A SHREWD AND MIND-BOGGLING ENEMY


“Chaos is order yet undeciphered.”

                The quote above is the epigraph of the film Enemy and it perfectly describes the film. It is chaotic, confusing and mind-boggling but once you figure it out, once you decoded it, its plot and its symbols and hidden messages, you’ll find peace and order in your mind beleaguered by the complexity of this film..

                The last film that fascinated me was Trance (which starred James McAvoy).It is a film that is as splendid and as mesmerizing as Enemy. Only that Enemy is more perplexing and has more challenges to the mind.

                The film’s story revolves around a history professor (who obviously is bored with his life and his job) who while watching a rented film discovers that one of the actors in the movie looks exactly like him. The professor stalks the (small-time) actor and he eventually meets him.  Spooked after seeing that they are really identical (including a huge scar on their body), the professor tries to avoid the actor. But too late, the actor ( who is quite wild, adventurous and sexual unlike the professor who is timid and awkward) starts showing carnal interest with the professor’s girlfriend.

                This is a cerebral film, no doubt (and Hitchcockian, too,) and so profound that when the movie ends, me and those who were watching with me could only utter: “What the hell is that? What the hell;happened? Why is there a giant spider in the ending? Does the professor really have a look-alike? Or he is just a wacko who is trying to live a double-life (in his mind)? Why do we watch films that only befuddle us? Yes, the film is good, the score is excellent,  the acting is sublime (Gyllenhaal is a very good actor, in fact, I was expecting him to be nominated in Prisoners but sadly he wasn’t)  and the cinematography and the atmosphere is great too but we can’t fully understand it. 

But fret not, some reviewers (in IMDB and YouTube) took the effort to analyze and explain the film  so you can figure it out and finally appreciate it –and enjoy it more when you watch it again. Of course, you can always have your own interpretation of the film. 

And yes, yourself will always be your greatest Enemy.



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