Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

kayakofan I've had never been disappointed by a Kurosawa film, but this is probably the first. "Doppelganger" is the worst I've seen from this director.Tartan Films is advertising this as "The most frightening film yet from Kiyoshi Kurosawa". What? The most frightening film from Kurosawa is definitely "Kairo". And if you think this is horror, your in for a surprise. This can't be classified as horror, or thriller. This is a drama, and a pretty bad one at that. A lot of scenes that were meant to be shocking have turned out being funny, and a lot of the plot is really confusing. And since it's Kurosawa, the pacing is slow. But it's so slow that you'll lose interest forty minutes in, and feel like doing something else. The thing that annoyed me the most was the use of CGI. Now CGI, if used well, can be really cool. But if executed with little care... It can be a disaster. I think that describes one scene here that has a very minimal use of CGI.The only positive thing I can give "Dopppelganger" is that it has really good acting. Koji Yakusho gives a great performance, along with the rest of the cast. But that's pretty much it...Please, do yourself a favor, and go watch "Kairo" or "Ko-Rei" if you want to be scared. This is a bad, bad attempt at a smart drama. Which it is intelligent, but... Well, there's a lot missing.3/10 for the good acting.

sljones44 There are some elements of Hitchcock in the film. The set up is annoyingly slow for some people, but it's quite rewarding. The message of the film, is to listen to your own self, not the doppelganger. the doppelganger is within us, not necessarily seen. The point of him seeing is doppelganger, is that his double has the temerity to do the things he (Hayasaki) couldn't do. As he becomes bolder and more amoral he wonders is he becoming the doppelganger? Is Hayashi becoming the worst part of himself? Or perhaps his double is the real suppressed Hayashi? He discovers his ruthless, ambitious, lustful self through his double. It would make an interesting remake with issues of duality and existentialism. If we could have a conversation with ourselves, what would we say? - what would our other self say to us? This would be a fascinating concept that was done in several films - most notably "Jo Jo Dancer, Your life is Calling" - "the ghost of Christmas future showing Jimmy Stewart's future without him and his effect on others. Also "Family Man" with Nicolas Cage explored this theme. DePalma's "Raising Cain" (to a lesser degree) I thought this premise was pretty good - some may think it was a bit underdeveloped, but I liked it.

ned38 i probably shouldn't comment on this, as i turned it off an hour into it. absolutely unwatchable. i loved "cure", kurosawa's previous outing with the great koji yakusho, but this one was a mess through and through. it's like they didn't know what to do with it. the premise, about a man who meets his exact double, is nearly foolproof. there're so many ways to approach it, i really can't believe they couldn't make at least a decent movie out of this. but right from the beginning, the tone is all over the place and the plot just completely meanders. even yakusho's acting is weak (never thought i'd have to write that). not good.

Rocco3000 Nothing wrong with this movie, but nothing particularly special about it either. It was a nice little drama, with some action, comedy and scary stuff added in for spice.It is all about one man's struggle to try and get what he really wants out of life (quit his job he hates, getting the pretty girl, etc), but never does. So his doppelganger (not necessarily evil, more like the person he always wanted to be, but was afraid of becoming) comes along and does it for him. Great acting, direction (great split screen usage), and an alright plot line keep you interested and entertained. Well worth seeing.6/10