Customer Reviews

Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A young American man wakes up naked in a Montreal parking lot, with no memory of what who he is or how he got there. All he remembers about himself is that he is gay. So begins "Amnesia: The James Brighton Enigma" (Canadian 2005), a fictional story based on real life events.

The first thing that the young man eventually remembers is what he believes his name to be: James Brighton. He remembers other isolated things, such as some music he likes, expresses a familiarity with television broadcasting equipment, and easily picked up French as a second language when sent to a class. But he still claims not to remember where he is from, or how he got to that parking lot in Montreal. He is diagnosed with a rare type of amnesia, likely associated with a severe mental or emotional shock of some kind, but all therapies fail in trying to find out more. He turns for help to a staffer from the local gay helpline, as well as a doctoral student who has taken an interest in his case. He appears on a tabloid TV show broadcast throughout the United States, hoping that will provide leads as to who he really might be. When some calls come in, they suggest that James isn't who he claims to be at all, and perhaps faked his amnesia in order to force a new start away from legal problems in the US. What is likely his real life comes back to him gradually, in flashbacks, but we are never quite sure if that is the truth either.

An interesting approach to an amnesia story, with kind of a Lifetime / Movie of the Week vibe, though the acting is a bit better than that genre. The writer puts an interesting hook on the old "I am so much more than just a gay man"-tirade by introducing us to someone who doesn't know anything about himself *except* that he is a gay man, and raising related issues of how important identity is to one's wellbeing.
The film is paced well except for the last half hour or so, when characters seem to appear without any real introduction, and disappear just as quickly, making it difficult to follow what is happening. I was also confused trying to follow the dialogue which alternates in English and French (for which subtitles are provided), sometimes in the same sentence. Despite its faults, this is a worthy effort, and I give it four stars out of five. DVD has only chapter stops, photo gallery and a trailer; a director commentary and more background info on the real case (which is provided on the film's website) would have been nice. Not rated, but would only be a PG-13 for gay content.

AMNESIA: THE JAMES BRIGHTON ENIGMA (Amnésie: L'énigme James Brighton) is an independent Canadian film based on fact, but with alterations of names and places to protect/enhance the real people. The title's two operative words are 'amnesia' and 'enigma' because watching this film places the viewer in the uncomfortable position of confusion as to fact and fiction - a state of main that must imitate the art of the story! The story is a version of an incident that occurred in 1998: a young nude lad was found in a deserted lot in Montréal, taken to a hospital where he was found to have total amnesia except for the fact that he knows he is gay and he believes his name is 'James Brighton'. The story is enhanced by a strong script by Bertrand Lachance and Denis Langlois (who also directs) and by a cast that is able and convincing, especially the main character James Brighton/Matthew Honeycutt (Dusan Dukic).

The grit of the film lies not so much in the storyline (that becomes fragmented at regular intervals due to the moments of memory return the main character experiences), but instead in the manner in which our amnesiac struggles to find his identity, a family, and a sense of belonging. Through the help of social workers, detectives, a gay hotline service, and the media the 'true' identity is slowly unveiled, but not without some serious setbacks - often presented to us as flashback bits and pieces as to who our amnesiac may be. The transitions between the Montreal scenes and the subsequent scenes in Tennessee (the apparent home of the amnesiac now known as Matthew Honeycutt) are choppy with sidebars of Pentecostal church services adding to the confused mix. Yet in the end the pleasure of the film is up to the viewer's interpretation of all the 'facts' that have been discovered: we are allowed to participate in the enigma. In Québecois, French, and English with variable subtitles. Grady Harp, December 07

This is basically a fictional documentary-style film. Character development is minimal. Although "unrated," the movie is PG-13. Don't expect sex, nudity or violence. Worth watching once. I felt it was a well made, engaging effort. The packaging and trailer may, however, lead you to believe it's a steamy, character driven movie---which it's not.

Okay film about amnesiac trying to discover his identity, haunted by a dim memory of a violent incident in his past. Dusan Dukic does a fine job in the role of the amnesiac. The rest of the cast is generally good as well.

The problem with "Amnesia" is that it tries to be too many things at the same time. It can't decide if it is a psychological drama, gay love story, thriller, or maybe something else. It works best as a sort of psychological whodunit, as it traces the efforts of the amnesiac to recover his past, aided and abetted by friendly doctors and gay advocates. Tension builds as he slowly pieces together his past life.

But the movie loses focus in the second half. Characters appear seemingly out of nowhere and then disappear again mysteriously. For reasons best known to the filmmakers, plot elements are dropped in which serve no purpose in advancing the story. Chronology is a problem as well. When do these events take place? Nonlinear films are all well and good, but by the end of the movie one should have at least an idea of when the various incidents took place.

Not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but, unfortunately, not a terribly good one either.

disappointing film. a lot in the description of the film by early
reviewers, i just didn't see in the DVD release.
i have learned that what is shown in the theatre is not what we the
general public get to see in the released DVD.
if you get a chance RENT before you buy

This is a tragic story of two lovers whose relationship comes to an abrupt end by picking up strangers stranded on a lonely highway. Matthew and Jeff were deeply in love on their way to a gay festival in Montreal. Matthews stops for three drunk guys whose car broke down. After Jeff mentioned where they were going, they become victims of three homophobic white guys. Matthews was forced to stop the car after a knife is pressed against his neck. Jeff is beaten (possibly to death) on the ground. The guys went on to take Matthew to Montreal, there they make him to take his clothes and try to rape him. They abandoned him. After Matthew comes around, he gets dressed and walked to the nearest hospital suffering from total amnesia due to trauma.

The movie goes on to the tribulations of people trying to help him medically, with dwelling, and new friends, in Montreal. The only two things that Matthews remembers were that he was gay and his name was Jeff Brighton (the truth is unravel as the movie progresses.) He spoke French as his grandmother was Cajun and taught him. A psychiatrist helped him initially with a lot of therapy. An older male member of a Montreal Gay Organization offers him housing and introduces him to the gay community by making new friends. But Matthew becomes very despondent, frustrated, and angry with his memory loss. After a few commercials on the local TV and the US. His family from Tennessee comes to claim him.

Also a Canadian French student (Sylvie) doing her thesis in criminology becomes involved in studying and researching his case. She becomes very interested in him and his future.

Matthews moves back with his mom and family in Tennessee but it is short lived. He moves away and starts driving everywhere looking for peace in his tortured life. He finally settles in Virginia, meets another guy, a French teacher in a local college. He starts building his relationship with him, and a new life. Sylvie comes to visit for one last time, but get a letter from Matthew saying goodbye. Matthews never regains his memory. The pieces are put together in the movie for the benefit of the audience. There is a scene where Matthews kicks his lover on the ground, probably to save his own life.

This is a Canadian movie, made in Montreal, French Quebec, and both French and English are both spoken. This is TLA release.

This is not too bad of a movie, and it is mostly presenting a story of a man trying to regain back his life after a bad trauma, it could be a depressing movie. Other than the bedroom scenes between Matthew and Jeff, the movie is basically a very serious drama.

This small Canadian movie released in 2005 tackles a frequent cinematic topic: if we forget who are are, who are we? This "drawn from truth" story reimagines the circumstances of a young man found lost in Montreal with no recollection of himself or his former life. His nascent sense of self offers the possibility that he is gay, so a very enlightened Montreal offers resources for this man to reintegrate into a community where he might make friends. Unfortunately, he cannot recapture his true past -- or can he? As the story moves along, we are left puzzled and slightly confused about the nature of reality as we learn more about this man and his earlier and later life. The film is technically adequate, but looks as if it were shot direct to video with less than optimal lighting. The sound is fair, and there is a decent musical score. The acting and directing are good although somewhat unforgettable. The movie says a lot about the Canadian penchant for taking care of others without prejudgment -- and that's a good thing.

I don't know what the reviewer "Gordon Larko" is smoking. For some eason, he feels compelled to leave the EXACT SAME horrible review and 1 STAR rating for all GAY-THEMED movies. Probably a "personal problem" of his. Hopefully this review will help correct this imbalance. I can't believe AMAZON is allowing this GAY BASHER to use their website as a venue to spread his hate.
By the way, This is an absolutely WONDERFUL movie!

I was hoping for an exciting film. It had the potential to be a very intriguing movie; however, in my opinion, the direction was scattered and not very well thought out. It was very difficult to follow the plot. The acting was good.

Made it to the end without too much effort. Haven't used it as a frisbee which is my benchmark for quality.