Reviews

Unknown White Male

Kris Rothstein

In 2003 Douglas Bruce rode the subway to Coney Island, having forgotten where he was going and who he was. His friend Rupert Murray was one of many directors interested in bringing this story of complete amnesia to the screen, and Murray’s Unknown White Male was one of the most intriguing films at the 2005 Vancouver International Film Festival. In a question-and-answer period after the screening, Murray maintained that his friend is not much changed and is becoming more like the old Doug every day, but a different story emerges onscreen. Before he lost his memory, Doug Bruce had been a privileged Englishman, a successful stockbroker who had retired by the age of thirty to study photography. He was arrogant, distant and superficial, but the amnesia transformed him into an introspective, genuine, loving man. Even his photography improved immensely. This is an extraordinary story, told through Bruce’s own video diary with footage from his past life and such mind-boggling scenes as the day he met his father and sisters for the first time.

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