Enemy (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Interviews-Cast & Crew Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Madman Propaganda x 4
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	90:27
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Denis Villeneuve
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Jake Gyllenhaal Melanie Laurent Sarah Gadon Isabella Rossellini
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Danny Bensi Saunder Jurriaans

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

"Chaos is order yet undeciphered"

     Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a sloppy and lethargic history professor, with little enthusiasm for life even when his sexy girlfriend Mary (Melanie Laurent) comes to visit him in his spartan apartment. His life changes when he sees, in a video he hires, an actor who looks exactly like himself. Adam does some internet research and discovers the actor is named Anthony Claire (also Gyllenhaal) and Adam calls him, but only gets to speak with Anthony’s pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon) who mistakes Adam’s voice for Anthony’s. This contact sets off tensions between Anthony and Helen but Adam and Anthony later agree to meet when it becomes evident that they are identical, even having the same scar on their chest. Adam confirms with his mother (Isabella Rossellini) that he is her only child, but now the situation has been reversed and Anthony is stalking Adam and Mary. But how much of this is real?

     Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve who in the same year as Enemy also directed Gyllenhaal in the well regarded Prisoners, is based upon the novel The Double by Portuguese author Jose Saramgo. Enemy is an unsettling film, made using techniques more at home in a horror film. The storytelling is fragmented, with images and scenes repeated, there are unusual camera angles of buildings with row upon row of windows, abrupt cuts to a black screen and a sound design which is replete with discordant effects mixed with the orchestral score. All this, plus the manipulated colour of the film which produces a washed out, drab brownish image, makes everything feel unreal. Indeed, the most vibrant colours in Enemy occur in the video Adam watches.

     Enemy is essentially a three hander and Gyllenhaal is excellent in his dual roles, giving just enough differences between Adam and Anthony where appropriate to sell the doppelganger conceit. Sarah Gadon as the very pregnant Helen is also excellent, and if Melanie Laurent is less effective it is probably because she has less to do. Isabella Rossellini only appears in one scene, but that scene provides a vital clue as to what may be happening. Because while in the end Villeneuve’s film does cycle back to the unexplained sequence with which Enemy commenced, the reality of what has actually happened is left open-ended, even with the surprising last image of the film.

     Enemy is an unsettling and bizarre psychological mystery with an intriguing script and excellent performances that will entertain, perplex and certainly make you think.

Video

    Enemy is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the original ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     As noted, the colours of Enemy have been manipulated to give the film a washed out, drab brownish image, the only exception being the brighter colours in the video Adam watches. As a result skin tones look light although parts of the film are also very dark, leading to a lack of shadow detail. However, blacks are solid and detail in close-up is sharp, sharp enough to highlight the fake looking car crash. Brightness and contrast is consistent.

     Marks are not evident.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are provided in a clear, although rather small, white font.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is an English DTS-MA HD 5.1 track.

     The dialogue is clear, centred and easy to hear except for some lines by Gyllenhaal when the subtitles helped. This is a film with not a lot of action, but the sound design of the film includes discordant effects in the rears and surrounds which heighten the tension, plus music. The subwoofer also added bass to the discordant effects and the music.

     The score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans was effective and well represented in the mix.

     Lip synchronisation was fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Interviews

     Interviews with:

• Denis Villeneuve (11:01)
• Sarah Gadon (6:12)
• Isabella Rossellini (3:42)
• Melanie Laurent (4:101)
• Jake Gyllenhaal (18:53)

     These segments are solely interviews without film footage being added. A text screen not so much poses a question as makes a statement about some aspect of the film and the interviewee responds. The interviews are interesting and thoughtful, and topics include the meaning of the film, identity, the subconscious, improvisation, ambiguity, working methods and the spider motif.

Theatrical Trailer (2:03)

Madman Propaganda (9:55)

     Trailers for Disconnect, Vehicle 19, Prince Avalanche and Upside Down.

     The Region A US Blu-ray includes as an extra a making of (17:22), trailers and adds Spanish subtitles. It does not include the 44 minutes interviews we have on our release, which I think gives our Region B release the edge. There is not currently a Region B UK version listed on Amazon.com.

     Enemy is an unsettling psychological mystery from Canadian director Denis Villeneuve that will entertain, perplex and make you think. It is a film that demands concentration, and a second look!

     The video is manipulated, the audio good. The extra is a collection of interviews that are worth a look.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall