Film Review: Enemy (15) (Canada/Spain 2013) (Director: Denis Villeneuve), Filmhouse, Screen Three, Edinburgh, Saturday 03.01.2015, 20:35

I was drawn to this film due to the fact that it is another film staring Jake Gyllenhall and directed by Denis Villeneuve, who previously worked together on 'Prisoners' (2013). Jake plays a university history lecturer who is listless and disinterested in life. A colleague suggests a film he may enjoy and within that film he sees his exact doppelganger who he then pursues. I don't wish to say more regarding the plot, though do feel it is fare to say that the film approaches the idea of a doppelganger in a fresh manner. 

The film makes very good use of lighting to induce a queasy/twilight sort of quality. The editing is done in a manner that, along with Jake's nuanced acting, gives the film a  mysterious/enigmatic quality. Having given the film my full concentration, I am still unraveling it now the day after having seen it. It is not often that can be said in these times where most filmmakers feel they have to spell out exactly what is happening. The sudden ending is both bamboozling and revealing, as long as you don't allow the bamboozling element to lead you to dismiss what you have seen.  

I feel this is a fundamentally more interesting film than 'Prisoners', as good as that was, though don't feel I can go quite as far as saying it is excellent. Jake is developing quite a habit of making very good films that are not quite excellent. I find myself having to give the same rating as 'Prisoners' & 'Nightcrawler' (2014). 

Rating: 09/10.      

Film Review: Prisoners (15), (U.S.A. 2013) (Director: Denis Villeneuve), Saturday 28.09.2013 20:30, The Cameo Cinema, Screen Three, Edinburgh

This is a film set in a small community where two young girls disappear from families that are close friends. There is an oddball character who immediately becomes the focus of the community's attentions. 

There are two main characters, the father of one of the girls portrayed by Hugh Jackman & a police officer portrayed by Jake Gyllenhall. Both of the performances are admirable, and I don't usually like Jackman, so that is something. Hugh Jackman is doing his usual hunter-gatherer man thing, though in the context of the role I don't find this objectionable. Gyllenhall gives a usual sturdy performance, though with added elements of frustration and rage. I could not actually fault any of the acting, though specifically mention that leads as that is what they are. 

The film is very good at showing how different people would try to cope/manage differently in such circumstances. The futility of many inquiries is focused upon as well as the resultant frustration. There are questions presented to the notion of morality, as well as profferings to not to assume who is or is not community minded or of 'best' intentions. Further questions are raised as to what behaviour we would accept of ourselves and/or others if we understood the behaviour to be motivated by utter desperation. 

The film allows characters to get to half-truths and partial understandings from the off, though the misunderstood details allow the film to portray the prime-suspect to be as much a victim as anyone else (then at the end when the full detail of who that character is becomes clear it could be argued that they are the biggest victim).      

The film is long though I did not have a sense of this while watching. The film is, at times, not an easy watch, though it is very involving of the viewer. This is a very well considered and put together film whose structure does not forget the little details differing characters know which spins them off in differing directions. This is a film rich in detail and substantially rewarding, though due to the nature of what it covers I find hard to recommend. Never the less...

Rating: 09/10.