Film Analysis: Dead Ringers - Movie Review Example

Film Analysis: Dead Ringers Dead Ringers is a David Cronenberg film that tells the tragic story of two identical twins, Beverly and Elliot, jointly known as the Mantle’s. The twin role is acted by one actor, Jeremy Irons. The film is centered on the two identical twins from birth to their tragic death. At a young age, the two are fascinated by the human reproductive system that inevitably drives them to become gynecologists. It is during their practice that Clair comes into their lives to alter their relationship due to romantic association with both of them. Eventually, the two twins are found dead in their apartment. This essay examines the life of the twins with a view to demonstrate the themes as intended to be expressed by the film writer. The analysis touches on the film techniques used to cast the film to draw attention of the viewers to where meaning lies. Dead Ringers specially exemplifies the theme of sexuality and desire though in some instances, the desire is wrapped up in suggestions for us to imply. We cannot explicitly state that the two brothers are gay, and the director does not state so either. However, a look at what transpires indicates that the twins are gays and desire to be with each other, perhaps, indicating the split brought between them by the actress who comes to their life and gets in between them to disrupt their twin synergy. The powerful bond that exists between the twins is unexplainable even as they grow into adulthood. Typically, twins, even identical ones, would be less engaged and drift off because of personal choices and marriage. However for these two, the fact that they desire to remain together leads the viewers to suspect homosexuality between them even though it is not explicit. The name Beverly connotes feminine dispositions while Elliot is associated with masculinity. The fact that Beverly is shy and usually has to go at the women turned over by his brother suggests links to femininity. Inferences of the twins practicing homosexuality can be made from some of the conversations that Claire has with Beverly in some of the questions she asks and the answers rendered. At one point, she asks Beverly ‘do you sleep on the same bed?’ Beverly immediately goes on the defensive by asking her if she is accusing him of being ‘gay or something’. Around the same time, she asks Beverly why he has a name usually reserved for women and why he had not told her that he had a brother who was not just a brother. These questions hint to viewers that even though the film does not expressly state that the brothers are homosexual, it does creates doubt in the minds of the viewer if they are not. The film writer thus uses suggestion as a technique to force the viewer into making inferences on subjects he is not comfortable with or just decides to ignore. Desire is also evident early on at the beginning of the film when the twins are merely children. At the time, they are beginning to explore science and learn that fish can reproduce even without having physical contact (Davis, 2013, p. 29). The children begin to desire sex and invite a girl from the neighborhood to engage in sexual acts with them in their bath tub. The desire to be separated as observed in the fish species becomes a reality in life because the twins want to be left all alone and they cherish the seclusion. Unfortunately, we can only guess why the seclusion is so highly valued because it seems to be more than the fact that the two are twins who just want to be left alone. The camera capturing the film is without movement for most of the time focusing directly on the subjects thus laying emphasis on their images to enable the reader to focus on them and their actions. The women in the film are depicted as exploited sexually and their emotional attachment to sex not valued. The behavior of Elliot and Beverly best exemplify this assertion in their deception of women who come to them for treatment. Since the twins know that no one can easily tell them apart, they use it to trick women. Elliot, the bolder of the two, is adept at seducing women, sleeping with them then turning them over to Beverly. This can be interpreted to mean that women were still sexual objects at the time to men and it did not matter to men what their emotions were. Indeed Clair is disgusted at the discovery that both Elliot and Beverly had taken advantage of her. The sexual exploitation is rife and is captured when Elliot tells his brother that were it not for his turning over of women to him, he would ‘still be a virgin’. When Clair discovers that the two identical men have been sleeping with her, Elliot is remorseless and it does not matter to him what happens to her, he is utterly unmoved. It is Beverly’s tenderness that restores her love for him and she decides to stay after reconciliation with Beverly only. The reconciliation sparks jealousy on Elliot’s side and sets the inevitable path of destruction for the twins because from then on, they continue drifting apart into drugs that destroy them completely. Hopelessness is also a theme strongly depicted in the film. To begin with, Clair is adjudged biologically sterile and permanently unable to have children. The hopelessness in having children is what brings her together with the twins who exploit their exact look alike advantage to exploit her sexually. Upon the realization that she cannot conceive, Claire laments that when she is dead, she will just be gone and there will be nothing to remember her by. She states the fact that she will never get pregnant with a bitterness that underlies the hurt it has causes her. Hopelessness has also bred insecurity and fear of the future. For instance, Beverly succumbs to drug abuse due to the hopelessness in their lives. At one point, he has a strange dream that they are Siamese twins and Claire is trying to break the bond between them by cutting it using her teeth (Shay, 2013). The paranoia overcomes him and he uncontrollably takes to drug abuse because he does not have any hope with anything else. This hopelessness is presupposed by determinism suggesting that the characters so not have control what they do. The twins are so controlled by fate that they cannot even keep drugs out of their professional lives. They both engage in acts dangerous to clients and go to work while under the influence of drugs. Their life is made more miserable when the authorities decide they are no longer fit to be medical practitioners and strips them off the power to practice as gynecologists. The hopelessness drives the brothers to delve more in drugs and both end up dead as a result. Determinism and the hopelessness in trying to control the future by the twins and Claire thus make the story a classical example of tragic fate. The theme of love also features strongly. The twins are initially bound by, at least what is known to us, the love that twins have at childhood. This bond between them grows stronger and stronger as they grow up making them study the same subject and practice their trade together as gynecologists. This bond is so strong that they end up even sharing the women without any of them raising a concern. This is unusual of humans who would rather share everything else but not their women. When Claire comes into their clinic and she falls in love with them thinking it is one person, hints of separation begin to show. The twins remain conservative though. The fact that Claire has had sexual relations with Elliot and Beverly creates animosity between the two who now begin to have less regard for each other because of the woman. Beverly begins to feel afraid that his relationship with the brother is crumbling due to the love he and Beverly have developed for each other. A dream identifies to him that Claire is the source of trouble. The fear of this separation coupled with emptiness drives the Beverly to become a drug addict. His brother too becomes a drug addict as the woman is also addicted to drugs. The fear of separation definitely drives the three to abuse drugs. In a strange twist, the love that once existed between the twins mutates to hate. Elliot is jealous of the flourishing relationship with his former lover with his brother. Beverly begins to feel less and less for his brother leading him to plan and murder him in the end. At the end of the film, a story so full of love at the beginning ends up in a bloody way as the two twins end up end, one killed by the other willingly. Hopelessness gives way to melancholy. The film starts with the twins at a young age full of energy and desire to explore the world and become successful in life. They are at perfect happiness. However, the arrival of Claire brings with it sadness. Her initial sexual relationship with Elliot marked the foundation for sadness as she would later realize that Elliot was just using her sexually. She becomes vindictive due to the emotional hurt caused by Elliot. Her total rejection of Elliot for Beverly creates sadness in her and Elliot. When Claire starts dating Beverly alone, the bond between the twins is broken and the woman is somehow an intruder. The breaking of this relationship further saddens the twins who are drifting apart rapidly with no hope of re-establishing there former love and care towards each other. Sadness continues to engulf the twins and they cannot control themselves anymore. They seek refuge in drugs which only lead them to perform acts that have negative consequences. For instance, being stopped from practicing their profession must have caused a lot of pain and sadness in them. The mounting pain continues to demand answers from the twins. At the end of the film, the events causing the greatness occur when Beverly, initially the quiet and docile of the two, murders his brother and is also found dead. Cinematography is applied in the film to reflect the general atmosphere that is depicted throughout the film that of repression as definitive of the twins’ lives. An example is the apartment used by the twins that is predominantly furnished with Italian finishes with conspicuous blue shades (Shaw, 2005). Even Beverly recognizes the ambience of the room when he remarks of the furniture as being characterized of cold and emptiness. In this statement, Beverly succinctly summarizes the life he and his brother lives. The time movement in the film is linear following a specific chronology (Davis, 2013). The twins are thus followed from their childhood to adulthood and death in a chronological and predictable sequence. Film viewers can easily follow the development of the plot and appreciate the turn of events based on the clear chronology presented. The above analysis of the Dead Ringers film sufficiently demonstrates the prevalent themes as intended by the writer and director. While exploring these themes, we also get an insight into the often intricate relationship between twins. Unfortunately, the film leaves us to only guess if the twins were romantically involved as it is not expressly stated. With the use of cinematographic design, the scenes are modelled to reflect the atmosphere whenever there is tension that creating an unrivalled harmony with the story at hand. Overally, the film is enjoyable to watch and offers the viewer plenty of what to ponder in the quest to understand human nature from the observation of the relationship between the two twins, their desires and tragic death. The tragedy of the twins completely demonstrates the fact that humans are unable to control their destiny. However, it comes from the consequences of our actions. References Davis, N. (2013). The desiring Image: Gilles Delleue and Contemporary Queer Cinema. Oxford: oxford University Press. Shaw, D. (2005). Psychological Determinism in Dead Ringers. Shay, d. (2013). Double Vision. Read More