False Identity

It is always fascinating seeing what filmmakers will do with identity themes, such as when people entirely forget who they are. Amnesia stories are usually very absorbing. In most cases, amnesia is a transitory state which lasts for a relatively short while, but here we have a lead character played by Stacy Keach who has had such serious brain damage that his amnesic state has persisted for 17 years, during which time he has been locked up in prison for crimes he did not commit, and the story commences with his being let out. He has no idea who he really is, but he does realize that the identity under which he was convicted must be a false one. It is ironical that this film largely takes place in Lexington, California, a ghost town in Santa Clara County which is now covered by the Lexington Reservoir. For Keach himself plays a living ghost. He does this very well, and finds it easy to look puzzled and confused. The female lead is played by Geneviève Bujold when she was young and very cute. In this film she speaks slowly and strangely, as if she were on medication at the time, or perhaps because she was struggling to control an accent. Also, Bujold plays a radio announcer in the small town of Lexington with such lack of energy that surely no radio station would have tolerated such a limp announcer for more than a day. (Having once been a radio announcer, I am well aware of what is required.) That is therefore the least convincing aspect of the film. Apart from her slow speech and her wholly inadequate radio talent, Bujold is very good. She relates well to Keach, and their eventual involvement is believable. The film is directed by Stacy Keach's brother James Keach, and the supporting cast and crew lists are peppered with minor Keaches and also James's wife at the time, Mimi Maynard. Those intrigued by the surname Keach might be interested to know that the word 'queach', from which it may be derived, had the meaning in Middle English of a woody thicket. In his famous translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses in the sixteenth century, Arthur Golding speaks of a 'bushie queach'. I suppose a bushy queach might be Stacy with a beard? Well, just a thought. So the one thing that 'Queach' remembered in prison was the name Lexington, though not sure of which state. One of his con friends suggests a visit to Lexington, California, which is the nearest of the Lexingtons, just to see if it stirs any memories. The way the story then unfolds is not at all typical of the way things work in California, so the story must originally have been formulated to take place in a small Southern or Midwestern town, and they switched it to California for budget reasons. The film is adequately directed by James Queach, but there are some really bad shots, where people are obscured by objects or other sloppy things like that happen. Was this because (a) the cameraman was incompetent, (b) there was no money for retakes, or (3) the director was not doing his job properly? I think the cameraman has to take the fall. It turns out that Stacy's character really did come from Lexington, and that his evil younger brother, played with sinister conviction by Tobin Bell as a jealous, domineering psychopath, was behind the whole dastardly business (which is too complicated to explain in a review). Veronica Cartwright gets a chance to do some histrionic over the top drinking and sobbing and carrying on as the evil brother's wife. Will the evil brother be brought to justice? Or will all the bribed sheriffs and deputies of the town continue their reign of murder and mayhem, enslaved to the evil brother's dominance, power and money? (At one point in the film he actually says: 'I've got the money, I've got the power.') Can Stacy get his identity back? Or will the evil brother kill him first? Will good triumph over evil or evil triumph over good? 97 minutes to find out. And yes, this film is only available on a 20 year-old video, with the sound quality deteriorating on the dirty old tapes as the years go by. What is going to happen to all these currently obscure post-1960 movies which are not famous films with major stars, are not yet 'old movies' in the trendy sense, and are not yet being preserved properly or in any form of circulation? There are hundreds of them out there and nobody cares. By the time another generation comes along and values them, many will have been lost.

It's a curio! Who has seen it? I got it in a video store sale... and bought it because it starred Geneviève Bujold, a Montrealer just like me. Thought it would be good. But it is NOT! And it is not even bad! Because if it was bad it could become some kind of a cult movie. But a movie who is just not good... what do you do with this?!! The plot is complicated and not easy to follow... and I saw it dubbed in French!!! The acting is good (I mean, Bujold and Stacy Keach... not the others... Veronica Cartwright as an alcoholic spouse over acts...) The lighting is awful... and it is not even listed in Leonard Maltin's video movies bible... So... Tant pis!

This is clearly a film that has been neglected and bypassed, maybe even scrapped, which is a pity, because it presents one of Stacy Keach's best performances and also a remarkable one by Genevieve Bujold. She plays a Canadian from Montreal, like she is herself, so she plays herself, and no one could have done it better. Stacy Keach plays an ex-convict who has lost his memory and who knows nothing about himself, while the one thing he knows for some strange reason is to draw pictures. He doesn't know himself their origin, he paints out of a subconscious memory of which he has no control. The first scene of the film shows how he lost his mind - he is beaten all but to death and by some miracle survives and is taken care of, but his head damages are so severe so he must have a metal plate implanted in his skull. Although throughout almost the entire film he acts as the half way zombie he is supposed to be, you must always suspect some dormant raving monster inside with unlimited sources to let hidden forces out, and you will be rewarded - it will happen. But the long traumatic ascent to that final awakening is a strenuous ordeal for all involved, and there are many people involved in it, who don't want to speak about it but ultimately have to. It's a great mystery of amnesia involving more traumas than one, as Genevieve Bujold also has lost a husband, so there are many knots tied up in this local family drama, keeping a whole town in fear of being found out, but there are no secrets that will not ultimately be found out.

Two excellent actors, Stacy Keach and Geneviève Bujold, two of the best film actors ever. I've seen them both in many other great films, but never together. I've seen Geneviève in "Anne of the Thousand Days"(1969) with Richard Burton, "Swashbuckler"(1976) with the great Robert Shaw, "Another Man, Another Chance"(1977) with James Caan, "Coma"(1978) with Michael Douglas, "Tightrope"(1984) with Clint Eastwood, "Earthquake"(1974) with many other stars. Stacy Keach, I simply adore him. I've seen him in great films like: the excellent "The Traveling Executioner"(1970), "Brewster McCloud"(1970), "Fat City"(1972), "The New Centurions"(1972), "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (1972), "All the Kind Strangers"(1974), "Slave of the Cannibal God"(1978), "The Long Riders"(1980), "Mistral's Daughter"(1984), "Body Bags (1993). Here he plays an extraordinary role as an amnesiac, stuttering and with a disfigured face. Bujold is beautiful and full of sensitivity. Tobin Bell, known from many horror movies, is very good as an evil criminal brother. Veronica Cartwright very good in the role of the abused and alcoholic wife. The film can be boring for those who don't like the main actors, it's slow, a lot of dialogue and less action. Some good music.

An offbeat thriller , in which Stacy Keach (It took time before I had recognized him without his moustache) and Genevieve Bujold ( bilingual ,she had a successful career in France too,directed by Malle , Resnais and De Broca)are directed by the former's younger brother. The story is not new ,amnesia is a subject which was often broached .Besides, if the screenplay is complex but absorbing , the prologue is confused and some acting leaves a lot to be desired (Tobin Bell overacts more than Veronica Cartwright) .

Another variant of the Abel/Cain myth , a tribute to the heroes killed in action via a radio show, "false identity " ,in spite of its flaws ,does not deserve to be ignored.