Film Club #1 - Enemy

[Sterben]

Thank you EP, I do take things literally a lot of times. I understand the spider is a dream element of the mind that means something needs to change. As far as the car accident is concerned. Were they both killed in the accident? If so, that does mean Adam took the place of Anthony in this reality; or I am incapable of understanding the message that was trying to be presented? Did Adam not exist in reality, or was he an illusion of Helen, Anthony, and Adams girl friend?

[Sterben]

Maybe the way I view things do to my bazaar take on the world blocks me from seeing the art in things. Or maybe having little relations with the outside world other then being at work five days a week for years straight has caused my brain to go into a different direction. Something funny but sad, this and two other forums is the extent of my social-life outside of work.

[Heat]

Maybe the way I view things do to my bazaar take on the world blocks me from seeing the art in things. Or maybe having little relations with the outside world other then being at work five days a week for years straight has caused my brain to go into a different direction. Something funny but sad, this and two other forums is the extent of my social-life outside of work.

Don't worry man. There is no "one way to think", we all think differently, so embrace it.

[Heat]

Thank you EP, I do take things literally a lot of times. I understand the spider is a dream element of the mind that means something needs to change. As far as the car accident is concerned. Were they both killed in the accident? If so, that does mean Adam took the place of Anthony in this reality; or I am incapable of understanding the message that was trying to be presented? Did Adam not exist in reality, or was he an illusion of Helen, Anthony, and Adams girl friend?

My thoughts:

Anthony is a mirror, or illusion of Adam's that he wants to be true, as Anthony is the polar opposite of Adam. Anthony is outgoing, has a faithful wife, a good job, doesn't have repetitive days where he endlessly does the same thing(Ex. "Hey honey I just got back from a jog/I want to try blueberries").

How others saw it:

Anthony is afraid of commitment, and Adam is his subconscious. Adam gives repeated lectures about dictatorship, about a people being uncontrolled vs controlled, and other various references. This is parallel to Anthony, as he feels that his wife is dictating, or controlling his life by being pregnant and he doesn't want to have a child. Adam also sleeps with a girl who forces him off, and most believe this is representative of Anthony's uncontrolled sexual urges. They also believe that the spider represents his sexual urges controlling his life throughout the movie. The reference to Anthony being the one actually sleeping with someone else can be seen when Mary says "Are you seeing that other girl again?". When Anthony decides to have sex with Adam's girlfriend, she points out the ring mark on his finger, and the absence of a ring on his finger is more indication to how he doesn't like commitment. When Anthony goes to have sex with Adam's gf, it is really his aggressive alter ego, so he is getting angry, arguing relentlessly with the girl, uncontrollable and as a result crashes a car and dies. Then Adam who's back at his house, is supposedly not adam but the real anthony, the stable version of Anthony, and the aggressive sexually-driven anthony died in the crash.

[Aroura]

Yeah, but did any version of him die in the crash? Because he wants to out to the sex club at the end, and that is chronologically actually near the end, I think.

It was a bit heavy handed on the serial control by women theme. I'm not even sure there are any significant sub themes. Order arises from chais? But that's pretty generic.

@Sterben, I think a more literal interpretation of this movie is interesting. I like your take on the movie, because it takes the message more at face value. Movies are, after all, an art form, and there are no right or wrong ways to view art.

[Excited Penguin]

Sterben, read your two responses and I think you're exaggerating. We may disagree, as I said, but even if everyone else thinks otherwise than you that doesn't necessarily mean you're wrong. Now, if our arguments truly changed your mind, that's great, but if they didn't, you should stick to your guns, I think. Don't feel pressured into agreeing with other people for any other reasons than you actually agree with them .


Disagreement is inevitably going to happen and if I'm to participate as well, I will at times disagree with some people's opinions. That doesn't mean my or anyone else's interpretation is "the right one". There is no right way to interpret art, which I consider film to be. I hope I didn't come off as too pushy, and I'm really sorry if I did, but again, I couldn't possibly participate in any meaningful way if I didn't ever challenge anyone's interpretations.

[Excited Penguin]

Guys, I notice you've been talking about which movie we're going to watch next. I recommend we do this right here, so we don't use two threads at once which might get cumbersome at one point. If you think we're ready to watch another film then we can very easily start talking about it right here.

But if you think we should do this in the other thread, O.K. My opinion isn't any more valuable than any of yours. It's just a suggestion.

Now, other than the fact that I won't pick another movie until everyone else has got their turn as well, I'm not exactly sure in which order we should pick the movie or how. I hope you guys figure it out, but myself, I thought I'd just agree with any option that looked promising to me after considering everyone's choices and cast my own vote in that direction - if we're going to be voting. And if one choice gets the more "votes" we watch that one. - This is basically what my suggestion is. Tell me what you think .


P.S. No matter what we choose I won't be making any suggestions this time around. If we go with the option that everyone gets to pick a movie no matter if everyone likes it or not, than we will all have to wait our turns to pick a movie, for example I'll wait until we watch Aroura, Sterben's and Heat's films before making my own suggestion again.

But even if we decide that we are all allowed to make our own suggestions each time around and that the one suggestion that the most agree with wins, I'm going to abstain from making my own this time, since I think it's only fair - after all, I just picked the film and we hadn't exactly figured out how we're going to pick the films in the future, so it wasn't exactly "legitimate", it just happened because my own suggestion was the only one that anyone agreed with (Aroura- and Sterben to some extent- in this case), so for practicality's sake, we went ahead and watched it.

[Heat]

Guys, I notice you've been talking about which movie we're going to watch next. I recommend we do this right here, so we don't use two threads at once which might get cumbersome at one point. If you think we're ready to watch another film then we can very easily start talking about it right here.

But if you think we should do this in the other thread, O.K. My opinion isn't any more valuable than any of yours. It's just a suggestion.

Now, other than the fact that I won't pick another movie until everyone else has got their turn as well, I'm not exactly sure in which order we should pick the movie or how. I hope you guys figure it out, but myself, I thought I'd just agree with any option that looked promising to me after considering everyone's choices and cast my own vote in that direction - if we're going to be voting. And if one choice gets the more "votes" we watch that one. - This is basically what my suggestion is. Tell me what you think .


P.S. No matter what we choose I won't be making any suggestions this time around. If we go with the option that everyone gets to pick a movie no matter if everyone likes it or not, than we will all have to wait our turns to pick a movie, for example I'll wait until we watch Aroura, Sterben's and Heat's films before making my own suggestion again.

But even if we decide that we are all allowed to make our own suggestions each time around and that the one suggestion that the most agree with wins, I'm going to abstain from making my own this time, since I think it's only fair - after all, I just picked the film and we hadn't exactly figured out how we're going to pick the films in the future, so it wasn't exactly "legitimate", it just happened because my own suggestion was the only one that anyone agreed with (Aroura- and Sterben to some extent- in this case), so for practicality's sake, we went ahead and watched it.

I think we should watch Coherence.

[Excited Penguin]

I agree with your suggestion, but I don't want to speak for the others. They have made suggestions as well, and we should agree on how we pick the movies - through a voting process or taking turns- before we do anything else.

Or we can make this simple and be fair without adhering to any strict rules. We can all unanimously agree with one suggestion, and then with another, making sure to eventually let someone pick the movie even if we don't necessarily like his/her suggestion the most out of all of the available ones if they haven't had the change to pick a movie yet - or smth like that. How does that sound?

Also, I think we should talk about how much it will take us to watch the movies, post here when we do and then start discussing it after everyone involved watched them. That would be better, I think, than waiting for a whole week for no reason.

[Aroura]

Guys, I notice you've been talking about which movie we're going to watch next. I recommend we do this right here, so we don't use two threads at once which might get cumbersome at one point. If you think we're ready to watch another film then we can very easily start talking about it right here.

But if you think we should do this in the other thread, O.K. My opinion isn't any more valuable than any of yours. It's just a suggestion.

Now, other than the fact that I won't pick another movie until everyone else has got their turn as well, I'm not exactly sure in which order we should pick the movie or how. I hope you guys figure it out, but myself, I thought I'd just agree with any option that looked promising to me after considering everyone's choices and cast my own vote in that direction - if we're going to be voting. And if one choice gets the more "votes" we watch that one. - This is basically what my suggestion is. Tell me what you think .


P.S. No matter what we choose I won't be making any suggestions this time around. If we go with the option that everyone gets to pick a movie no matter if everyone likes it or not, than we will all have to wait our turns to pick a movie, for example I'll wait until we watch Aroura, Sterben's and Heat's films before making my own suggestion again.

But even if we decide that we are all allowed to make our own suggestions each time around and that the one suggestion that the most agree with wins, I'm going to abstain from making my own this time, since I think it's only fair - after all, I just picked the film and we hadn't exactly figured out how we're going to pick the films in the future, so it wasn't exactly "legitimate", it just happened because my own suggestion was the only one that anyone agreed with (Aroura- and Sterben to some extent- in this case), so for practicality's sake, we went ahead and watched it.

I think we should watch Coherence.

Ok, I checked that out on IMDB and it looks interesting.  I agree to that as well if the others do.  IT is not streaming on Netflix, but I found it on Viooz.