Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Man Without a Past (2002)

RATING:80%
FORMAT:DVD


Brilliant surrealist black-comedy whose implausible plotting makes it a totally engrossing look at the nature of human identity.

A man, apparently beaten to death, comes back to life to find he’s forgotten who he is. Bizarre adventures follow in the near-alternate universe of the homeless and their helpers: The Salvation Army. Slowly, he rebuilds his life but still has no memory of who or what he used to be; leading to fatalist acceptance coupled with a desire to become the manager of a rock 'n' roll band.

The acting and direction is completely deadpan to emphasise the odd netherworld explored - analogous to the abnormal psychological state of the central character. Redeemed, he finally comes to terms with the better man he has now become - as well as the bad man he once was: Being savagely beaten was clearly the best thing that could ever have happened to him.


Copyright © 2012 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
Posted by Frank TALKER™ at 11:36
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Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.



Albert Camus… (1913-60), French-Algerian writer & philosopher. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt: New York: Vintage Books, (1984; page 182.)