Review of Doppelgänger (2003) by Pamela D — 01 Jul 2014

DOPPELGANGER AKA: Dopperugengâ (2003) Japan.

WRITTEN BY: Ken Furusawa and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

DIRECTED BY: Kiyoshi Kurosawa.

FEATURING: Kôji Yakusho, Hiromi Nagasaku, Yûsuke Santamaria, Masahiro Toda, Hitomi Satô.

GENRE: THRILLER/BLACK COMEDY.

RATING: 6 PINTS OF BLOOD.

PLOT: A scientific researcher's assertive, meddling doppelganger takes it upon himself to make the researcher more successful, but will his unorthodox methods prove to be a blessing or a damnation?

COMMENTS: Michio Hayasaki (Koji Yakusho) is a meek inventor who's reached a career slump. His research is going nowhere, he's frustrated with his job, his employer marginalizes him, and he doesn't have the courage to approach his pretty romantic interest, Hiromi Nagasaku (Nagai Yuka).

Doppelganger follows the classic Dostoevsky model (see the review of Enemy below), in which a daring double confronts an ineffectual protagonist. Acting on a self-proclaimed mission to straighten out Hayasaki's affairs and make him a success, a man physically identical yet psychologically opposite to Hayasaki barges into his life. He turns everything upside down. This new Hayasaki is willing to take the imitative that Hayasaki lacks.

He does...whatever is necessary. He seizes that which Hayasaki desires, but which Hayasaki lacks the courage and initiative to acquire. The trouble is, the new Hayasaki's methods are more than a tad unorthodox. As the two Hayasakis manage their co-existence, they conflict over the doppelganger's actions. The double is dangerous and his avaricious strategy, employing seduction, murder and destruction, proposes threatening ramifications.

Doppelganger is about determination, alter ego, the ways in which we define ourselves, and the question of what identity really is. It is also about will. Self-referential elements cement Doppelganger's themes. For instance, Hayasaki's research project is a mechanical device mentally operated by an individual's will. Hayasaki's girlfriend Yuka is herself haunted by her dead brother's doppelganger, who takes the initiative to finish the novel on which her brother gave up.

Hayasaki enjoys the fruits of his double's contributions -money for research, getting him out of his fruitless job situation, winning over cute Michio, in short, power and control. Yet the moping Hayasaki despises his doppelganger for being everything he isn't.

The implication is that confronting one's idealized self forces an acknowledgment of one's limitations. The option is to either be intimidated and to shy away from the better version, or to emulate him. Dostoevsky;'s incarnation of the doppelganger fuels drama by associating dynamism with arrogance and ruthlessness. The more aggressive incarnation of oneself, the double with the moxie to accomplish unrealized aspirations, can't be as trustworthy -or as harmless as the original. Pitted in an increasingly adversarial alliance with his double, Hayasaki is pulled in both directions at once. It's a volatile dynamic surely barreling toward a savage showdown.

Emphasizing notions of duality by utilizing mirrors and reflective surfaces, director Kiyoshi Kurosawa implements an economy of shots which are packed with supplementary information. For example, Hayasaki's denial of his situation is often revealed by what we see in his surroundings. Koji Yakusho portrays Hayasaki and his double so effectively that both characters are readily distinguishable without using gimmicks such as contrasting wardrobes. But Kurosawa tricks us when we see them alone. As Hayasaki's double asserts an increasingly negative influence upon him, Haysaki's undergoes a personality shift. As the story progresses, are we seeing Haysaki himself, or his doppelganger?