Narrative: anchorage and enigma

Old men predominate in what appears to be some form of government department Simon
works for they have a primary role in anchoring the surrealism. In many scenes, corridors
and doorways the old men are seen blankly staring at Simon who fails in mostly everything he
does from working the lift, ordering food in a caf to attempting to court Hannah.
Perhaps Ayoade is making a point about longevity, about notions of existence but their role is
interesting in how they make the film seem darker, more foreboding and mocking; almost
predicting that Simon/James will not reach their years. Simon even hears of his old Mothers
death in a corrupt nursing home through his answerphone message while the suicide
department has a (too) young detective, alongside an old one. Is age important in this

film?
Simons life, and the films diegesis are wholly dysfunctional, ending in attempted suicide in
the hope that he will rid himself of his doppelganger.
Use of narrative enigma predominates throughout with the audience constantly asking
themselves questions, some of which are never resolved. This narrative fragmentation
suggests that the film has a number of micro narratives that work alongside a more obvious,
mainstream macro narrative.

Narrative: opening scenes

Simon has a series of bizarre encounters on an underground train, neatly setting up

his psychological alienation. A strange man tells him Youre in my place when the
rest of the carriage is empty, and Simon moves rather than challenge the absurdity.
He looks at a metal surface and sees only a blur, not a face. His suit is much too big
for him. When he gets to work, an officious security guard cuts up his ID card with
its photograph, for no apparent reason.

Narrative: Simon versus James

Although both characters are played by the same actor, body language, facial expressions and
movement make Simon appear as physically weak, totally lacking in confidence and able to be
manipulated. James moves through narrative space in a confident, strident way, he is an
excellent verbal communicator and makes direct eye contact with those he is in conversation
with.

Narrative: ongoing enigmas is James a projection?

From the start, the extent to which other characters (especially, but not limited to James) are
part of Simons projections of his inner life is put forward as a question, and the film
continues to examine and re-examine this problem as the narrative develops.

Narrative: is resolution achieved?

On this level, there a form of narrative structure in that we are introduced to Simon and his
surroundings and we do see disruption in the arrival of James. Is there a resolution in the final
suicide scene or is this more open ended?

Narrative: themes and links to representation

Narrative themes include isolation, loneliness, fear of the future and power and
control. These can be linked to gender, age and the notion of self.

Other audience appeals:

dark narrative enigmas

non-realist, escapist representations
a timeless appeal
cine-literate intertextual representations
construction of genre
Ayoades impressionistic visual style [auteur?]
star appeal
"It's like the future imagined by someone in the past who got it wrong,"
explains Ayoade. "So the world of the film never existed and never will
exist but it has that feeling of a bad utopian dream soured. Like in the
50s, when they thought everyone would have home computers but they
would be half the size of a room. It's as if that came to pass."