I am deeply fascinated by the way the film is interpreted. First of all, the use of light and shadow is one of the reasons why I praise the film, it creates a kind of eerie, mysterious and absurd. Feeling---from the flickering and dimming of the lights when the train was running in the tunnel at the beginning, to the dim and shabby lights in the office, and finally the dim white lights in the lifeless dormitory corridors. All the movie viewers have a sense of depression about the world in the film, which also has a reasonable explanation for the subsequent plot.
In addition, for the conversion of light and shadow, the film is just right. There are two scenes that impressed me. The first is when Simon goes out to go to the prom. The hallway of the originally dim dormitory was accompanied by Simon's dance steps with flashing blue and red lights and warm music, which really made me happy for Simon. Thinking that this only good old man finally had spring, although the result after that was so helpless. Another scene is at the end of the film. After Simon finished saying I just want to be unique, the light switched from his left face to his right face, and then from his right face back to his left face, and then repeated. This transition of light and shadow well expresses the entangled and mysterious feeling that the two personalities of Simon and James exist in the same body.
In addition to the use of lighting, the sound effects are also perfect in this movie. The noise of trains is monotonous and repetitive, making people feel irritable and depressing. The sound of the violin, which means a turning point in the scene, all makes viewers feel a kind of inexplicable anxiety, helplessness and sadness about the movie world. The film makes good use of the contrast between dynamic and static sound effects to create a kind of mime but a sense of
perfect lighting and music, which sets the world view in this movie --- monotonous, repetitive, and gloomy , Depressed. These are the elements that drive people crazy, and they also provide a good environment for the split personality of the protagonist in the film.
When it comes to the story, I think there are many films that talk about dual personality, but the storytelling method of this film is very novel, and at the same time this story makes me feel very sad. Because he has too many similarities with our living society today.
Simon James, the kind of person who is so nice to make people feel cowardly. He has no personality, is passive, and cowardly. He didn't dare to fight for what he wanted, he didn't dare to fight against unfair things, he didn't even dare to say aloud to the person blocking the subway door to move goods, please get out of the way. Just such a person, he can only silently endure all the unfair treatment of him by the society, and use the girl who peeped at his favorite to get a trace of comfort. His consequences are conceivable. He has not been remembered after 7 years of work, and his name is not even found in the final system. I was bullied by the waiter while ordering at the restaurant, and was stopped outside during the dance. He is a total No body
looking back at James Simon, a personality derived from Simon's frustration at the prom. He is arrogant, informal, funny, and personality. He has all the characters Simon desires but is afraid of possessing. So when Simon and James met, from the beginning of being afraid of approaching, to seeing James' charm and feeling admired and accepted. All this shows Simon's pursuit and desire for be unique.
But at the same time, Simon's mentality is struggling, because his character is a wooden boy, a child who doesn't want to grow up. He wants to be someone like James, respected, and living in focus. But at the same time he rejected the element of being an adult. He naively believed that someone would appreciate him, so he was unwilling to change, afraid of change, and even questioned such change. He kept asking Hanna why she was fascinated by James before she and James, and how unique James was. Another example is James who asked Simon to replace Hanna when he was dating Hanna and gave him many ideas on how to talk, but in the end Simon asked confusedly: But This is NOT me.
The reality is cruel, just like James' answer to Simon's confusion in the previous dialogue --- "Yes, this is the best". I think this sentence really penetrated into Simon's heart like a knife. When the film is here, it also indicates to the audience that Simon and James will eventually split. With James gaining power, reality hits Simon’s bottom line relentlessly time and time again --- The girl he likes has been robbed and has to pay for others. The hard work he has done is considered James’s achievement, and he has not picked it up. Cheap but was threatened by James using nude photos of himself and the general's daughter, and in the end he even lost his job. He was finally forced intolerable, he went to fight, but it was too late. Because he is a person with no sense of existence, no one will remember him, let alone believe him. Everyone thought he was crazy, and he was indeed forced to collapse at this time, so he shouted "He stole my face!" in pain at the end.
Simon was forced to a desperate situation at this time, so that he had to kill himself by suicide. What's more sad is that I originally wrote the suicide note to make the final accusation for my humiliation, but in the end I can only cross it out and change it into a sad and pale phrase "I am a ghost". This feeling of grief is greater than death, perhaps only those who have experienced the kind of shouting but can't hear the echo can feel it.
The next plot was unexpected and reasonable. Simon realized that James and him were the same person at his mother's funeral, and he suddenly woke up. He chose the method of putting him to death and resurrecting, killing James' personality. At this time, Simon and James became the same person, the two personalities coexisted in Simon's body, and Simon's identity was restored. In the ambulance, he got what he always wanted, Hanna's smile, and the general's admiration for him. This is the best gift from the director to Simon.
After watching this film, I think this film has given me some inspiration. I think everyone lives in multiple personalities. The extreme fragmentation of personality will cause conflicts between personalities, and ultimately lead to the collapse of the personality world. The remaining personality must be conditioned on the death of other personalities.
However, personalities can coexist and merge. After Simon woke up, he had both the courage of James and the delicate emotions of Simon. So from this perspective, Simon finally killed not only James, but the two old extreme selves of Simon and James. The one who survived in the end was a mixture of two personality characteristics, a more neutral ego. Therefore, I think the balance of personality is very important.
Another point of inspiration lies in the influence of the external environment on the character. The world view in the film is very well portrayed --- the same office for ten years, dark and gloomy corridors, monotonous and boring work and so on. All give people a feeling of depression and anxiety, in this case, people will be more eager to change, eager to receive attention. So after being triggered by something (in the movie, Simon was turned away from the prom, unable to meet Hanna), another extreme personality would breed. This reminds me of the psychological state of modern urbanites. I read a report earlier that 92% of urban residents have various psychological problems. This makes me feel that the environment may drive mad people. Thinking of this, I can't help but worry about this phenomenon.
The last point is that the film intentionally or unintentionally portrays to the audience the image of a "welcome" person --- James Simon. Non-trivial, self, humorous. This is the performance of people who are interesting in the eyes of Westerners. But in China where his personality is obliterated, Simon James should be more liked by leaders than James Simon. So with different national conditions and different angles, Simon may live in China like a fish in water, but James will have to endure all kinds of strange eyes and choose to jump off the building. Anyway, this is pure digression.
In summary, The double is a very complete work, from the conception of the story to the use of light and sound effects, and to the narrative rhythm of the story. It is a short drama with a black humor style. I recommend this work.
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