What if you had a comprehensive picture of all the lives you've lived so far, instead of just the one you're in right now? What if every reincarnation so far was laid out in tapestry form so you could see the decisions, mistakes, trials and cathartic outcomes of every chapter? Bill Forsyth's Being Human explores this in tender, wistful fashion as one human man (Robin Williams) lives out four very different lifetimes that unfold centuries apart. In the first he's a prehistoric caveman somewhere off the coast of Scotland, caring for a family he eventually loses and will not find again until thousands of years later. Williams is restrained and subdued in each radically different characterization here, from a Roman slave to a Spanish colonialist to a displaced Scotsman and, in the present day incarnation, a 1980's NYC businessman attempting to reconnect with his two estranged children. There's a deep poignancy and emotional resonance to both the film and his multiple performances that hold it up, helped by a wonderful supporting cast including John Turturro, Hector Elizondo, William H. Macy, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tony Curran, Robert Carlyle, Bill Nighy, David Morrissey, Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Hyde, Lindsay Crouse, Lorraine Bracco, down to earth narration from the great Theresa Russell and a show-stopping turn from Anna Galiena as a 16th century Italian widow who forms a romantic connection with one of William's incarnations. Reincarnation does indeed exist, whether people choose to believe in it or not, and I think that films about it are important and essential to understanding our purpose and overarching journey through time and the cosmos; Cloud Atlas comes to mind, as does What Dreams May Come (also starring Williams) and if you compare those with this, a sad yet predictable pattern emerges: they were all excellent, spiritually inclined films that were all not received well at the time, this one particularly languishes in obscurity and I had no idea it even existed until I was searching for Williams films I hadn't seen on iTunes. I've no clue why the film hasn't been more widely seen, whether it's that people aren't ready to explore the subject matter or some behind the scenes drama, but in any case it's more than worth a watch and even finds notes of genuine profundity, especially in its hypnotic, thematically satisfying final few beats.
Review of Being Human
