Dead RIngers

     This movie was just plain weird. I definitely see the artistry in the Jeremy Iron’s dual-role acting job, and the plot is an interesting idea. But it got weird.

     This is the second time I’ve seen Irons play dual roles. The first was in a video of Ohio, Impromptu by Samuel Beckett. He definitely has a knack for capturing the different nuances of a character, even twins.

      I noticed the odd instruments in the opening credits, they looked claw like or medieval, but they turned out to be Beverly’s creations in the film. This film definitely explores queer theory in the sense that Elliott and Beverly are so close that the viewer is left wondering if their relationship is indeed incestual. Their bond is hinted at lightly at first. E: “You should’ve been there” B: “I was”.  However, those lines get blurred very fast. When Beverly is nervous about performing with Claire for the first time, Elliot says, “You’ll be alright, just do me.” It might be that he is implying that Bev once again adopt Eliott’s persona, since they have clearly traded partners for years. But this suggests that Bev imagine Claire to be Elliot when the two have sex, and that connotates a whole other scenario.

     Claire is an interesting character. I like that she is an actress and she appears vulnerable at first, but ends up being independent and caring for Beverly. I was surprised that she was upset to find out she had been sleeping with both brothers since she herself said she had been very promiscuous in hopes of becoming pregnant. Gender roles were still very much cut and dry when this movie was made, as Claire laments that she will never have even been a woman if she cannot give birth. In those days, femininity and womanhood were very much tied to not only being a mother but being pregnant and carrying a child. Adoption and things of that nature were still very low key and secretive in the 1980s.

      It was very interesting to see the flip in Elliot and Beverly. At the start, Beverly seemed grounded and Elliott was more debonair and cool. Yes, Beverly was sensitive and vulnerable, but he turned into a drug addict, which I didn’t see coming at all. It was during one of Beverly’s binges that Elliott was feeling their bond tear. When Elliott hired the escorts and told one to call him Elly and one to call him Bev, that was really creepy. And when Elliott had his girlfriend dance with a forlorn Beverly, only to dance with them and hint at a three-way. Their relationship was intense and I am still trying to wrap my head around it.

            The separation scene (nightmare) was so gross, and I think that is what sparked Bev’s descent. When Claire had questioned his manhood it sent him on an internal search of what exactly his brother means to him and what that means for him. It was sad to see them ruin themselves but at the same time it was prophetic and poetic. They will never have to be separated.