THE DOUBLE: INTERTEXTUALITY

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/director-richard-ayoade-shares-the-5-films-that-influenced-the-double20140508 Director Richard Ayoade Shares The 5 Films That Influenced The Double

Similar to his excellent 2011 debut feature, Submarine," quick comparisons to past classics
have flown frequently with Richard Ayoades sophomore effort The Double." This time Terry
Gilliams Brazil has been elected the overriding influence; however, dont ask Ayoade to
verify such a claim. As the actor/director said when he sat down with us recently in Los
Angeles, I don't remember Brazil well enough to even know whether that's true. As The
Double hits theatres this week, we thought wed ask the director to graciously run down a few
of his actual influences for the unique project.
After Hours (1985) - Martin Scorsese
Richard Ayoade: It's Stephen Merchant's favorite film
and he gave it to me to watch, so I ended up seeing it
rather recently. I love it partially because it's all done
at night, and that kind of mounting subjective paranoia
was really interestingmy favorite ofScorsese's films
are the more subjective ones. And [Griffin Dunnes]
linen suit in that may have subconsciously factored
into Jesses wardrobe, where we wanted him to feel
slightly overwhelmed by his clothes.

The Trial (1962) - Orson Welles

Theres actually a scene in After Hours that directly quotes Franz Kafkas The Trialthe
one when Dunnes character can't get into the club where Scorsese is operating a spotlight. But
I mostly took note of the opening of Welles film, in the small apartment with a very low roof.
We never did anything in The Double as long as that in terms of a take, because it's a very
long take and the dialogue's very fast. But the great verbal misunderstandings, said as mistakes
and taken as factsit's just very funny. All of Welles films are funny, I think.
The Tenant (1976) Roman Polanski
You could probably compile a pretty substantial Internet supercut of people watching people in
rooms. You could make it from Blue Velvet to Rear Window to A Short Film About
Love," or the tailor sequence in Vertigo." Just people watching other people in films. There's
something about that concept that works, and "The Tenant" has that. What's interesting about
the film is just the metaphor of it, which I don't think is as isn't as evocative.
Even though it's a really brilliantly made film and I really like it, there's something about the
idea of a room bearing this kind of guiltPolanskis character goes in, he hopes the former
resident dies so he can have the roombut I don't know if people care that much about that or
the idea of a tenant.

Le Samourai (1967) Jean-Pierre Melville

I think about this film every time I do anything, and not
even the film specificallyjust the poster of it (see
below). Its my favourite poster, Alain Delon with a
samurai-style suit. I think that's Henri Deca, the
cinematographer of that film, who certainly did some
of Francois Truffaut's early stuff. He liked tones within
rooms, and he made colour films in a very B&W, muted
way. He did the same in Melvilles Army of Shadows
walls that are a similar colour to the protagonist's
clothes. He doesn't separate people out by contrast and
colours; he does it by tones.

The Wrong Man (1956) Alfred Hitchcock

Again, I like when someone is accused of something or in a situation not of their direct making,
and everyone is against them. One of the specific things that came to me from thinking about
The Wrong Man was the part where Henry Fonda has to go to jail for the first time.
Aside from the brilliance of that scene, when he's in the cell and the cutaways of what he's
looking at, there's also the fact that he has to remove his tie and his belt. The removal of the tie
makes him feel very vulnerable, and when Jacqueline Durran [costume designer on The
Double] and I were talking about what everyones suits should look like, we decided that no
one should have ties unless theyre high up in the organization. That way, it made everyone look
like they were in a cell, subconsciously.
Did you have any other films that you looked to for inspiration?
Hitchcocks The Wrong Man was an influencejust the paranoia and being accused, that sort of thing. Aki
Kaurismaki and Krzysztof Kieslowski as well, but a lot of it is just the feeling when you read a novel like
this, you just are reminded of these other things. To me theres something even about In the Mood for
Lovethose small offices, and that youre plunged into this world. In a way, sometimes these references are
a shorthand youre saying as general direction. In some ways youre also simultaneously trying to get out of
the way of those things and not be those references and have it be its own thing. You dont want anything to
be reliant on a reference or really do something thats already been digested.