Doppelganger

This is definitely Kurosawa's most overt black comedy that's conveniently disguised as a sci-fi piece. If Kubrick were still alive and happened to marry David Lynch in a surprise gay wedding and then they decided to adopt a Japanese baby, that baby would be Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Blammo! The dark humor and simmering subtext gel nicely here and definitely warrant repeated viewings. You won't find creeps and crawls like in Kurosawa's other films such as Pulse, Retribution, Cure or Seance. I guess Charisma is the closest thing to compare it to, but Doppelganger is Kurosawa's funniest film by far. It's not for everyone, but then again if you're reading this review, it's probably right up your alley.

Nothing wrong with this movie, but nothing particularly special about it either. It was a nice little drama, with some action, comedy and scary stuff added in for spice.

It is all about one man's struggle to try and get what he really wants out of life (quit his job he hates, getting the pretty girl, etc), but never does. So his doppelganger (not necessarily evil, more like the person he always wanted to be, but was afraid of becoming) comes along and does it for him.

Great acting, direction (great split screen usage), and an alright plot line keep you interested and entertained. Well worth seeing.

6/10

Well, where can I start? The first 50 minutes were building well... and then its like they had no story to continue and a 6 year old was making up the plot. I moderately liked Kurosawa's "Cure", but this had absolutely no point to it... certainly not one that I could distinguish. The guys from Mystery Theater 3000 would have torn all those massive plot holes apart at the seams. I began to suspect that it was turning into a comedy.... honestly. I don't think I have ever seen a film fall so abruptly flat on its face. I defy anyone to explain or even remember all the plot instances (how many times did people get bashed over the noggin with a pipe or wrench?). I really don't think there was any organization in this production.... ohh, and those split screens were not particularly innovative or purposeful. The film may be the worst I have seen in many years. It was ridiculous and absurd

i probably shouldn't comment on this, as i turned it off an hour into it. absolutely unwatchable. i loved "cure", kurosawa's previous outing with the great koji yakusho, but this one was a mess through and through. it's like they didn't know what to do with it. the premise, about a man who meets his exact double, is nearly foolproof. there're so many ways to approach it, i really can't believe they couldn't make at least a decent movie out of this. but right from the beginning, the tone is all over the place and the plot just completely meanders. even yakusho's acting is weak (never thought i'd have to write that). not good.

Where to start? "Doppelganger" was truly a struggle to watch. It wasn't without a few moments that did succeed in keeping you glued to the screen but those were very few and to get to them you would have to withstand that urge to stop watching. Truth is I would of stopped it about half way through if it weren't for Hiromi Nagasaku who is quite the looker. To sum up the movie in as few words as possible It was about 40 minutes of blah blah blah followed by 30 minutes of confusion. I watched "Doppelganger" on DVD and both the picture and Audio was very good. Just a shame the movie could never really amount to much. But, did I mention Hiromi Nagasaku is a hottie?