Psychology technique · used in 3 films
Putting an actual duplicate of a character on screen. The double drives the plot and also stands for a person split in 2, often by obsession.
Examples
Akira Kurosawa · 1980
Tatsuya Nakadai plays both Shingen and the thief, so the double is right there on screen. The longer the thief plays the role, the more he becomes the lord. In the end, the one difference he can't fake is a scar.
Where to see it: The fall from the horse. The thief tries to ride Shingen's horse and gets thrown. The servants who rush to help see that his body has none of Shingen's battle scars.
Satoshi Kon · 1997
The 'idol Mima' shows up on screen as a separate person you can see. She is calm, girlish and accusing. She makes Mima's split literal: the public image that was built for her on one side, and her private self falling apart on the other.
Where to see it: Mima's first full vision of her doppelgänger (her exact double) in her apartment. The double is perfectly lit and smiling while the real Mima is in crisis.
Christopher Nolan · 2006
Both magicians' secrets involve actual doubles: Borden's twin and Angier's cloning machine. The film looks at what it costs to be 2 people. It also shows what the hidden self gives up so the public self can perform. The doubling is the trick and the tragedy at the same time.
Where to see it: The reveal of Borden's twin. Alongside it, you see Angier's cloning tank beneath the stage.
Questions