Borges and I
Tonight the new series of Arena opens with a unique profile of one of the great literary figures of our time, the blind Argentine poet and storyteller, Jorge Luis Borges.
Now 84, he is the acknowledged master of the rich new literature of South America. Above all, Borges's stories are a dazzling exploration of his own mind and his own limitless curiosity. His magical tales are often rooted in puzzles and paradoxes. Imagine a man who can forget absolutely nothing, a knife that mysteriously controls the destinies of those who handle it, a point in space that contains everything that exists.
Bringing together an exotic miscellany of incident and reference, Borges's work draws on the extraordinary landscape of Argentina and Uruguay-with their traditions of gauchos, horses, and old-time knife fighters-and on his profound and vivid love of books, especially those of other times and other places. Filmed in Uruguay, Buenos Aires and Paris, tonight's programme re-creates some of Borges's most memorable stories, among them Death and the Compass, The Meeting and Funes the Memorious.
Photography MIKE soothon
Sound recordist JOHN HOOPER Film editor AROAN FISHER Associate producer
NORMAN THOMAS DI GIOVANNI
Executive producer ALAN YENTOB Director david WHEATLEY