We welcome our biggest guest ever as we welcome Australian actor/director Joel Edgerton to the show to talk about his new psychological thriller and directorial debut, The Gift. Bernard is also joined by Dustin and Eli to talk about actors-turned-directors and share their Indie Picks of the Week. Plus, Bernard talks about how Edgerton creeped the hell out of his wife. All that and more on this week’s Way Too Indiecast!

This episode is sponsored by MUBI, an curated online cinema that brings its members a hand-picked selection of the best indie, foreign, and classic films. Try it for 30 days FREE by visiting www.mubi.com/waytooindie.

Topics

• Indie Picks of the Week (1:41)
• Actors-Turned-Directors (9:26)
• The Gift Review (29:15)
• Joel Edgerton Interview (34:45)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

Creep review
Tyrannosaur review
Unbroken review
Submarine review

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A few years ago, Jesse Eisenberg was regarded by many (especially in the mainstream) as a less famous alternative to Michael Cera, the other squeaky-voiced, wimpy white kid taking over theaters nationwide. They’re both naturally likable and unassuming, and they embody awkward better than almost anyone else. Recently, however, Eisenberg has emerged as the more well-rounded, powerful performer of the two, exhibiting an ability to draw audiences in with his piercing, thoughtful gaze and pulling ahead of Cera in both popularity and cinephile cred. He’s proven he can elicit both laughs and gasps, and that versatility is put to the test in The Double, a stylish Dostoyevsky adaptation by Submarine director Richard Ayoade in which the young actor is tasked with portraying two radically different fellows who (as the film’s title indicates) look identical.

Simon, the film’s frail protagonist, is a hard-working office drone and total pushover. He’s utterly unremarkable in every way, to the point where his colleagues struggle to remember his name and the security guard at the entrance sternly insists he sign in as a visitor, despite the fact that he’s worked there for seven years. “Seven years…” he pitifully protests, almost inaudibly. No one cares. No one sees him. He’s trampled on by everyone and everything because his spine is made of Jell-O.

On the other side of the spectrum in every regard is James, a cocky new hire who the other workers (particularly of the opposite sex) worship almost immediately. Simon’s ignorant, dismissive boss Mr. Papadopoulos, played by Wallace Shawn doing his typical Wallace Shawn thing, is thrilled with James’ “work” (which he makes Simon do for him like an elementary school bully would), and insists that Simon is slacking and should be more like him. The role of James, like Eisenberg’s turn in The Social Network, allows him to tap into the enigmatic, articulate, dominating side of his persona that earned him the iconic role of Lex Luthor in Batman Vs Superman. He’s small in stature, yet positively menacing due to his formidable intellect and capacity to use it as a lethal weapon.

The world Ayoade and his crew have built around Simon and his nemesis resembles a steampunk version of Brazil, with flashes of George Orwell, Orson Welles, and David Lynch influence strewn throughout. The sets are darkly imaginative and slightly magical, and Ayoade invites us to drink up the luscious, shadowy imagery with him. He relishes photographing his bronze dystopia, with its typewriters, old-fashioned diners, telescopes, and endless dark corridors. The film is bathed in a sickly yellow light, which is unsightly at first but earns its welcome when you realize it provides a visual density and richness.

As a corporate satire, the story is simple but expressionistic, never allowing us to plant our feet firmly in the realm of reality. This type of alter-ego tale is unquestionably familiar (though it hasn’t ever lost its potency in cinema), but Ayoade mixes in so many trippy substances that it gives the formula a fresh coat of sludgy black paint. A glaring issue is that Simon is so completely hopeless and sad that it’s hard to attach to him, or at least it’s uncomfortable to. There’s an emotional distance to the film that persists to the very end.

We get our first good look at Simon’s angel-blonde office crush Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) bathed in the heavenly blue light of a giant humming printer (very Lynchian). She, like everyone else, has no idea who Simon is, but she takes a quick liking to the confident, fun James, who exploits Simon’s inferiority complex to get closer to Hannah. “I know what it feels like to be lost and lonely and invisible,” he confesses to James, a sentiment the sneaky devil uses to steal Hannah’s heart. Everyone…hell, the entire universe seems to be conspiring to make Simon’s life miserable, and he feels worthless. How will he take his career, his dream girl…his identity back? “I exist!” he cries in desperation in a crowded room of staggered co-workers.

Simon and James play perfectly to Eisenberg’s strengths, and he proves again why he’s one of the most seasoned young stars in the industry. His scenes with himself are improbably the film’s most engaging, though that’s not to discount his excellent supporting cast. The film is very funny, though that probably won’t be everyone’s ultimate takeaway. The “everyone hates Simon” gags are hilarious, timed and edited perfectly for comedic effect. (An early bit in which Simon makes a feeble attempt to move past two men on his way out of a subway car is sublime). The refined humor will probably get lost in all the drippy atmosphere and heightened style, but whether that’s an issue or not depends upon your expectations.

The Double trailer

In Submarine director Richard Ayoade’s stylish Dostoyevsky adaptation The Double, Jesse Eisenberg impresses yet again in a dual performance as Simon, a pushover office drone, and his cocky, better-in-every-way doppelganger James. Though Simon has worked at the office for seven years, no one seems capable of remembering him, due to his socially awkward, subservient nature. New hire James–who looks and dresses exactly like Simon–begins to take over the office and bend their co-workers to his whim (including Simon’s crush played by the radiant Mia Wasikowska), Simon finds himself so trampled and transparent he might as well be nonexistent.

The film resembles a steampunk version of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, while also paying homage to myriad other weirdo auteurs like David Lynch and Orson Welles. Eisenberg is the perfect choice for the role(s), exuding the pitiful weakness of Simon and the brash dominance of James with equal adeptness. Ayoade’s taken a surprising turn following up Submarine, an entertaining teen comedy, with a dark, brutal, depressing film like The Double, but he proves he’s more than capable of handling such artfully ambitious material. The fact that the film is clearly derivative but feels uniquely Ayoade’s on the same token is astonishing.

One of the best singer-songwriters of a generation is given the tribute treatment in Nickolas Rossi’s Heaven Adores You, an intimate, revealing music doc about the life and art of indie legend Elliot Smith which made its world premiere at SFIFF57. Rossi, also an experienced DP, marries Smith’s hauntingly earnest music and lyrics with incredibly cinematic footage of Portland, the city synonymous with Smith’s legacy. Using a collection of photos, videos, and accounts from the people closest to the soft-spoken Smith, the film follows his story from childhood, through his prolific music career in which he moved millions, to his untimely death in 2003 to unexplained stab wounds.

Instead of following the tabloid route and sensationalizing the mystery of Smith’s death, Rossi lets the music dictate the form of the film. There’s a prevalent sense of Smith’s presence throughout the film, something most music docs are sorely missing. Audio of Smith’s guest appearances on radio shows has the chilling effect of making it feel as if he’s sitting right next to you, talking into your ear. Fans will be delighted at the tastefulness of the production, while the uninitiated will find a well-crafted introduction into the life and work of one of the greats.

The movie poster for Of Horses & Men is a hilarious head-scratcher: A depressed-looking man (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson) is mounted on a white-haired horse, head down in despair, as a black stallion takes his steed from behind. It doesn’t become clear just how emblematic the poster is until you’ve immersed yourself in Benedikt Erlingsson’s off-kilter, picturesque exploration of the bestial equity between man and horse. Later on, he mirrors the shocking horse-sex scene with one involving humans; surprisingly, the latter is no less cringe-worthy, and that’s sort of the point.

Erlingsson seamlessly weaves together a collection of short film-sized stories that take place in a small, horse-dependent village in Iceland. The quirky vignettes are comedic, grotesque, and strangely beautiful. In one, an alcoholic rides his horse into the ocean to catch a passing Russian boat and secure a jug of unearthly strong vodka. Another follows a Spanish tourist (Juan Camillo Roman Estrada) as he gets lost in the snow overnight with his horse and wrestles with the idea of resorting to the classic “Tauntaun” method of survival. What bumps the film up from minor to major achievement is its expert cinematography, which captures the majesty of horses unlike any movie I’ve seen, while capturing the stunning Icelandic landscape just as well. The film feels like a Nat-Geo special gone horribly wrong, in the best, left-field way possible.

In Jeremy Ambers’ Impossible Light, the first-time filmmaker follows the conceptualization, design, and construction of the gigantic piece of public art known as The Bay Lights. The project, dreamed up by Illuminate the Arts founder Ben Davis and designed by light artist Leo Villareal, had a crew of intrepid workers brave great heights, stringing thousands of LED’s up and down the suspension cables of San Francisco’s utilitarian western span of the Bay Bridge, sometimes under punishing weather conditions. That wouldn’t be the team’s biggest hurdle, however, as navigating a serpentine process of acquiring permits and raising funds almost squashed the project before they could hit the “on” switch.

Ambers takes the time to highlight the smallest details of the giant production, from the design of the clamps that hold the lights in place to the strategic placement of the lights themselves (so as not to distract on-bridge drivers). This attention to detail is fascinating and impressive, considering the 70 minute runtime. Ambers was essentially a one-man film crew, climbing to the bridge’s highest point with a camera strapped on, and the resulting footage is spectacular (and harrowing). In reality, there was no human antagonist vehemently opposing the project, but Ambers does his best to create a sense of urgency without the benefit of a human conflict angle. An uplifting film for a universally inspirational work of public art.

Making its world premiere tomorrow at the Toronto International Film Festival is the sophomore efforts from director Richard Ayoade entitled The Double, which stars Jesse Eisenberg as a man who starts to freak out upon discovering his eerie doppelganger. Because Ayoade hit it out of the park with his previous film, Submarine, which made it easy for us to put his new film on our TIFF radar this year. Watch the first trailer for The Double and stay tuned for our coverage of it at the festival.

Watch the teaser trailer for The Double:

Submarine is a Welsh film that director Richard Ayoade adapted a screenplay based off the novel by the same name, about an awkward teenage boy and his first real relationship with a girlfriend. It is an honest coming of age story about how relationships are formed and destroyed which the main character experiences on his own and through his parents at the same time. A storyline that is often told but rarely executed this well.

Like most boys at the age of 15, Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is trying to discover himself. He is not all that popular at school but the fact that he loves reading the dictionary and prefers to be alone most of the time does not help matters. The prologue gives us background into the oddball character that is Oliver Tate before introducing us to his new obsession, love.

Chapter one is labeled, “Jordana”, who is also an unpopular girl who recently became single. Oliver imagines himself with her and is willing to do what it takes to win her over even if it involves doing things he would not normally do. One day Jordana instructs Oliver to meet her under a bridge and to bring a camera. She kisses him and takes photographs for proof.

It is revealed that Oliver has only kissed one other girl before Jordana, so he was rather excited to have kissed her. They stood up for each other when a bully picks on them and held hands when walking together afterwards. However, when he asked her if they were going out together now, she responds with “I’ll think about it.”

His mother is shocked when Oliver tells her he now has a girlfriend and relieved that her son is not gay. His father supported him when he heard the news by making him a cassette tape with songs, including some break up songs near the end in case things did not work out. This is as much support his parents could give him.

Oliver informs Jordana that his parents will be gone from the house Thursday night and not so subtly hints to her she could come over to have sex with him. She tells him she will come by and this makes Oliver as excited as he ever has been. He goes out of this way to make sure everything is perfect; the lights at the right levels and candles lit in his room. After the two make love she reminds him, “Don’t get cocky.”

Part two is called, “Graham Purvis”, who is an ex-boyfriend of his mother which startles Oliver who has been monitoring his parent’s sex life by the use of a dimming light switch. He concludes that his parents have not had sex for seven months as the light has not been dimmed low. It is not long before Oliver discovers his mother is having an affair with Graham and becomes worried that his parents may get divorced.

Oliver finds himself alone with his father and tries to tell him about his mother having an affair with Graham. His father shrugs it off saying that the two are just old friends. He is clearly not worried about the relationship between the two.

After speaking to his father, he realizes why his father became a marine biologist. He has felt down in the dumps for nearly his entire life which he describes the feeling as being under water. This goes along with the overall theme of the film which almost always involves water.

He decides to tell Jordana about the situation regarding his parents. He finds out that her mother has cancer. Even he admits that cancer trumps parental fidelity and fixing either of them is hardly easy. Jordana’s mother is having an operation which Oliver said he would come to but ultimately skips out on in order to try solving his parent’s issues.

Part three is entitled, “Show down”, which is more or less Oliver’s world crumbling down. Oliver goes to the beach where his mother and Graham are together again and saw that Jordana was with someone else. He finds out that his mother gave Graham a handjob. Adding to his misery, he receives a letter from Jordana stating what he was afraid was true, that their relationship was over and that she found someone new.

Oliver states rather realistically that none of this will matter when he is 38. Which is him trying to be optimistic but no one forgets their first love, not even the sophisticated Oliver Tate. Though, he has not spoken to Jordana for two months. The epilogue tells the conclusion to the wonderful story and ends the film perfectly.

Submarine showed glimpses of similarities to the work of Wes Anderson. From the chapter based storyline to the quirky yet sophisticated characters and the general art style of the film. Even the soundtrack seems like something that Anderson would have picked out.

The soundtrack is one of the best I have heard in years and most of the time completely relevant with the scenes in the film. Comprised of original songs from Arctic Monkeys’ frontman Alex Turner, the soundtrack enhances the film instead of merely adding to it.

Not only was the soundtrack superb but so was the use of the camera and effects. Showing fantasy ideas and freeze frames the cinematography by Erik Wilson was splendid. At the same time the film was not too fancy and stayed true to its period with typewriters, cassette tapes and Polaroid cameras.

Craig Roberts plays the character of Oliver Tate appropriately, an awkward recluse that is far more mature for his age. His character is often compared to Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye” and it is not hard to see the resemblance.

Jordana Bevan’s is a character every male has met before, a cute girl who forces you out of your comfort zone to which you going along with out of the sheer case of lust. She is bold which is visually present from her wearing a bright red coat always. Yasmin Paige was convincing as Jordana.

The story is not revolutionary by any means, in fact it is undoubtedly simple but it is told and executed marvelously. Submarine is not just for the artsy Wes Anderson crowd, who love quirky characters and whimsical cinematography, the film appeals to everyone with it’s genuine take on a coming of age story. A prime example of how romantic comedies should be.