Jakten på hukommelsen

In this Norwegian documentary we follow Vind which is going back to China where he lost all of his memory. He knows his identity from papers, but doesn't remember a single thing or face. The film crew follow the tracks of his travel to China, to find out more about him, and help him finding back his identity.

Vind, originally called Øyvind, suddenly got lost while he was in China. After some months he is found, but he doesn't recognize even his parents or what he likes to do, his own sexual preference, the routine of brushing teeth, or hasn't even an understanding of seasons changing. His complete hard drive is blanked out.

The film is not only about the very rare diagnosis of retrograde amnesia, it is also about reconstructing a life. Vind wakes up on a train in China, with no memory what so ever, and realizes that he has some mechanical memory, like writing on a keyboard. But he also have to struggle with friends not believing him, actually thinking he is faking the whole thing. We meet his family and friends, telling about the experience where he feels more Chinese than Norwegian.

I wasn't too interested in watching this film, and didn't go to cinema to see I, bu bought it on DVD, and waited more than a year before I put it in the player. But it's interesting as a documentary on a rare case, and quite good narratively done.