Many people remember Philip Seymour Hoffman’s tour-de-force performance as Truman Capote in the biopic Capote, which earned him an Academy Award. Less well known is the fact that another movie was released shortly thereafter which covers almost exactly the same ground: Infamous. Both films are about Capote’s efforts to research and write his landmark book In Cold Blood, including his friendships with Harper Lee and one of the murderers. The similarity even extends to individual scenes which are practically identical in both, such as when Capote and Lee wait outside the courthouse as the killers are brought in. With Toby Jones in the lead role, Infamous is arguably even better than Capote. Yet it garnered not nearly as much attention, a fact lamented by producer Christine Vachon in her compelling account of how the movie got made, available in her book A Killer Life.
As it turns out, it’s not that uncommon for two competing movies with almost identical plot, characters, and setting to appear in the same year (or very nearly so). Let’s call these “Doppelgänger Movies”—not because they are about doppelgängers (two identical, unrelated people) but because the movies themselves are mirror images of each other. This year has seen a bumper crop of Doppelgänger Movies: most notably, two films about Alfred Hitchcock’s relationship with one of his blonde leading ladies during the making of an iconic horror film (Hitchcock and The Girl). We also had a pair of movies about a law enforcement agent battling an attack on the White House (Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down), and two productions about people confronting a mysterious, invisible wall that cuts them off from the rest of the world (Under the Dome and The Wall). Another set of Doppelgänger Movies is in the making with a duo of films about ships kidnapped by Somali pirates (A Hijacking and Captain Phillips).
Other recent examples include two movies from 2012 that reimagine the Snow White fairy tale (Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman) and twin period dramas from 2006 about European magicians (The Illusionist and The Prestige). Even earlier, we had two films about asteroids hitting the earth (Deep Impact and Armageddon) and two animated movies from the same year about ants, A Bug’s Life and Antz. For a behind-the-scenes look at the competition to produce the latter films, check out the biography of Steve Jobs, who owned the Pixar production company at the time it was making A Bug’s Life.
Do these movies show that Hollywood tends to capitalize on the latest blockbuster trend rather than find original ideas? Or rather, are they fascinating examples of synchronicity, showing how two different films can portray the same or very similar events from alternate perspectives? You be the judge. And while you’re at it, can you think of any other examples of Doppelgänger Movies? Feel free to share in the comments section!
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