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Double Take

Double Take

Johan Grimonprez
Belgium, Germany, Netherlands
2009
80 min
Retrospective: Johan Grimonprez
Synopsis

The Cold War, Hitchcock, and the rise of television are ingeniously interconnected in this collage of space-race news footage, hilarious coffee ads, and excerpts from Hitchcock’s thrillers and trailers. Was the Cold War just one huge MacGuffin?

Personal paranoia mirrors the political intrigue in which Hitchcock and his elusive double obsess over the perfect murder, in a tale of odd couples and hilarious double deals. As television rises in popularity, and the Khrushchev and Nixon kitchen debate rattles on, gender politics take off and Hitchcock is rebranded as a TV personality.

Based on a script written by award-winning novelist Tom McCarthy and inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’s essay “August 25, 1983”, Double Take targets the global rise of the culture of fear as television hijacks cinema and the way we view historical events.

Subverting an array of TV footage, Grimonprez traces catastrophe culture’s relentless assault on the home, from the inception of televised images to our present-day zapping neurosis.

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Credits
80 min
color / black and white
DCP
Spoken languages: English
Director
    Johan Grimonprez
    Johan Grimonprez
Production
    Emmy Oost for Zap-O-Matik
    Emmy Oost for Zap-O-Matik
Co-production
    Volya Films,
    Nikovantastic Film
    Volya Films,
    Nikovantastic Film
Cinematography
    Martin Testar,
    Hans Buyse
    Martin Testar,
    Hans Buyse
Editing
    Dieter Diependaele,
    Tyler Hubby
    Dieter Diependaele,
    Tyler Hubby
Music
    Christian Halten
    Christian Halten
Screenplay
    Johan Grimonprez
    Johan Grimonprez
World Sales
    Umedia
    Umedia
Distribution for the Netherlands
    Eye Filmmuseum
    Eye Filmmuseum
Screening copy
    Eye Filmmuseum
    Eye Filmmuseum
More from the program section Retrospective: Johan Grimonprez
In homage to our Guest of Honor, IDFA presents seven films by critically acclaimed artist and filmmaker Johan Grimonprez. With his singular exploration into present-day media, his work examines how our collective imagination shapes our understanding of historical events.
View program section
Blue Orchids

Blue Orchids

Johan Grimonprez
2017
48 min