This new documentary on Netflix is presented like a case. Each side presents their argument and the third act is the denouement. Almost as if the director wants us to make up our minds about what has transpired. And what has transpired is this - identical twins, one of whom loses his memory following a motorbike accident in 1982 and has had to rely entirely on his twin to reconstruct their past, which he duly does but is sparing on gruesome detail and heavy on embellishment. Remarkably, the brothers continue to keep the charade going for another decade and a half until they are forced to confront their past and two decades since, they are brought back together to bare all that happened in their childhood.
Right through the documentary, the viewer is given hints about what may have happened. Could it be that they were running a brothel? And is that why the boys were made to sleep in a shed and not given access to the main house? Could it be something far more sinister? Mention of their very strict and distant father hints at abuse in his hands.
Reconstruction is kept strictly to what is necessary and the brothers' pieces to the camera - framed really tight and spoken directly into the camera - is supported by one the twin's abundant photographs from the period immediately following his recovery as he wanted to commit everything to camera, lest he lose his memory again.
The final act felt rather theatrical and almost chat show-esque. The almost unbearably painful detail prefaced with a 'I've not told a told a soul about this until now', of events that left such deep, lasting trauma, seemed almost unnecessary. It would have been no less compelling to let the brothers have their time in private rather than have it play out on camera. That said, what is revealed packs quite a punch that left me reeling and desperately sad for their lost childhood.
We will never quite understand how the mind works and the role and function of memory in making us who we are. This story of brothers gradually repairing their lives, piece by small piece, is ultimately one of love, hope and healing together.
Title: Tell Me Who I Am
Duration: 1hr25
Director: Ed Perkins
Right through the documentary, the viewer is given hints about what may have happened. Could it be that they were running a brothel? And is that why the boys were made to sleep in a shed and not given access to the main house? Could it be something far more sinister? Mention of their very strict and distant father hints at abuse in his hands.
Reconstruction is kept strictly to what is necessary and the brothers' pieces to the camera - framed really tight and spoken directly into the camera - is supported by one the twin's abundant photographs from the period immediately following his recovery as he wanted to commit everything to camera, lest he lose his memory again.
The final act felt rather theatrical and almost chat show-esque. The almost unbearably painful detail prefaced with a 'I've not told a told a soul about this until now', of events that left such deep, lasting trauma, seemed almost unnecessary. It would have been no less compelling to let the brothers have their time in private rather than have it play out on camera. That said, what is revealed packs quite a punch that left me reeling and desperately sad for their lost childhood.
We will never quite understand how the mind works and the role and function of memory in making us who we are. This story of brothers gradually repairing their lives, piece by small piece, is ultimately one of love, hope and healing together.
Title: Tell Me Who I Am
Duration: 1hr25
Director: Ed Perkins
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