WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
It’s not a secret, you already know I’m a sucker for films with teeny‑tiny casts. Not too long ago we discussed films with only one actor, so this time I’m shining the spotlight elsewhere. I may only be featuring six films here, but trust me—there are plenty more double‑acts worth hunting down…
Warning, many films while claim to be two actors, but it turns out to inaccurate…
Hell in the Pacific
I was so intrigued by the idea of this film that I couldn’t not use it for this article. Considering that the Japanese and Americans bombed each other during World War II, this film was set up for something potentially explosive (pardon the pun) between Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune’s characters. Much of this film is free from dialogue as the only two characters featured don’t speak the same language. Throw in the fact that they are isolated together on the island and I guess you have my perfect film. I did wonder if the Japanese pilot was simply being territorial of the island or if he was genuinely attacking Lee Marvin’s character because he was American. Considering the scenes when they first meet seem to be inside their heads, and most of the film is like some sort of cat and mouse, I would say it’s the latter. However, it is interesting to see that the Japanese pilot is unable to kill the American when he is at his most vulnerable.
What is beautiful about the latter part of the film however is the way they finally try and work together – even though it’s through necessity – they do their best to communicate by speaking both Japanese and English so that they build the raft as a team. Their bond, for me, is truly realised when they end up at an abandoned Japanese camp and, when surprised by his ally, Lee Marvin states “I thought you were a Jap” which means he has now looks passed this.
Wind Chill
Now, many people will be unaware that Emily Blunt made this little thriller about 11 years prior to appearing in A Quiet Place. It’s quite a simple plot, two college kids trying to make their way home for the holidays. There are moments where some rather creepy comments are made, however even as the viewer you slightly brush them off. Because of this, you start to think that maybe the person we need to be worried about is the driver. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a name as both characters are simply “Girl” and “Guy”. His only crime is having a crush on her and going about it in a really creepy way. From the moment the two of them are run off the road, things begin to get a little bit eerie. In the end this turns out to be a ghost story, even though at first you expect that he is likely to kill her due to unrequited love. It’s almost as if these spirits are stuck at a certain point in time, like the fact that the cop doesn’t seem to be responding to what they’re actually saying. What confused me at first is whether they were dreaming the whole time due to the cold or if hitting the cop sent them through some time loop.
OK, so there’s the snow plough driver at the end of the film that ends up saving the girl’s life, however, the majority of the film is just the two of them so you can’t criticise me for including this, especially as the fact that she wakes up next to the guy’s body again – I’m not sure the plough driver even existed!
Gravity
Due to the hype around this film when it was first released, I have to admit I was avoiding watching it for a while. In the beginning, there’s a few additional voices and we see one additional astronaut floating with them, but we never actually see his face (well, not until we see a hole through it) and neither Dr Stone nor Kowalski interacts with him directly. I loved the way this film started off with casual conversation and quite a sedate pace until Houston makes them aware of the debris heading their way. At this point everything quickens, from the speech patterns to the incidental music. The way Stone starts to spin away made me feel a little bit sick. For a moment, after they are separated, I thought the rest of the film would be focused on Sandra Bullock only and we simply hear George Clooney’s voice. The only thing that really bothered me about this film is that the fact that I’m sure, with all the talking they do, they would have run out of oxygen much quicker than they do! I think, when Kowalski lets Stone go in order to save her, it’s supposed to be this emotional moment because he’s doing a noble, heroic thing but I just didn’t feel that at all. Maybe that says more about me than the film.
Spoiler Alert – I’m sure it’s great for most people watching this film that Stone survives at the end, however, I think it’s a bit wrong that she does so but taking a Chinese satellite out of orbit.
My Dinner with Andre
So, when this film starts, outside of the monologue by Wally, he has a couple of interactions with people in the restaurant – coat check girl, the maître d’ and the bartender – but feel these are simply to move the story along prior to Andre’s arrival. At first, it seems that most of Wally’s part is spent in monologue form as Andre seems to dominant the actual conversation at dinner. I have to admit I found Andre pretty annoying – his stories feel like he’s bragging about his life to Wally. A simple question like “Did you go to India?” turns into another story that has almost no relevance to the question Wally asked. I almost felt myself zoning out because he was going on for so long but I wonder if that’s the point – especially considering that Wally mentioned at the beginning he had been avoiding seeing Andre for so long. He even makes Wally’s story about himself!! Truthfully, considering that the actors are also named Wallace and Andre, this film could simply be just two friends at an actual dinner, and someone has chosen to film it. You can see as the film goes on that these are two very different men, Wally being happier with the simpler things in life, where Andre gets fulfilment from the extraordinary experiences.
Side note; I was trying to fight the fact that every time Wally spoke that I thought of The Princess Bride, until he said the word Inconceivable.
Before Sunrise
Let’s deal with the elephant in the room straight away. Yes, there is an interaction with a couple of people at the very beginning at the book signing however they have no character names, and this is more of an intro to the story about to take place. Especially as, while Jesse is speaking, we are seeing flashes of him and Celine together. I thought at first, that this film would have been about them meeting for the first time, getting together, and the flashes were of what’s to come, however it actually focuses on their reunion 9 years after their summer fling! I love the fact that much of the reunion between these two characters is typical mundane chit chat about work, life and everything around it. It’s beautiful to watch them just walking around Paris reminiscing about their time together, simply focusing on just the two of them and no one else. They almost seem disappointed that they have each moved on with their lives, especially for Jesse as he barely tells her about him being married – like he wants to pretend it is still that night in 1994, and nothing has changed. What’s interesting is that the film has quite an open ending – leaving Jesse and Celine alone together in her apartment – do they sleep together again, or does he leave to make his plane and go back to a life where he’s clearly unhappy?
Antichrist
Be prepared for an artsy, and rather sexual, opening scene paired with an unbelievably tragic moment! Truthfully, it made me angry that this couple didn’t have locks on their windows! Focused solely on Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, who like our characters in Wind Chill do not have characters names outside of “He” and “She”, as they traverse the grief following the loss of their infant son. “He” does what he can to help “She” with her grief following her collapse at their son’s funeral, leading them to stow away in a cabin together where her behaviour gradually becomes darker, longing for sadomasochistic sex, which for me felt like she was trying to punish both of them for engaging in sexual behaviour as their son died. I’m a little confused as to why Von Trier decided to call this Antichrist as there is nothing demonic about the film, unless his implication is that grief itself is some form of hellish force and it has some sort of supernatural power over us as people. I also felt like I missed something that explained why the grass and the woods suddenly scared her so much but I wonder if this cabin is the last place they took their son in the summer. I felt that Defoe’s visions seemed really out of place until I realized, each one showed a young animal dying – a chick eaten by an eagle, a fox cub eating its own entrails. Still didn’t understand the Chaos Reigns part though…or why she drills a grindstone into his leg! In the end I found this film really confusing, the way it somehow went from a couple grieving to a story about witchcraft…
