Dead Ringers (1988)

Dead Ringers (1988) *** (out of 4) Gynocologist and twin brothers Elliot and Beverly Mantle (Jeremy Irons) work together in their field and quickly become well-known for their brilliance. The two share a strong relationship with Elliot having the stronger personality but everything begins to unravel when they get involved with the same woman (Genevieve Bujold) and Beverly begins to fall in love.David Cronenberg's DEAD RINGERS is a rather dark and twisted tale of love. Yes, I think it's a love story about two brothers and their disastrous relationship, which leads to all sorts of horror. The film is one of the director's best works and it's rather amazing to see how well directed and acted it is. It should go without saying but Irons delivers a remarkable performance in not one but two roles.In actuality you could argue that he's actually playing even more roles than that. Both Elliot and Beverly are brilliantly brought to life by Irons who never struggles with either role. The most impressive thing is the downfall that the Beverly character goes through and it's amazing to see how well Irons plays it. In fact he's really playing three different characters and he pulls all of them off wonderfully. Not once does this feel like a gimmick because the actor is so wonderful. Bujold is also very good in her supporting role of the woman trying to make sense of what she's in.Cronenberg was known for some rather over-the-top and ghoulish things but you're really not going to find that here. Mentally the film is quite disturbing as there's a lot of suggestive violence but none of it is in your face and I think the film benefits from that. The film also benefits from the rather slow pacing as the director manages to bring you into the story, its characters and he certainly builds up a rather dark atmosphere.DEAD RINGERS has a lot of very good things going for it but for me the highlight is certainly the performance by Irons.

This film is highlighted by its dark temperament, an excellent Jeremy Irons and also a very good Bujold, and a grand finale totally in the momentum of the film that does not let down.The atmosphere is cold, suffocating and degenerative; all the while holding a certain beauty at its core, and being darkly poetic.The dialog is good, the sort that has hidden meaning.The film seems to always make references to concealed symbols, and is not a mere execution of its narrative. There's meaning, interpretation.As criticism, one could feel this film was not interactive enough and self-complacent in how much talk it contains; like it is an inevitable realization of its somewhat predictable storyline. Furthermore, the answer at the end doesn't seem to be as clear: how far does the metaphor go ?

The twin brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are close to each other since they were kids. They are bright students at the medical school were they undergraduate in gynecology. They work in their clinic Mantle Inc. where Beverly (Jeremy Irons) is shy and hard worker and Elliot is eloquent, cynical and daring. When the actress Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold) comes to their clinic for a fertilization treatment, Elliot seduces her and they have one night stand. Elliot offers Claire to Beverly and soon he falls in love with her. Claire is addicted in pills and Beverly becomes also addicted. When Claire accidentally discovers that Beverly has an identical twin brother, she finds the truth about her initial affair with Elliot and breaks up with Beverly. He becomes depressed and uses more pills reaching the rock bottom. Elliot decides to use pills to "synchronize" with his brother leading the Mantle's brothers to a tragic end. "Dead Ringers" is a strange and mesmerizing film by David Cronenberg. The story of identical twin brothers with different behaviors that are affected by a woman has outstanding performance of Jeremy Irons associated to a great edition work. The film is gruesome in many moments and the conclusion is predictable, with the destruction of both twins. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Gêmeos - Mórbida Semelhança" ("Twins – Morbid Ressemblance")

Dead Ringers is directed by David Cronenberg who also co-adapts the screenplay with Norman Snider from the book "Twins" written by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland. It stars Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold. Music is by Howard Shore and cinematography by Peter Suschitzky.Identical twin gynaecologists Beverly and Elliott Mantle (Irons) run a high end fertility clinic in the city. Both in tune with each in spite of being different personalities, their world starts to fold inwards when Beverly falls in love with drug dependent actress Claire Niveau (Bujold).Inspired by the real life story of gynaecologist twins Cyril and Steve Marcus (who were both found dead from suicide brought about by drug addiction), Dead Ringers is an amalgamation of unsettling horror and icy cold playfulness; in other words a perfect canvas for auteur Cronenberg to paint some of his peccadilloes. Cronenberg doesn't need to be gory, gimmicky or schlocky, he instead utilises the characters on the page to spin a clinical character study. Themes pulsing throughout involve individuality, identity, misogyny, narcissism, eroticism and addiction, all played out in the mystical world of surgery and in-human metaphysics. The tempo never rises above a steady heart beat, rumbling along ominously, until we enter the home straight and the director delivers a devastating yet deeply moving conclusion.Backed by a stunning dual performance from Irons, and a ballsy one from Bujold, Dead Ringers is a film of genuine greatness and a piece of work that's alive with smart ideas. 8.5/10