Asian

Doppelgänger movie review

Let me remind you that Yakusho Koji (Tampopo, Charisma, Memoirs of a Geisha) is much more than a pair of walking cheekbones with a ‘fro. He possesses the ability to simultaneously emote strength and warmth, intelligence and naïveté, charming fragility with weight-of-the-world endurance. This is why he’s perfect in the role of Michio Hayasaki, a hard-ass robotics engineer who, shortly after discovering doppelgängers or exact metaphysical xeroxes exist, is visited by his own. A scientist relies on strict order and facts, so of course Hayasaki is disturbed by this chaotic intrusion. Not only is this duplicate stranger loitering in his house, his clothes, his life, he’s not doing it his way. His double is charismatic and bold, seducing women and leasing homicides wherever he goes. But when Hayasaki furiously berates Hayasaki #2, the response is always: “I’m just doing what you’re too afraid to” and “it doesn’t matter what I do as long as they catch me” , to which Hayasaki #1 finally resigns.

Meanwhile, Hayasaki is feeling a little burnt out; creating the world’s first free-willed Artificial Intelligent prototype is hard work. He’s reached a dead end, innocently babbles about it to his doppelgänger who, minutes before ransacking his workplace and stealing his machine, whispers “I’ll take care of everything.” Oh, the altruism doesn’t end there. He brings the machine home to his twin, and murders people to help fund the research. These are not gruesome killings, they are almost hilarious in their jolting execution, in the Vengeance is Mine puny weapon strain. And possibly because Kurosawa’s screenplays deal so much with the psyche and the derisive deceit of the human mind, it is only fitting that many of his victims’ get bumped in the noggin.

Unfortunately, while getting swept away in the havoc of immorality, Hayasaki #1 lets his guard down and lets too many people into his weakened will. Maybe life was better when he knew who to trust, which was noone, including himself. This floats the subtle yet glorious statement of the hemispheres of an individual’s personalities. Are our personas so simplified as to think we can be split right down the middle? That we are, at times, more an exemplification of our desires by unleashing our polar opposite? We must be so terribly oppressed then, in any country, in any time period, to believe this, and yet there is absolute validity in it. We are only truly “ourselves” when we are not burdened with living up to or rebelling against external evaluation or otherwise self-interpretation. When we refuse to allow societal and environmental representation to mimic our own reflection. It’s puzzling because the more we try to appease our determination, the more we wind up pursuing falsely. Once we embrace our differences, our idiocyncrasies, our ability (and often inability) to evolve and surprise daily, we can denounce this notion of prejudicial personality and persectution. Aren’t we all happy, sad, devious, generous, suspicious, saintly in degrees?

I think Kurosawa was trying to dumb down his viewpoints by introducing split screens to enforce confrontations between the Hayasakis. Instead of following the usual folklore of a mere diaphanous ill omen, he has them tangibly manipulating then murdering off one another. His reciprocals battle for control over which personality will prevail. Perhaps Kurosawa is implying that this isn’t a one-time occurence; this repeats especially when we are at our most desperate and most vulnerable. It is interesting if you concede how often humans “turn over a new leaf” or “face a brand new day” with an entirely different outlook, as if they are a different person entirely. And if that evisceration is voluntary, then part of us has died. Hmm, how very Shinto (we’re never the same person twice).

While Doppelgänger | Dopperugengâ isn’t the best Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, it does raise interesting viewpoints and is still a cut above the gamut of motion picture garbage. Because many can’t figure out which “genre” to place Kurosawa in (ha! such was his plan), you’ll probably find Doppelgänger miscategorized as “horror”; it is actually quite hilarious. Watch it if only to see an amazingly sinister and comedic expedition by Yakusho Koji.

About the Author

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson says these directors/screenwriters rarely disappoint: Peter Greenaway, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Gus van Sant. Gregg Araki. Kris claims that Jake Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy, Desmond Harrington and Casey Affleck are much more than pretty faces.