:
Koji Yakusho,
Koji Yakusho,
Yakusho Koji,
more...
:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Tartan Video
: Foreign, Horror, Japan, Asian Horror
: 107 min.
: Japanese
: English, Spanish
see additional details...
|
|
Yuka (Hiromi Nagasaku) is an attractive young woman whose brother has recently died under mysterious circumstances. Shortly before his untimely death, Yuka got her first glimpse of his double, who has since moved into their apartment and taken his place. Hayasaki (Koji Yakusho) is a brilliant but mercurial scientist obsessed with perfecting a robot chair for the disabled, with wheels and mechanical arms that are supposed to function according to the "will" of the user. In his single-mindedness, he harangues his underlings and aggravates his employer, who is focused on the bottom line. After a co-worker tells Hayasaki about Yuka's experience, he finds himself being stalked by a doppelganger. At first, he thinks he is doomed, like Yuka's brother, and tries to avoid his double. Eventually, he loses his job, and control of his invention, and the doppelganger steps in to take care of everything. The double trashes Hayasaki's former lab, stealing the robot chair so the scientist can continue his work. The double also hires a young thug, Kimishima (Yusuke Santamaria), to work for them. The double says Kimishima is "just dumb enough not to find us alarming." But Hayasaki's fears come to the fore when the double takes advantage of Yuka's interest in him. And when his former employer, Aoki (Masahiro Toda), now disgraced, comes looking for a piece of the robot-chair action, the scientist finds himself uncertain who to trust. Doppelganger, a dark comedy directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure) from a script by Kurosawa and Ken Furusawa, was shown at the 2004 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
|
| Twin-Types
by talltale
February 18, 2005 - 8:26 PM PST
|
|
|
1 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
| Stories about the DOPPELGANGER (our exact duplicate) come around every so often (Twilight Zone episodes, Joseph Losey's "Mr. Klein" come immediately to mind). The newest is via Japan's Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and it's not bad. This one sees the doppelganger as the part of us we would rather not admit or give life to (in this case the freer, sometimes nastier, side), and the point of the film seems to be that we must integrate our personality in order to live a healthy life. Well, yes, but easier said.... In any case, about three-quarters of the way through, the film begins to disintegrate from its sci-fi/scare premise into a combo rom-com/thriller. It's always fun, however, and this is what saves it. This--and the performance of the lead actor Koji Yakusho ("Shall We Dance," "Cure"). He's terrific, as usual, and the rest of the cast is fine, too. |
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.67)
61 Votes
add to list 
|
 |
| GreenCine Staff Picks |
|
|
| Some of the GreenCine editorial staff's favorite, undervalued films, as seen on TV, er, in our newsletter and in the catalog. A running, constantly expanding list. See our new review blog Guru for many more! |
GreenCineStaff
|
|
 |
| Tartan Video |
|
|
| Tartan Video has been releasing the very best of cinema from all over the world on DVD and Video. Films that entertain, amaze, shock, excite and continually challenge our perceptions of cinema and the world around us. |
|
GreenCineStaff
|
|
|
see all lists |
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.