A Life (1986)

Genres - Drama  |   Run Time - 75 min.  |   Countries - Canada  |   MPAA Rating - NR
  • AllMovie Rating
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Mark Deming

Canadian filmmaker Frank Cole directed this experimental feature which contrasts two places that are as different as could be, but are both important parts of Cole's way of life. Featuring no dialogue and only natural sound effects, A Life cuts back and forth between two locations -- the arid plains of the Sahara Desert, and a small room in Ottawa which houses nothing more than a bed and a desk. The room is part of Cole's home, while the desert represents another world of dangerous but exciting possibilities. A Life was Frank Cole's first feature film; he would return to the Sahara for his 2000 feature Life Without Death, which chronicled Cole's attempt to cross the desert by himself, traveling from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red sea with nothing more than what his camel could carry. A Life was one of only a small handful of films Frank Cole would complete in his lifetime; he was murdered in a scuffle with thieves in Timbuktu in 2000.