Unknown White Male (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Rupert Murray

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Tagline:

If you lost your past, would you want it back?

Plot:

The true story of Doug Bruce who woke up on Coney Island with total amnesia. This documentary follows him as he rediscovers himself and the world around him.

Plot Keywords:

Amnesia | Giving A Toast | Based On True Story

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Doug Bruce	...	Himself
Rupert Murray	...	Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Rupert Murray

Produced by
Vanessa Arteaga	....	executive producer: Wellspring
Beadie Finzi	....	producer
Marie Therese Guirgis	....	executive producer: Wellspring
Robyn Hutt	....	executive producer: Court TV
Steve Aaron Misiura	....	assistant producer
Jess Search	....	executive producer
Ryan Werner	....	executive producer: Wellspring

Original Music by
Mukul

Cinematography by
Lance Bangs
Orlando Stuart

Film Editing by
Rupert Murray

Production Design by
Tony Brook

Production Management
Kathy Hale	....	production manager

Sound Department
Jovan Ajder	....	sound designer
James Clark	....	studio assistant
Kenny Clark	....	dubbing mixer
Steve Cook	....	sound supervisor
Alex Hudd	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steven Parker	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Steve Parker)
Kath Pollard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Johnathan Rush	....	studio assistant

Visual Effects by
Katja Hollmann	....	digital lab supervisor: Lipsync Post

Editorial Department
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post-production: Lip Sync Post

Other crew
Josh Braun	....	distribution advisor
Kay Cundall	....	production accountant
Roger Kass	....	distribution advisor
Johnson Millar	....	legal advisor
Michael Thornton	....	distribution advisor

Production Companies

• Court TV
• FilmFour
• Spectre Films

Distributors

• Wellspring Media (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Court TV (2005) (USA) (TV)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Lip Sync Post  video to film transfer

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for drug references and brief strong language.

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Ireland:PG | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Company:

Court TV

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: How much of our past lives, the thousands of moments we experience, helps to make us who we are? If you took all of these remembrances, these memories, away, what would be left? How much is our personality, our identity, determined by the experiences we have, and how much is already there - pure "us"?

Movie Connections:

References Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)

Soundtrack:

It's Cruel

Interesting topic handled poorly

I saw this film last night and was very disappointed with it. It is quite apparent that the filmmakers have no training in how to construct an interesting story. This film is about as interesting as watching someone's home movies. The interviews with Doug, his family and friends make no attempt to delve into the startling revelation that Doug has completely lost all sense of his past. They all might as well be talking about what Doug plans to do after graduating from art school rather than talk about how Doug will handle "re-starting" his existence at age 37. There seem to be some small clues in the film that may explain how poorly it was put together. Doug spends little time back in Europe with his former friends and family and they don't seem to make the journey to visit him either (except for the filmmaker). Doug himself mentions that his British mates seem to have deep feelings for him but they seem concealed by a typical British avoidance of such emotion.

That is exactly how this film feels (or doesn't feel). There is almost no emotional connection to the film or the subjects (even Doug). You don't really even walk away with a "There but for the grace of God go I" empathy towards Doug. The most riveting emotional notes are in the first 10 minutes as Doug recalls the first hours of his amnesia and his complete feeling of being lost and real terror about not even knowing who he might be able to call to come pick him up from the hospital. After that, it is if the film has been sterilized of all emotional "infection". Even as a factual depiction of this extreme form of amnesia it falls very short of being informative or interesting.

Without apologizing for the filmmakers, I can understand how they would not want to use this opportunity to manipulate or exploit Doug's situation or his condition by forcing some kind of confrontation with Doug's past. But the film goers don't get any real kind of bridge with Doug's past either (or his present for that matter). Without that, you can't really move yourself emotionally into either wanting Doug to regain his memory or rooting for him to carry on with a new existence that is different and separate from his past. It is almost as if even his old friends and family didn't really know him all that well so there wasn't much of Doug for them to lose.

This movie should have some kind of theme to it. Loss...renewal...exploration...frustration...something...anything! And the filmmaker would have been better served to get some professional help with the subject and maybe take more time with the project to see if a more interesting story develops.