(Note: Review was written in 2008)
When describing my viewing experience of a David Cronenberg film, the words"enjoyment" and “entertainment” don’t usually come to mind.“Uncomfortable” and “queasy” would be more appropriate. I suppose that is exactly what Cronenberg is aiming for. However, beyond the macabre nature of many of his films, there usually is another layer beneath that Cronenberg wants you to think about. Whether it’s examining the media (Videodrome), sexual obsessions (Crash), violence (A History of Violence), and so on, Cronenberg usually transcends the trashy B-Movie elements of his films by exploring more profound and interesting themes. Dead Ringers might be his best exercise in exploring these complex themes. I have to say that I had previously watched Dead Ringers, and like many of Cronenberg’s other films, I did not particularly care for it. However, after viewing it again, I found it quite compelling and now think it is a great film. It is a harrowing and unnerving look at the madness that people inflict on themselves. The film must be a terrifying experience for most women, as most gynecologists are men and all gynecological patients are women who trust these men with personal knowledge about their sexual organs. The film explores this relationship between gynecologist and patient, as well as the relationship between twins in the most frightening of ways. These dynamics, as well as the relationship between the twins and the woman who comes between them, Claire, makes the first hour of the film utterly enjoyable and compelling. However, it is when Claire leaves and the film shifts its focus on the disturbing downward spiral of the twins that left me with a bad taste in my mouth the first time I saw it. On second viewing, however, I no longer was put off by the sudden shift in tone and instead became absorbed by the twins’ downfall and its implications. I realized that Claire was the catalyst who set off these two emotionally disturbed individuals. These two spent their lives coldly examining women in a detached way, but they had no real relationships with anybody else but themselves. They were not complete human beings, and as the ending shows they tried to separate themselves to become individuals.By then, however, it was too late. Jeremy Irons is magnificent as you can always tell which twin he is playing just by his facial expressions. It is not until the end when they are both mad that you cannot tell them apart. What makes the film so effective is its lack of gore and violence and its use of psychological horror. Watching the twins’ breakdown gets to you and unnerves you more effectively then any slasher film ever could. Of course the images of Beverly’s disturbing dream as well as the “gynecological instruments for mutant women” let you know that you are still in Cronenberg’s world. One can argue Cronenberg’s place in film history, but his films cannot be ignored. Dead Ringers is perhaps Cronenberg’s most fully realized vision of the horror that comes not from the supernatural, but from what humans do to each other and themselves. If people cannot develop an identity of their own that they are comfortable with, then they will always be looking to find themselves and will end up being as miserable as Elliot and Beverly.