Borges Film – Profile of a Writer

Profile of a Writer, Vol. 7: Jorge Luis Borges

1993, Germany (English language), 76 min.
RM Arts/HomeVision: VHS

Directed by David Wheatley.

Synopsis

Producer’s Description: Arguably the greatest writer ever to come out of Latin America, Jorge Luis Borges was a master at making postmodern literary theory accessible—even thrilling—by dramatizing it in compact, mind-bending stories. Although his unusual upbringing and his many controversial political sympathies once overshadowed his literary legacy— wide-ranging body of work that includes criticism and poetry as well as his trademark ficciones—Borges has indisputably taken his place in history as one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Now the ambitious “Profile of a Writer” series examines Borges’s extraordinary life and work, using dramatizations of his most memorable stories and rare interview footage with the author at his Buenos Aires home. Filmed just three years before his death in 1986, this program makes a bold attempt to relate Borges’ private life to his public persona, and the real man to his fictitious world—a glimpse inside the mind and heart of a genius.

Comments

The Garden of Forking Paths offers these comments submitted by “E,” a Garden visitor:

This documentary is mostly in English, and features interviews of Borges in his eighties, along with shots of Borges in his apartment, in the Recoleta, reciting Anglo Saxon verse, and walking the streets of Buenos Aires with María Kodama. It’s not a linear presentation, which is appropriate.

Profile of a Writer also includes very brief dramatizations of several Borges stories: “Funes the Memorious,” “The Circular Ruins,” “The South,” “Death and the Compass,” “The Encounter,” and (I believe) one of his early detective collaborations with Adolfo Bioy Casares. The actors speak their lines in Spanish, but a voiceover provides English translations. If you’ve read the stories, it’s quite fun, even if you’re not adept at Spanish. Profile offers a wonderful view of the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking Borges (he plays “Old Borges” in a scene from “The Other” along with an young actor playing “Young Borges”). There is also a brief moment where a spectacled child actor speaks to him in Spanish before appearing in “The Encounter.”

Additional Information

Profile of a Writer
You can watch the entire documentary on YouTube.

Author: Allen B. Ruch
Last Modified: 28 August 2024
Borges Film Page: Borges & Film
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