- How does the concept of double apply to the film, from the point of view of narrative, characters, space and time?
In the film Mullholland Drive (2001) the term 'double' relates to the characters and their personalities. For example, Betty and Rita become very close, however they both are very different, Betty has a very high spirit and is always cheerful, whereas Rita comes across very cautious, worried and confused. Seemingly they both get close despite their different personalities as they are together in most scenes. For example when Betty arrives in the apartment, she is very excited to start her new life, however when Rita is in the apartment she is very cautious and confused. There are several examples of point of views in the film, one of them being when Betty is going for her important audition, the audience see a fairly long paced shot of the eyes of Betty and the director, indicating that they are making strong mental contact. They catch eye contact twice, and on the second time Betty looked very uncomfortable and ran out of the audition. This seems to show that result of such eye contact is a very effective technique to change the characters emotions. In terms of space and time, we see a sequence in the film to when Betty and Rita first met and then to when they are sharing the same bed. Then going back to their first meeting when they were placed particularly far away from each other; Betty was on the other side of the room to Rita. In this scene we get a close up of Rita when she explains to Betty she 'doesn't know who she is' this is to show the horror in Rita's facial expressions, which help the audience understand Rita's fear of this situation.
- Can you think of other examples in literature, film, mythology or comics where the double is used in a similar way?
An example I choose to relate back to the 'double' term is an old comedy film, See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). I think it applies to it as there are two main characters, one blind man and one deaf man. The whole film revolves around their friendship and using their common sense to help one and other.
