Unknown White Male

You'd think a movie about a young man who suffers from sudden, complete, and inexplicable amnesia would turn out to be a depressing experience. Rupert Murray's "Unknown White Male" tells the story of his friend Doug Bruce, who found himself on the train to Coney Island one day without the slightest idea how he got there, or what his name might be. Instead of the depressing tale you'd expect, this intimate documentary turns out to be a gripping and occassionally profound inquiry into the nature of memory, identity, and self.

From the initial Coney Island ordeal through Doug's identification, his reunion with family and friends to his slow acceptance of his new life, Murray observes his subject with skill and empathy. As it turns out, Doug's life was the kind most of us wouldn't mind rediscovering for ourselves. A former stockbroker who had retired by 30, Doug owns a swank loft in the Village, has family in England and Italy, and finds himself in the company of several caring ex-girlfriends. Without any personal memories, he sets out to rediscover the world with the eyes of a newborn: snow, Chinese food, fireworks, the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace--it's all brand-new. The immediate joy he takes in a world made fresh again is inspiring.

According to those who knew him before, Doug is also a brand-new person, more reflective and attentive, subtly altered by having his slate of memories wiped clean. Frought with practical and philosophical conumdrums, amnesia has always made a fascinating topic for the movies. Stranger than the fictions of "Memento," "The Man Without a Past," "Spellbound," "The Bourne Identity," or "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," Doug's all-too-real case is full of paradoxes. Reflected in his shell-shocked face and searching eyes, we recognize mysteries that haunt us all: the fragility of our brains, the resilience of our minds. Doctors say that his memory is likely to return, but it seems that the new Doug has already made peace with his brand-new life.