Borges And Me film review: Sprightly comedy
Insight and humour radiates from Marc Turtletaub’s eccentric road movie
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Based on Jay Parini’s 2020 memoir, Borges And Me: An Encounter, Marc Turtletaub’s road movie is a labour of love, a spry comic narrative set in Scotland circa 1971. It’s a mostly true story of how student Parini (Fionn Whitehead) ended up taking the Argentinian father of magic realism Jorge Luis Borges (Luis Gnecco) from St Andrews to Stromness and back at the request of his tutor Alastair Reid (Alan Cumming). Despite being a heavyweight of literature, Borges is not Parini’s only problem; he’s supposedly finishing his thesis by interviewing poet George Mackay Brown, played by Peter Mullan.
That conversation proves to be part of a chain of events which includes a trip to Culloden, Borges getting thrown out of Lower Largo’s public library for repeatedly licking the books, and a confrontation with the Loch Ness monster. Although neither of the central characters are natives, Scotland is front and centre as the catalyst for these adventures; director Turtletaub also offers memorable roles for John Gordon Sinclair, Morven Christie and Freya Mavor as local colour along the way. Borges And Me is an insightful coming-of-age story, one that appeals not just to literature fans, but those who enjoy a traditional odd-couple narrative.
Borges And Me was reviewed as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival.