[.ca] Dead Ringers (15th Anniversary Edition)

Amazon.com Essential Video:
Like many other films by Canadian director David Cronenberg (especially Crash), Dead Ringers presents the cinematic and psychological equivalent of an automobile accident--you dare not look, but you can't turn away. The film marked a directorial breakthrough for Cronenberg, who was able to continue some of the themes explored in his earlier horror films while graduating to a higher, more critically "respectable" level of artistic sophistication. The film is loosely based, amazingly enough, on a true story about twin gynecologists who routinely traded each others' identities, lives and even lovers. Utilizing innovative split-screen technology (years before computer manipulation made such trickery much easier), the film stars Jeremy Irons in flawless dual roles as the identical brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Their ability to instantly switch identities leads them to a shared relationship with a well-known actress (Genevieve Bujold) and, ultimately, a physical and psychological tailspin that sends them both to the brink of madness and death. The scenario suggests that both men are halves of a whole, and that one cannot exist without the other. But when Beverly pursues a kinky, drug-addicted affair with the actress, his more self-controlled brother is helpless to prevent their mutual decline. In this way Dead Ringers becomes a fascinating and stylistically clinical study of duality, and Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the dark and unpleasant aspects of the story. (One look at the movie's display of bizarre gynecological instruments and you'll know why women find this film particularly--and unforgettably--disturbing.) The Criterion Collection DVD includes illuminating commentary by Cronenberg, Irons, production designer Carol Spier, and others; extensive production information; interviews with the principal cast; and a detailed examination of the film's groundbreaking use of invisible special effects. --Jeff Shannon

Amazon.ca:
Après les succès commerciaux de The Fly et The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers marque, en 1988, un virage plus noir pour David Cronenberg, cinéaste de l'horreur glacée, fasciné par le corps, ses entrailles et la frontière entre la réalité et le rêve - ou le cauchemar... Inspiré du livre Twins de Bari Wood et Jack Geasland, Dead Ringers met en vedette Jeremy Irons dans le double rôle de jumeaux identiques, tous deux gynécologues, qui échangent leurs clientes comme leurs amantes. Lorsqu'une actrice célèbre (Geneviève Bujold), stérile et adepte des drogues dures, vient les consulter et devient la maîtresse de l'un d'eux, la relation symbiotique entre les deux frères va se détériorer jusqu'à un dénouement dramatique. Lauréat de dix prix Génie, Dead Ringers a amorcé pour le réalisateur une période d'exploration, poursuivie avec The Naked Lunch, Mr. Butterfly et Crash. Jouant sur les tabous de la gynécologie et la fascination morbide exercée par les jumeaux identiques, le scénario de Norman Snider et de Cronenberg explore un monde claustrophobe et mystérieux. Avec l'élégance et la précision d'un entomologiste de la psyché humaine, le cinéaste dissèque ses personnages et leurs rapports névrosés, et signe un film troublant qui évoque la brûlure de la glace vive, sensation bien rendue par les images crépusculaires de Peter Suschitzky. La froideur détachée de cette approche quasi scientifique est contrebalancée par la performance exceptionnelle de Jeremy Irons, jouant magistralement sur les nuances de chacun des jumeaux, l'un dominateur, l'autre dominé. Un grand acteur. --Éric Fourlanty

Amazon.ca Canadian Essential:
A landmark psychological drama, Dead Ringers marked David Cronenberg's departure from grotesque horror films as he moved toward more dramatic, sophisticated movies. He continues to explore the dark side of human nature, tapping into primal fears in this movie about twin brothers, both Toronto-based gynecologists, and their common collapse into madness. Jeremy Irons gives a career performance as the twins, which Cronenberg enhances through the use of special effects like a computer-aided split screen.

Cronenberg-Irons tour de force.:
'Dead Ringers' may indeed be David Cronenberg's best film. Jeremy Irons performance is truly extraordinary. As for not being able to tell the difference between the two brothers, I could sense immediately which brother was which by simple body language and how each brother carried himself. Which is a testiment to the subtlties of Iron's acting, that he could make you believe he was two different people at the same time on screen. This belief was also helped by the amazing motion control camera sequences which allowed Irons to "act with himself" in the same frame. The clean perpendicular lines of the twins' appartment was especially chosen to make it easier to cut the film together. Viewers should be warned beforehand that 'Dead Ringers' is not a horror movie, it's more of a psychological character study. The twin brothers have an unusual gendered relationship. Elliot as the suave unfeeling male who's "no good with the serious ones" and Beverly, with the girl's name, as the the sensitive, caring female. Soon they come to realize that they are one physical entity, forever separated as two physical beings. In talking about the film Cronenberg has said that men have proven to be much more squeamish about this film than women as lying on the gynecological chair is an experience that many women have gone through. Yet many men have no idea what it's like. Cronenberg was fascinated by these doctors who knew more abaout their patients than their husbands did. The only drawback about this whole project is that the marvellous soundtrack is not available anywhere!

welcome to cronenbergs brutal beautiful world:
the criterion collection is a superb presentation of david cronenbergs masterwork; dead ringers. this film stands with crash, rabid, the brood, and spider as essential cronenberg. his whole body of work has been impressive and one is hard pressed to come up with a more individualistic auteur in cinema today. dead ringers contains two of the most incredibly acted performances in recent memory. irons, of course , and bujold. much has rightly been made of irons' dual performance and he deservedly (and surprisingly)won an oscar nomination for that performance. but as much as irons performance was celebrated, bujolds was somewhat ignored. her character is smoldering in tormented sexuality and she balances coolness, vulnerability and agressive sexuality in a truly jarring performance. bujold, with barbara hershey,remains one of the most underrated actresses of her generation and she (unlike actresses such as nicole kidman) is an actress we need have no fear of ever going 'merchant ivory' the visuals in this film are numbing and one walks away with various shades of horrific red seared into your brain (and of course we know red equals both sex and death, an understandably favorite obsession with cronenberg). the images of gynological instruments transformed into sculpural torture devices is one of the most horrific ever shown on celluloid and this takes that whole sex and death theme to the nth degree.predictably enough, it is one of the most squirm inducing moments of the entire film. by the time this film is finished you are mentally drained and i remember walking out of the theatre mumbling (probably incoherently) to myslef. there are not many films that can make me feel like ive just been run over by a freight train.

Jeremy Irons' Best Work:
Maybe it's the combined effect of having two Jeremy Irons for the price of one, but I believe -and Irons has been quoted to the same effect- that this is the finest work this fine actor has commited to the screen. Much more deserving of the oscar than his recessive Claus Von Bulow in 'Reversal of Fortune.' The way he plays the weak twin off the stronger one, whose influence fades when a woman comes between them, is extraordinary. If you don't mind the pervasive grimness of the story in general, than do yourself a favor (God, starting to sound like that pretentious guy from the Actors Studio on Bravo), and get 'Dead Ringers.'

Irons' greatest performance.:
'Dead Ringers' may indeed be David Cronenberg's best film. Jeremy Irons performance is truly extraordinary. Far from not being able to tell the difference between the two brothers, I could sense immediatedly which brother was which by simple body language and how each brother carried himself. Which is a testament to the subtlties of Irons' acting, that he could make you believe he was two different people at the same time on screen. This belief was largely created however by the amazing motion-control camera sequences which allowed Irons to "act with himself" in the same frame. The clean perpendicular lines of the twins' appartment was especially chosen to make it easier to cut the film together. Viewers should be warned beforehand that 'Dead Ringers' is not a horror movie, it's more of a psychological character study. The twin brothers have a pseudo-homosexual relationship. Elliot as the suave, unfeeling male who's "no good with the serious ones" and Beverly (with the girl's name) as the sensitive, caring female. By the end of the film they recognize that they are one entity, forever seperated as two physical beings. In talking about the film, Cronenberg has said that men have been much more squeamish over this film than women, as lying on the gynocological chair is an experience that many women have gone through, yet many men have no idea what it's like. Cronenberg was fascinated by these male doctors who knew more about their patients most private parts than their husbands did. The only drawback abou this whole project is that the marvellous soundtrack is not available anywhere!

Cronenberg is the greatest Canadian director by far.:
I'm kinda new to Cronenberg only previously seeing "Videodrome" and loving the hell out of it. Same goes for Dead Ringers. From the great performance by Jeromy Irons to the incredibly creative writing and directing of David Cronenberg this film could not be any better. From only seeing two of his film's I'm really having trouble thinking of a Canadian director that can even be compared to Cronenberg. Actually I'm having trouble thinking of any director in the past 30 years I can place above Cronenberg. I don't say this to often about a director but I think it's definetly safe to say that Cronenberg is a genius. He's made a new fan. Being Canadian myself I wish I looked into him alot earlier. If feel as if I was missing so much.