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David Cronenberg's destroys them, their status as doctors only prOvides the specific shape of their tragedy. Dead Ringers But how one views Western medicine profoundly affects how one views the tragedy nce again, as they did with The Fly, and, without a view explicit in the film, we 're left the hordes have rushed into print to on our own. Personally, I think Western proclaim Dead Ringers a masterpiece. medicine is a good thing, far from perfect, but And once again, as with The Fly, I get good. So I see their fall as real. You might take to stand on the sidelines, think for from other Cronenberg films, particularly Olonger than most of my colleagues are allowed, Shivers, RPbid, The Brood and SCIlnners, the view and proclaim it isn't a masterpiece. It's got that doctors are at best irresponsible and at worst problems and weaknesses all over the place. dangerous egomaniacs and conclude that Dead It's still a tenific movie, though, far better than Ringers offers the same view. What does this do most. Jeremy Irons is as good as acting gets. He to the tragedy? not only clearly differentiates twin gynaecolo­ You may not see it as tragedy at all. Some gists Elliot and Beverly Mantle, he takes each feminist writers - check out the works of Deirdre through a wide emotional range with full depth English and Barbara Ehrenreich, particularly and character consistency. Playing against Witches, Midwives & Nl"ses - have pointed to himself he develops such rapport and rhythm gynaecology as a male usurpation of an that it's easy to forget the impressive technical essentially female job, as a key element in the feat and simply become absorbed in the overall dehumanization of women. It's a characters. reasonable view, bu t if it's your view, you're not More than Irons, it's got sequences as good as likely to give a flying fuck about the Mantle any ever put on film - Beverly's eyes-averted brothers. No tragedy, no emotional involve­ shuffle past his brother's corpse as he whimpers ment, just a couple of severely diminished Elliot's name again and again in anguished assholes getting what they deserve. denial- the sex scene with Oaire Niveau that's They are diminished. Beverly can't get laid once hot, repellent, comic and so vivid you can under his own identity, panics at Oaire's smell the sheets - others, too. Jeremy Irons as Dr. Beverly Mantle falls in love with Claire Niveau I Genevieve lightest probing of his emotional life, cares about But underlying and uniting everything is Dead Bujold) in Dead Ringers nothing but medicine. Elliot cares for glamour Ringers' greatest strength and the source of its There are virtually no characters but the world of medicine. We know that what little and womanizing, that's all. Emotional major failings - its mood. The sense of decay and Mantles. Though Genevieve Bujold turns in a identity the brothers possess is as doctors, shallowness in him appears not as fear but as inescapable doom begins with the unbelievably fine, full-fleshed performance every bit as medical inventors, researchers, clinicians and coldness. They're both struggling with ominous credits. Antique-looking woodcuts of absorbing as Irons', kinky, pill-popping actress we know they've risen to the heights of their limitations that, in one sense, most of us have surgical instruments and gynaecological Oaire Niveau is little more than a plot device, a profession to receive awards, grants and long ago overcome, butthat, in another sense, as anatomy float over black and blood-red, catalyst to activate the flaw in the Mantles' prestigious teaching positions. But we don't see twins, most of us will never face. I find them accompanied by Howard Shore's supremely shared identity. Though we can see why she how they're regarded as people, whether tragic and fascinating anyway. You may not. eloquent dirge. Cronenberg builds from there prefers Beverly to Elliott, who's a thorough cad, they're liked and accepted, or regarded with Either way, the thread of common humanity is with gliding camera, claustrophobic framing, we're left to our own guesses about why she distaste as the sui generis freaks Cronenberg slender and better use of their social setting somber pacing and sets impeccably dressed and cares at all. Elliot says she's neurotic, but he's a paints them as (he doesn't even allow them might have worked to strengthen it. designed to point up the Mantle brothers' liar with no feeling for anybody but his brother, parents). In the film's middle section, mood exacts its antiseptic lives and spectacular decay. so why should we believe him? Except for the Without something - some character or heavy price from action and plot. Gaire To sustain the funereal mood, Cronenberg has pills she doesn't seem neurotic - kinky sex in my sequence - to locate the Mantles with, or against, discovers she's been fucking both brothers and resorted to a strategy of absences. After the books is indication of an active imagination, other doctors, the gynaecological background walks out. That kills the suspense of waiting for credits, Shore's dirge doesn't return until well though Cronenberg may well disagree. At any loses much of its potential to enrich the drama. Elliot to do something drastic to keep his into the second half, leaving the movie largely rate, Oaire Niveau is ultimately so unimportant We see the casual drug use, the dehumanization brother. Then Beverly gets loaded and music-free, which makes the music phenome­ to the movie that she isn't even given a payoff. of the patient, the monstrous ego, the depressed. Gaire returns. Beverly gets loaded nally effective when it does arrive, allowing The lack of characters is a weakness, but it authoritarian attitude and the hypocritical cant and depressed . Gaire leaves. Beverly - loaded Cronenberg to further darken an a1ready-light­ does serve to keep our attention on the Mantles surrounding it all. But we see it all as Mantle and depressed - returns to Elliot, who starts him less atmosphere. and, taken all together, the mood-creating brothers behaviour and they're weird from the on a rehab program, which fails, so he starts There are virtually no exteriors, only the elements do fully prepare us to give the Mantles word go, ll-year-old freaks, as we first see them, another one. Oaire returns. Beverly -loaded opening sequence and a couple of transition all the pity and terror they deserve when they who want to have sex in the bathtub with a and depressed - goes to her, then returns to shots framed as tight as possible. This, too, finally decide, in madness, that surgical neighbour girl as" an experiment" and who, Elliot for the final showdown. By which lime works well, giving immense force to the shot, separation is their only salvation. when rejected, retreat to 'operating' on a Living you feel like you've been in the theatre for hours. third or fourth from the end, when Beverly, his But the success of mood comes at the cost of Woman anatomical doll. He's making the point Part of that feeling comes from the plot brother slaughtered, leaves his office building other important elements, among them pacing. that these guys are naturals for careers in repetition combining v,'ith the dirge tempo. and walks across a bit of grass to make a phone The montage sequence - Elliot ransacks their surgery - but are they the only kind who are ? Cronenberg keeps the scenes as edgy as he can call, only to abandon the effort and return to his apartment for Beverly's stashed dope - is cut so The Mantles' status as twins, not doctors, is at and he does it well. But it still isn't enough to waiting death. It's the first lime anybody has slowly it loses its effect. Beverly's dream -Gaire the core of their tragedy. Their shared overcome the inertia. stepped away from a building into the sunlight, bites through the ligament that, in fantasy, binds temperament leads them into gynaecology, but To make matters worse, we're teased with the first time extras move freely in the frame, the him to Elliot - is too abrupt. In both cases it feels their twin-ness, the fact that together they glimpses of much more interesting material film's only sweeping diagonal movement. In as if Cronenberg feared - needlessly - that his function better than either could alone, makes that's forever being shoved aside to give us yet one shot, it's everything Beverly tries for and, in mood couldn't stand the strain. them a success. It is their attempt to move another look at Beverly's progress into drug trying, loses. It's a great shot, I only wish it were The absence of other characters leads to a lack beyond twin-ness, when Beverly falls in love psychosis. You see, he develops this truly longer. of definition in the film's social setting - the with Oaire and tries for a separate life, that warped delusion: he thinks the women he's

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treating are all mutants. We think this is going to ludicrous. There is scarcely a naturalistic frame lift things into a whole new dimension. We or line of dialogue in the film, a condition found remember those cruel surgical instruments from in all of Cronenberg's best work. A mood of the credits and we know Beverly's an inventor. horror pervades the work and horror films, We know Gaire is herself a sort of mutant - a however fantastic, can and do deal with the "trifurcate", three cervical openings, hitherto horror of life - check The Brood on child abuse, unknown - and we suspect this may be the Videodrome on cultural conditioning via TV. And source of Beverly's interest in her. We're primed any boob capable of dismissing something as "a for something seriously bizarre. mere fairy tale," is equally capable of dismissing We don't get it. We start with a scene of something as "a mere movie. " Beverly abusing a terrified, yet docile, patient. As cultural imperatives though, they're dead But only later do we learn that he saw her as a on the mark. We are generally trained to value mutant. So, as it plays, the scene is one more "naturalistic" mimetic fiction over fantastic look at the course of Beverly's drug problem. fiction. At the same time, we're trained to And let's digress from tha t scene to the suppress our imaginations so that fantastic question of women in Cronenberg's movies : fiction becomes harder to derive meaning from. does he hate and fear 'em, or what? More than No wonder, then, that a "naturalistic" once I've both read and heard the argumentthat Cronenberg movie draws highest praise and no Gaire Niveau is the bad guy here, that she wonder that Cronenberg, here committed to disrupts their perfect boys-club lives and brings naturalism, steps so hard on his instincts. the Mantles to ruin. This is a view that requires But he has those instincts. He has that ignoring the blatant evidence that the boys were imagination and Dead Ringers offers further a mess before they ever heard of her, that proof that when he unleashes it, together with Beverly got his tendency to addiction on his own. his fully-developed talent, he will, indeed, If Cronenberg hates and fears women, he isn't produce a masterpiece. exacting a celluloid revenge here - Oaire, f Andrew Dowler • potential victim of brotherly rage and madness throughout, isn't killed, isn't mutilated or assaulted - and neither is any other woman. Rich in opportunities to slaughter many, Dead DEAD RINGERS ereep. Carol Baum. Sylvio Tabetp. David Cronenberg, Marc Boyman d. David Cronenberg sc. Ringers, in fact, slaughters none. David Cronenberg. Norman Snider based on "Twins" byBari Women take a variety of roles in Cronenberg Wood. Jack Geasland assoc. p. John Board d, o.p. Peter movies, but when they spread evil, that evil has Genevieve Bujold, playing Claire Niveau, In Dead Ringers Susdlltzky ed . Ronald Sanders p. des. Carol Spier cost, des. invariably been put into them by a male scientist Denise Cronenberg mus. Howard Shore CilSting Deirdre Bowen p. man/post-prod . sup. Gabriella Martinelli 1st a. d. - check Shivers, Rabid, The Brood and Videodrome. something to slow me down. " It's Hunter S. Yet Dead Ringers also shows Cronenberg lohn Board 2nd a,d lzadore K. Musallam 3rd a.d. Laurie Hell strikes indiscriminately in the Cronenberg Thompson time and we're right back staring at shrinking - restraining, almost neglecting his Mirsky a. d. trainee Cyndie Gayton sup, art. d, Alicia universe, talcing men and women both as agents Beverly's drug psychosis. unique, most developed power. The man is Keywan art d. James McAteer 1st asst , art d. Peter Grundy. and victims, but its source is always male We wait for the instruments to be brought to V1a sta Svobda. Gregory Keene ass!. art d. Ken Watkins art known throughout the world for his complex dept. trainees Rocco Matteo, Yasna Stesanovic, Alexandra science. Beverly, terrorizing his patient, Oaire, convinced that her fate and the Mantles' and original visual imagination, for his ability to Thompson lac. TIUln. Lillian Sarafinchan set dec, Elinor Rose certainly offers gut-level fear to women viewers, are intertwined. But when they're brought, infuse his fantastic creations with solid, Galbraith sri dressers Clive Thomas, Chris Dutton loc. sd. but the scene itself is less about women's fear of Beverly just tells her they're for separating real-world meaning. Why did he create such Bryan Day boom op. Michael Lacroixsc. sup. Dug Rotstein gynaecologists than the reverse. Siamese twins and rushes out to slaughter his opt.fr·sup. Lee Wilson sp.fr.des. Gordon Smith Inb sup, powerful images - mutant women and surgical DerekHowardmech. des. Walter Klassen artist Don Mcleod Anyway, next time we get anything more than brother. That's it for Gaire and that's it for instruments - and then so lightly use them? 1st asst.cam. Marvin Midwicki 2nd asst. cam. Arthur E. a little dialogue about Beverly's delusion, we're surgical instruments - except Beverly does use Why use them at all when they so disrupt the Cooper cam. trainees Marijo Corcoran, Andres Trauttmans· watching him, in a rather flat scene, persuade an them, in no very interesting Dr explidt way, on flow? Or were they, once thought of, too dorff motion ctrl. programmer Randal Balsmeyer motion ctrl. artist to make working prototypes of his designs Elliot. ass!. Richard Palin steadicam op. Robert Crone, CSC assoc. tempting to abandon? ed . Steve Weslak sd. ed. Wayne Griffin. David Evans. for surgical instruments for operating on mutant With potential to do so much more, surgical It is, of course, no part of the artist's job to Richard Cadger, David Giammarco mus. ed. Suzana Peric women. The idea is shocking, but the drawings instruments for operating on mutant women are cling only to the tried and true. Experimentation TIUlkeup artist Shonagh labour iIIlir Jay Duboisson p. coord. only glimpsed. Nor have we seen what manner confined to standing as a visual correlative to promotes growth and David Cronenberg Alice Ferrier assts, Sandra Tucker, Lesley Clark, Jami Abell, of soul-threatening mutations he's hallucinated Beverly's mental decay, a function already Janet West opt. dir . George Furniotis. G. John Furniotis opt. particularly deserves the chance to keep on prinkr Jon Campfens. Dimitris Anapliotis opt. lineup Chris - admittedly a near-impossible sight to get onto perfectly well served by the gold-plated Mantle growing. Furniotis, Bob Yoshioka rotoscope a rt~ts Alan Peppiatl, Don commercial screens. We haven't seen his Retractor that he first invents, then misuses and Nor is it any part of the reviewer's job to deal Snowdon ani TlUltion stand Peter Grucza gaffer Scotty Allan sketches of the mutants, nor his doubtless destroys. They make no significant connections with the motives and mind of the artist - trust best boy Ian Scott generator ops. Duane Gullison, Roger fevered designing of the instruments. It's all of mutants, love, Oaire and the Mantles. Bowden key grip lohn Zulinslci. Michael Iwan, Don Payne the tale,not the teller, is our credo. But a couple vld. sup. David Woods unit pubi. Prudence Emery, Jeremy handled as quietly as possible. Despite its shortfalls, Dead Ringers is, as noted, of lines from Dead Ringers' press kit may do Podeswa stills photog . Attila Dory rad. surg, inst. 2Gorillas, We wait for the instruments and they're worth a terrific, original movie that shows Cronen­ much to explain why the movie is the way it is Standing Metal Works orchestration Homer Denison studio it - strange and beautiful, brutal and loathe­ berg's growth as an artist. The work with actors, and why, despite being this way, itis hailed as a sculptures Ted Hunter I. p. Jeremy Irons, Genevieve Bujold, some. Beverly, ritually garbed in blood red, camera and cutting continues the growth so Heidi Von Palleske, Barbara Gordon, Shirley Douglas, masterpiece. Stephen Lack. Nick Nichols, Lynn Cormack, Damir Andrei, brings them into the unnaturally dark operating prominent in The Fly. The familiar themes, not The kit quotes Cronenberg as calling the film, Miriam Newhouse, David Hughes, Richard Farrell, Warren theatre. He's going to use them. Their unveiling much developed since Videodrome, receive new "much more naturalistic," and "not a horror Dms, Jonathan Haley, Nicholas Haley, Marsha Moreau, and the subsequent build-up make a classic treatment, new focus - the scientist examined movie. " Co-writer Norman Snider adds "This Denis Akiyama , Dee McAfferty, Susan Markle, Murray suspense sequence, but the moment Beverly rather than the consequences of scientific folly; C~chley , Jane Luk, Tita Trevisan, Jacqueline Hennessy, ' on the other hand, really deals with so~e of th~ Jillian Hennessy, David Walden, Liliane Stillwell, Bob strikes, everything dissolves into unintentional the body's decay and war with the mind seen as horror of life. People can't dismiss it as a mere Bainborough, Nick Rice, Joe Matheson. Hadley Kay, comedy as he flings himself atop the patient to springing from an internal, emotional state fairytale. " Cynthia Eastman, Nora Colpman, Rena Polley, Madelaine grab her anaesthetic mask and babble, "I need rather than being imposed from outside. Atkinson, John Bayliss, Graham Evans. An Astral Films As literal truth, these statements are release.

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