Mirror Images

I love when films collide. You always wonder if it is just chance, or rather great minds thinking alike. Sometimes it is the image, but other times it is the feeling or theme that unites two seemingly different films. What got me thinking about this was a comparison I read about certain scenes of Lars Von Trier's Antichrist and the films of Tarkovsky (who that film was dedicated to).

Most of the images below share a visual, but also something more. For example, the shots of Ingrid Bergman and Ebru Ceylan are not all that similar upon first glance- yet the reason I included both were because their characters are both surrounded by historic ruins (Pompeii and Ishakpasa) while they were dealing with their own crumbling relationships. This idea was also echoed in Wong Kar-Wai's brilliant In The Mood For Love during the final scenes at Angkor Wat.

The images of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall and Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullman are hauntingly similar, even more so when you realize that both films deal with two women becoming one (or three, depending on how you look at it).

Jules Et Jim and Bande À Part. I don't like to repeat things on this blog, but in this case, how could I not? Total freedom and endless youth. It doesn't get any better than this.

The stills from La Dolce Vita and Lost In Translation are remarkable because of what we can't hear or understand: the disconnect, the unfinished, and the fact that both endings make you wonder how they really end.

I could keep analyzing these all day. If you've seen the films of the first two images below (Ordet & Stellet Licht), the similarities should be pretty obvious. If you haven't, I don't want to ruin what is one of the most remarkable sisterhoods in all of cinema.

Sources From Top To Bottom:

Ordet Vs. Stellet Licht
Francesco, Guillare Di Dio Vs. Ordet
Jungfrukällan Vs. Offret
Viaggio In Italia Vs. Iklimler
3 Women Vs. Persona
Offret Vs. Das Weisse Band
Jules Et Jim Vs. Bande À Part
La Dolce Vita Vs. Lost In Translation