Unkown White Male (Rupert Murray, 2006)

Unknown White Male a documentary about Doug Bruce who wakes up one afternoon on the train at Coney Island with no idea of who he is. He has lost all his memories of his experiences, but he still has his “procedural” memory allowing him to walk and talk and hold a fork. In one early moment, we see how he can write his signature even though he doesn’t know what his name is. As a doc, the movie is kind of a bust. Its intensely fascinating early on, but starts to drag towards the end as there is no real climactic change or revelation to be had. Also, despite the fact that the film is under 90 minutes, Murray feels the need to attempt to channel Errol Morris at every turn, filling the screen with fisheye lens shots and stock footage.

However as a subject, Bruce is fascinating. Witnessing him attempting to rebuild his life is at once horrifying and exhilirating. It is noteworthy that everyone who comes into contact with him after his accident talks about how much less sarcastic and biting he is. He has lost his edge but he’s more sensitive. He’s less talkative but also less guarded. Is this what happens when someone forgets about all the ways that life has beaten them down and gets to start out fresh? Bruce talks about how he wishes he could remember his dead mother, but I can’t imagine he wishes to remember spending the last months of her life watching her waste away in a hospital. I have to admit, that as the film went on the thing I most found myself feeling was jealousy. Apologies to everyone who knows and loves me in this life, but if someone sat a button down in front of me that would cause me to wipe it all clean, I am hard pressed to say I wouldn’t hit it.

It wasn’t until after seeing the movie that I learned there is some controversy regarding its truthfulness. These claims seem to fall into two camps - the film is a mockumentary and Rupert Murray is pulling a Spinal Tap or Rupert is an unwitting victim to Bruce’ masterful fakery. I have to say I have a hard time believing either of these is true. Aside from anything else, its impossible to keep a secret in this world, and if Murray had assembled a cast of actors and actresses to play parts and pretend to be the police and doctors that met Bruce, the word would have gotten out by now. You don’t pretend to be a cop in a high-profile documentary and not have some trouble come from it.

As far as Bruce himself its less clear. If he is faking, he fooled not only me but everyone he knows and who has spent their life with him. To a person they all talk about how he has subtly changed since the accident. This comes through in a series of home movies Murray had taken of him and Bank and their pals gallavanting across the globe partying it up. The Bruce in those films has a cocky swagger, and the new Bruce is much more laid back and contemplative. I don’t see how you fake that, and then also fool all your friends and family, and not slip up even once. The only place I possibly saw some of the “old” Doug slipping through was at the very end when he is addressing the camera on the rooftop, almost challenging us to wonder who we really are, but I don’t know.

The one claim I’ve read a lot is that everyone in the film is too good-looking and smart for it to possibly be real life. This is just a big wtf in my book. Hey, news flash, a rich person who has had a silver spoon in his mouth is going to have other hot rich friends. These people also have fucked up shit happen to them. Why is this so hard for some people to comprehend? Shit, its not like his friends back in the UK were such studs either.

Also I am so fucking sick of Stella Artois commercials. Stop. Please.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.