Cronenberg recalls when he first came across the story in Cronenberg on Cronenberg (edited by Chris Rodley): "I'd first heard about the Marcus twins through a blurb in the paper: 'Twin docs found dead in posh pad.' I thought they were making it up. It was too perfect - better than 'Two-toed man falls to death in bathtub,' another one of my favourites. Then every day I would read something else about these twin gynaecologists, until it became a huge subject, because it involved medical scandal and holding back evidence of malpractice. Eventually there was an article in Esquire called 'Dead Ringers,' a very good article." And one that would fortuitously provide the title to his own film when the Twins title was scuttled by the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito comedy vehicle that was released that same year in 1988.
In Dead Ringers Jeremy Irons acts as both Beverly Mantle and Elliott Mantle (with "Mantel" a deliberate play on the word "mental"). The Mantle twins run a successful gynecology clinic and seem poised for even greater things, awards, and inventions, but this trajectory instead goes into a very different realm, one involving existential codependency muddied by sexual obsessions and drug addictions put in motion by their relationship to actress Claire Niveau (Genevieve Bujold). Given the riveting performance put in by Irons, it's hard to imagine how different things would have been had first choice Robert DeNiro taken the role (who declined because he would have preferred the twins be lawyers rather than gynecologists) or even second choice William Hurt (who declined because he felt he had enough trouble playing just one character). For B>Dead Ringers, the third time was most certainly the charm with Irons at the helm. He plays Elliott as more confident and cynical than Beverly, and in the commentary makes clear that he puts Beverly's energy center in his Adam's apple, while putting Elliott's energy center in his forehead. He also distinguished them by alternating where he placed his weight, on the balls of his feet for one, the heels for the other. Of course, the motion control camera that was developed by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg was crucial for the seamless integration of Irons' performances, but Cronenberg didn't go overboard with the effect, wanting to film Dead Ringers as he would any film with two actors. In all, there are only about ten shots where Irons actually shares the screen with himself, and otherwise the effect is accomplished with standard matching shots using a stand-in (played by John Bayliss). Irons' performance netted him the Best Actor award by the New York Film Critics Circle, but two years later when he got the Academy Award for his role as Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990) he thanked David Cronenberg in his acceptance speech because he knew his good fortune that night was helped by his memorable performance in Dead Ringers.
The Warner Bros. Pictures dvd release of Dead Ringers showcases the film in its American theatrical release widescreen ratio of 1.85:1, which is in contrast to how the Criterion Collection released it, with Tim Lucas explaining the difference in The Video Watchdog (issue No. 36): "The film was photographed full-frame and soft-matted for theatrical screenings at 1.85:1; Cronenberg has personally chosen 1.66:1 (actually 1.62) for this presentation." This explains why U.K. 35mm prints are available that show the film in 1.66:1 compared to U.S. matted prints, with the former providing the kind of added information along the top and bottom that help engulf the Mantel twins further into the many interiors they inhabit (there are very few exterior shots).
The Warner Bros. dvd has a running commentary on the film by Jeremy Irons, who can be heard lighting cigarettes and exhaling his words with an English accent that is both languid and commanding. Even when he doesn't have much to say the tone of his voice is mesmerizing and incentive alone to search out his reading of the novel Lolita on tape. Other special features include "Interviews with Cast and Crew" and a "Behind the Scenes" short (culled from similar sources, thus showing some overlap of material). Topping things off are a "Dead Ringers Psychological Profiler" which allows you to use the remote-control to "fill in" multiple choice questions of the tongue-in-cheek variety, and the original theatrical trailer.
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by Pablo Kjolseth
