So I just saw Enemy, and I really liked it!
But it's not for everybody.
I get the feeling that a lot of people that enjoyed Villeneuve's last film
won't take too kindly to this one.
Now, I thought it was great. But would I call it "objectively great"?
Uh... I don't know.
Now, I've only seen three of his films, and I'm personally loving
how versatile he's deciding to be. The tone and soundtrack
to this film are not only eerie and intense, but oddly unique.
Now, the reason why I say this movie is not for everybody is, at least,
quite a bit up to interpretation.
So much so, that I expect a lot of people to be unfulfilled
with the answers they're left with.
Now, that being said, despite watching the movie with people who did
feel unfulfilled by the time they left the theater,
they could, at least, admit that they were entertained by the movie.
The concept of having a main character discover he has a doppelgänger
has been done before, but this is done in a very different way.
And mostly because there's a lot of talent involved in this film.
In a typical movie where an actor is playing two characters that look the same,
their differences are usually shown by nothing more
than their clothes and social status.
But, in this film, there was an endless amount of subtleties in Jake Gyllenhaal's
performances that really separated the characters
through their actions and mannerisms.
And just that alone really gives anybody who appreciates subtlety
something to chew on throughout the film.
With the ending leaving a lot of questions, I decided
to see the movie for a second time before making this video.
So, for the rest of this video, I'm going to talk about my
interpretation of the film, and what I think everything meant.
So, for those of you excited to see this movie, I'd suggest
stopping this video right about now. And if there aren't any theaters
playing this movie near you, you can still watch it if you're
a DirectTV subscriber.
Okay, last chance. Stop. Stop the video.
Okay. So after having seen this movie a second time,
from what I can determine, I am borderline-absolutely certain
that the entire film takes place inside the main character's subconscious.
And that the entire time there's a story going on that we don't
actually see on-screen.
There's quite a few scenes in the film that lead us to believe that they
might be the same person, but the way I see it is that
they're both different parts of the same person.
The two characters are representations of different personalities within one's mind.
And despite being introduced to Adam, the teacher, as our main character,
it is actually his personality and way of thinking that's being
completely repressed for the majority of the film.
The real story is never shown on-screen because we're never shown outside
of this person's subconscious.
But if we were to see that story on-screen, what we would see is a man very similar
to Anthony, constantly cheating on his wife and finding attraction in other women,
but eventually coming to terms with the fact that, in order to change
his irresponsible actions and behavior, he needs to completely change
his way of thinking and symbolically destroy this manifestation
of the worst parts of himself.
Now, you may be wondering why I'm so sure that this entire movie
is in someone's subconscious, but I believe they've left
some pretty big clues.
Not only does the poster for the movie show the entire fucking city
inside this guy's head, and not only does this guy wear
the exact same jacket that you see Anthony wearing throughout the entire film,
but the movie definitively wants you to know that it has something to do
with the subconscious.
When Adam first finds out he has a doppelgänger,
they easily could've written it so that he sees him in the film
and pauses it right away. But no, he watches the movie
without noticing anything, he goes to bed, and then
wakes up knowing something's wrong, because of his subconscious.
They wrote it that way because they wanted to illustrate that
the subconscious part of the brain plays a large role in the film.
Not only that, but did anybody catch that weird shit they were doing
with numbers at the beginning?
In Adam's apartment, we see the number on his air conditioner is 73.
Then, when he looks up Anthony, we see that he is 72 kilograms,
and then the building number for the acting agency is 74.
And then, when he goes to call Anthony, the parking spots on the very right-hand
side of the screen say 75 and 76.
I'm pretty sure this movie has something to do with the subconscious.
Otherwise, how do you even explain this plot description given by Jake Gyllenhaal?
[Clip] I mean, the movie is, essentially, about... really about the
idea of a man who's in a relationship... in a marriage, and his wife is pregnant,
and it's really about him dealing with that, struggling with that, and having to
get back to that relationship, and the trials and tribulations he goes through,
to get back to her.
[YMS] So there's a few references to dictatorships in the film, as well.
Not only is Adam teaching his class about them,
but twice in the film you see him walking past graffiti of a man
giving a fascist Roman salute.
He explains to his class that dictatorships have used censorhip of art
and personal expression to survive.
[Clip] They limit culture, censor information...
They censor any means of individual expression.
[YMS] So it's no surprise that the moment of realization
for Adam is when he first decides to watch a film.
Villeneuve is trying to equate our own minds with fascist dictatorships.
He's saying that there are parts of ourselves that we repress
on a daily basis.
And that, throughout history, the way to change someone's way of thinking
is through artistic expression.
Is it a coincidence that this character is a history teacher?
I also think it's no coincidence that Anthony is an actor.
I mean, not only is he the subconscious manifestation of a liar,
but I get the impression that this says something about the off-screen struggle
that we don't see.
Could it be that the main character who's facing this
internal subconscious struggle has more or less been acting like Anthony
to hide his own insecurities?
Could it be that Villeneuve is trying to make statements similar to that
of Synecdoche, New York? Saying that, in essence,
the dominant personalities that we decide to show to the world
are more or less performances?
Now I know what some of you might still be wondering:
what the fuck was with those spiders?
Well, I'm not 100% sure on that one, but here's my interpretation so far.
Now, it's already clear that this city is supposed to be
within the main character's subconscious.
And I don't think that these low-angle shots of streetcar wires
are any coincidence.
So, could it be that these spiders are more or less the dictators
within our own consciousness? And, in a way, they're
symbolic for our brain's decision-making process?
At the beginning of the film you see Anthony in his secret room.
The spider in that scene is served out on a platter,
and what appears to be a hooker is about to step on it before the scene ends.
It is this relationship between Anthony and the spider
that shows just how much control he has in the main character's mind.
Essentially, his consciousness is no match for how out of control
he's let his sexual desires grow. His raw sexual urges
are taking control, and forcing him to make bad decisions.
And hence, we're in the mind of somebody struggling to stay faithful.
[Clip] Are you seeing her?
Helen, I don't want to get into this.
Are you seeing her again?
[YMS] The next time we see spiders, we see a topless woman
walking down a hallway, except her head is replaced
with that of a spider's.
I believe that this is to further illustrate how deeply intertwined
his sexual instincts are with his decision-making process.
Later in the film you see the spider taller than most buildings.
Could this be the point where our off-screen main character has decided enough is enough?
Is this his mind searching his subconscious for the root of the problem?
There's something important to note about when Anthony dies in a car crash.
I think his death is more or less a representation of our off-screen
main character giving up acting like Anthony.
Right before he crashes, he's arguing with Adam's girlfriend,
who's accusing him of not being a man.
[Clip] I'm not a man?
You don't need to get me started.
I'm not a man?
I'm not... I'm...
I'm not a fucking man? Get out!
[YMS] And I think that what this means is that he no longer controls
our off-screen main character. From this point on,
he is the version that is being repressed.
And I think it's no coincidence that the camera zooms in
on the driver's side window, showing a crack that looks
exactly like a spiderweb.
Could this mean that he is now under the web, and thus repressed?
The last we see of any spider is at the end of the movie.
By this point, those in Anthony's life have accepted Adam as being Anthony.
He gets the key to where the strange scene at the beginning took place.
And after he makes the decision to go out
is when he sees the spider.
Now, this scene pretty much catches everybody off-guard
in almost a horror movie sort of fashion.
But when you watch it, it's important to note that the spider,
despite being very large, seems scared of Adam,
who doesn't look frightened, but looks mildly disappointed.
Is he disappointed because he now knows that going back
in that room will continue the cycle?
And that, despite this, he's going to to through with it anyway?
Could it be that, by going back in that room, he'll have undone everything
that killing Anthony was supposed to solve?
Could it be that they're trying to say that a little piece of Anthony has survived?
I mean, they turned off the radio before they mentioned whether or not
there were any fatalities in the car crash.
And in the elevator leading up to this scene, Anthony's concierge seems determined
to let him know that he wants to go back in that room.
[Clip] I know I shouldn't talk about this, but...
I'd love to go back.
[YMS] Are they trying to say that, despite his efforts to change,
that part of him will always still be there?
Or maybe it even ties in to when Adam was talking about
how history repeats itself.
[Clip] And it's important to remember this.
That this is a pattern that repeats itself throughout history.
[YMS] And that all throughout history, the same event is bound to happen twice.
[Clip] It was Hegel who said that all the greatest world events happen twice.
And then, Karl Marx added, "the first time it was a tragedy,
the second time a farce."
[YMS] Now, another thing that I'd like to point out is that, since he is
a history teacher, it's possible that he represents
a part of the main character's past.
It's possible that the off-screen main character,
struggling to stay faithful to his wife,
once acted more similarly to Adam.
I mean, Adam's romantic interest seems like more a fuck buddy.
So it's possible that the main character had a similar relationship
before he got married.
When Anthony is trying to find information about Adam,
certain digits and phone numbers are replaced with question marks.
Could this be that, by digging up Adam, he's digging up a part of his own past?
And the question marks are just forgotten digits of phone numbers
he once had memorized?
Now, I wouldn't exactly count that as conclusive,
'cause there could be another explanation for it,
but it would explain why Anthony magically knows where Adam lives.
So, with Anthony's persistently unsatisfied sexual desires,
is it fair to say that, by pursuing sex with Adam's girlfriend,
it shows how the character wishes he could relive the past
before he got married?
In the scene when Adam visits the mother,
she says how she wishes he'd give up on being an actor.
[Clip] You have a respectable job, you have a nice apartment,
and since we're being frank here, I think you should quit that fantasy
of being a third-rate movie actor.
[YMS] Is she speaking through the off-screen main character's subconscious
and saying, "I wish you'd stop lying to yourself"?
Does this reinforce the idea that Anthony is, eventually, what Adam will turn into?
Because, if we look at the ending from that perspective,
and we assume that, by Adam deciding to go to the room,
he's actually deciding to remain unfaithful to his wife,
then that would kind of explain why the spider shows
so much fear at that moment.
That his decision to revisit his darkest secrets
puts him back at square one with an unconquerable addiction.
Could it be that the stress and commitment
to raising a child is causing him to act this way?
And that he's been putting on a performance of denial
as a means of coping?
[Clip] Man, you haven't been around here for ages.
Yeah, I don't know how long it's been.
Six months, I'd say.
Six months or more.
How many months are you?
Six.
She sees her husband, but it's not the same song.
She feels that it's not the same man. And, at the same time,
the man that she's in contact with may be the man she was in love with
at the beginning.
[YMS] I mean, I think it's pretty clear that one of the main themes
of this movie is the cycle of history repeating itself.
At the end of the movie, Anthony's wife tells Adam
that his mother called.
[Clip] I forgot to tell you that your mother called.
You should probably call her back.
[YMS] And, strangely enough, the beginning of the movie
featured a voice message left by his mother.
[Clip] Thank you for showing me your new apartment. Um...
I'm worried about you. I mean... How can you live like that?
[YMS] Now that's confusing. She mentions his apartment
as a positive thing when he goes to her later in the movie.
[Clip] You have a respectable job, you have a nice apartment,
and since we're being frank here, I think you should quit that fantasy
of being a third-rate movie actor.
[YMS] It's possible that Villeneuve is trying to reinforce the idea
of there being a never-ending cycle.
Near the end of the film, Adam discovers a picture
of Anthony and his wife, but we all recognize it
as Adam's picture from the beginning of the film.
Does this mean that, by continuing to be unfaithful,
he eventually goes through a divorce and has to leave his other apartment?
Not only would that explain why the photo is ripped,
but it would also explain why he gets it from what looks like moving boxes
just lying around.
Not only that, but when he finds the photo at the end of the film,
one of the books that sticks out on the shelf as being quite visible
is titled "History in Reverse". Does this signify that the character's
actions will soon force him into a downward spiral?
I think it's safe to say that there's quite a few more details
about this movie left undiscovered,
so I'm excited to hear more opinions on this movie.
And I wouldn't even be surprised if there's quite a lot
that I overlooked, or even misinterpreted.
Regardless, I do appreciate when films are made
that not only get people to discuss its meaning,
but also exist beyond its interpretations.
Because if a film does nothing to impress you in any way
before you understand it, then it's kind of difficult
to find a reason to even care about searching
for deeper meanings in the first place.
Like I said, this movie isn't for everybody.
And, even if you don't really like this kind of film,
I at least hope that you understand why I thought it was great.
The impressive direction, acting, and even the film's unique
color consistency were all reasons for me to enjoy the film regardless.
And, to me, all this extra speculation was like icing on the cake.
Although I wouldn't really call it a masterpiece,
I think the film's intricacy and extra level of effort
really earned itself an 8 out of 10.
[Subtitles by Jokerine]