feels almost boring to moan about the film's central female character, but there are many problems with her, and the film's ending is rather jarring, clearly aspiring for Fight Club-level cleverness whilst in fact coming off as a little confusing. But despite these faults, there is a lot of joy to be found in Ayoade's "difficult second film", which seems ironic considering such joy comes from a film that is about being utterly downtrodden and miserable.
3/5 (Real to Reel has finally caught up with the rest of the world and has implemented a star rating system!)
Grace Barber-Plentie
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