Enemy

Welcome to part two of our delve into films-that-Jake-Gyllenhaal-confused-me-with.  Although each time I watch a film in which he plays the main character I am thoroughly confused, I genuinely enjoy the search for answers as to what the hell just happened afterwards.

One of the times I did a deep-dive to figure out the hidden meaning behind a film of his was after I watched Enemy.

The film begins with Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal), a professor who teaches college history, renting a film and, upon viewing it, finds his physical doppelgänger Anthony Claire (Gyllenhaal... again).  The film becomes increasingly more confusing as Bell proceeds to stalk Claire's life, completely enthralled with the fact that they look exactly the same.  Telling the two apart gets more and more challenging as the film goes on, considering you're trying to tell the same person apart (what?).

However, the point of this film, as coined by the director, is that it is a documentary about Gyllenhaal's subconscious.  Throughout the film we are left wondering if these two characters are actually the same person although we are continually led to believe that they are not.

Claire's pregnant wife, who is the only one who is questioning this whole situation, is uneasy about their relationship and his faithfulness, which leads her to believe that he is living a second life to rid himself of the commitment he has tied himself to (his child).  This severely pains Claire's wife when she receives a call from Bell, who seeks information about Claire so they can meet.  Claire's wife finds Bell after the call and finds out which college he works for and meets him there.  When she sees him for the first time, she is visibly saddened because she thinks her idea that her husband has been leading two different lives is true.  She then phones her husband and the director makes it obvious that Claire picks up just as Bell leaves the frame.

So... are they the same person? And what is the deal with all of these spiders?

When the two identical men meet, they are uneasy.  Bell then explains the meeting to his mother who starts responding with facts that don't apply to Bell, but apply to Claire.  For example, she asks Bell if he wants some of his favorite organic blueberries, which Claire stated were his favorite in a conversation with his wife earlier in the film.  Bell says he doesn't like blueberries, and his mother retorts, "of course you do!" Bell's mother also adds a comment about his unfaithfulness.  This leads me to believe that Claire is part of Bell's subconscious.

Allow me to explain.

Claire makes a deal with Bell to take his girlfriend out so they can be "even," because Claire believes Bell has slept with his wife.  The only reason Bell agrees is so he can return home to Claire's wife, who is actually his wife, and remain faithful.  Claire is but a figment of Bell's imagination and plays the unfaithful, rule-breaking role that Bell wishes he could play, but can't because he feels that he is trapped with his pregnant wife.

In short, Bell is the only REAL character with a practical job and a wife who had a dream of acting that took him nowhere; Claire is Bell's subconscious who succeeded in acting and is not tied down with a family so he can be with other women.

I want to make it clear that all of these interpretations may or may not be factual.  They are exactly that: interpretations.

As for the spiders, they must represent Bell's fear of women and being trapped in his relationship with his pregnant wife.  Since spiders are a fearful symbol anyways, it must carry through.  This motif is completely an opinion, but I just can't think of anything else.

I have a feeling that Bell has some sort of mental illness as well that attributes to his wife having so much patience with him, but that's a whole other story.