Criminal Adaptations
Criminal Adaptations is a True Crime/Movie Review Podcast discussing some of your favorite films, and the true crime stories that inspired them. With hosts Remi, who spent over a decade working in the film and television industry, and Ashley, a clinical psychologist and forensic evaluator. They discuss a new movie each week and compare the film to the real life events that the film is based on.
Criminal Adaptations
Brandon Lee & The Crow (Bonus Episode)
Brandon Lee was more than the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee – he was an artist searching for his own voice in a world that never let him forget his father’s name. For this season’s bonus episode, we trace Brandon’s path from a childhood marked by loss to a promising career just beginning to take off. His hauntingly powerful performance as Eric Draven in The Crow (1994) was meant to be his breakout moment. Instead, it ended in tragedy due to careless mistakes and cost-cutting measures. Tune in to hear about the life Brandon Lee lived, the dreams he carried, his infectious optimism, and the legacy he left behind.
Primary Sources:
LA Times (1993)
Biography (2021)
The Guardian (2024)
Rolling Stone (2024)
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You're gonna say I shouldn't be in the cemetery in the middle of the night, right?
Brandon Lee:Safest place in the world to be.
Ernie Hudson:It's cause everybody's dead. I knew you'd come here.
Brandon Lee:It's really late, Sarah.
Ernie Hudson:You didn't say goodbye.
Brandon Lee:You're just gonna have to forgive me for that and you're never coming back. It's funny. Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial.
Remi:Nothing is trivial. Career and tragic death of Brandon Lee. Brandon Lee was a talented young actor and martial artist who was, of course, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee. But Brandon's promising career was tragically cut short in 1993 during the filming of the Crow, when a prop gun mishap on set led to his untimely death at just 28 years old.
Remi:Bruce Lee was a legendary martial artist, actor, filmmaker and cultural icon whose influence reshaped perceptions of martial arts and Asian representation in Western media. Lee combined traditional martial arts with his philosophy of adaptability to create Jeet Kune Do, a revolutionary approach to combat which he showcased in such groundbreaking films as Enter the Dragon and the Way of the Dragon. Lee broke barriers for Asian actors in Hollywood and inspired generations with his philosophies. He was only 32 years old when he died on July 20, 1973, from cerebral edemia, which is brain swelling caused by a buildup of fluid leading to increased pressure within the skull. It is believed his death was caused by an adverse reaction to a painkiller called equagestic, which he had taken for a headache. Despite his untimely death, his legacy continues to endure, leaving a lasting impact on both cinema and culture.
Ashley:Lee's widow, linda Lee Cadwell, was an American college student studying to become a teacher at the University of Washington when she met Bruce Lee, while he was teaching martial arts lessons there. They married in 1964, and just one year later, brandon Bruce Lee was born on February 1, 1965, at East Oakland Hospital in Oakland, california. Their second child, shannon Emery Lee, was born on April 19, 1969. According to various sources, bruce started teaching Brandon martial arts as soon as he could walk. By the age of five, brandon's grandmother, grace Ho, claimed he could already break a wooden board with a single kick.
Ashley:Growing up, brandon and his family split their time between Hong Kong and the United States because of his father's film career. Brandon's frequent visits to see his dad on set led to an early interest in acting. The family moved to Hong Kong more permanently in 1970 or 1971, shortly after Shannon was born. Brandon lived there until his father died when he was just eight years old and became fluent in Cantonese. After Bruce Lee's death, linda became the primary caregiver for Brandon and his sister, choosing to raise them back in the United States, away from the intense public scrutiny that surrounded Bruce Lee's legacy in China. In California, Brandon continued his martial arts training under Dan Inosanto, one of his father's former students.
Brandon Lee:My dad started training me as soon as I could walk. He trained me while he was alive, and after he passed away I just kind of kept at it because I didn't really think about it much. You know, you get started at something, you just continue with it, and my dad had a circle of students that were close to him, and so they were friends of our family, and one of those men, danny Inosanto, continued to be my teacher, so it was kind of a nice unbroken line you know, as he grew older, brandon also trained with Richard Bastillo, another of Bruce Lee's students, and Jeff Amada, a renowned stuntman who would later be the primary fight choreographer for the Crow.
Remi:Through the years, brandon studied a variety of martial arts, including Jeet Kune Do, wing Chun, eskrima Salat and Muay Thai. In his mid-teens, brandon struggled with his identity, especially when training in dojos that prominently featured large photos of his father. This made him uncomfortable and ultimately led to him stepping away from martial arts for a time, choosing instead to focus on soccer. Brandon was a bit rebellious during high school, occasionally getting into scuffles with his classmates who wanted to make a name for themselves by picking a fight with the son of Bruce Lee. Classmates who wanted to make a name for themselves by picking a fight with the son of Bruce Lee. Just four months before his graduation in 1983, he was expelled from Chadwick School due to misbehavior. He earned his GED that same year. As many teens do, brandon decided to travel for a bit and hitchhiked across the United States before choosing his life path cross the United States before choosing his life path.
Brandon Lee:It was great, I'm telling you. I was just. I guess it would have been about what 1982. And I just I felt like I just caught some kind of last wave of people who were into stuff like that. You know, I used to catch rides with these guys who were older than me at the time, you know men and women, and they'd say, god, you are going to have the best time. I did stuff like this when I was your age. I don't know, it's kind of a long, silly story, but I must've read all the wrong books in high school or something.
Ashley:After some soul searching, brandon realized that deep down he always wanted to be an actor. He began his training at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York before moving to Emerson College in Boston where he majored in theater. While in Boston, he appeared in several stage productions and was part of the Eric Morris American New Theater. In 1985, he returned to Los Angeles and worked as a script reader. It was during this time that he was approached by a casting director and successfully landed his first acting role in Kung Fu, the Movie, which premiered on ABC in February 1986. The movie was a feature-length follow-up to the 1970s TV series.
Ashley:According to Jeff Amata, brandon had to be convinced to take the role because of its martial arts elements. At first he wasn't interested and wanted to distance himself from the type of films his father made. However, brandon later explained it made sense for him to take the role, especially since the movie's TV pilot was originally conceived with his father in mind. In 1986, he explored Yi Chun Tao, a relaxation-based martial art which he said helped him reduce tension and improve his focus. He resumed training with Dan Inasan in the 80s and often brought a camera to the training sessions to analyze which techniques would look best on film. In 1986, brandon starred in Legacy of Rage, a Hong Kong action thriller. It was his first leading role and the only film he made in Hong Kong. He was nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer. The film was a critical success in China and at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.
Remi:The following year he appeared in another Kung Fu spinoff, the Unsold TV Pilot Kung Fu the Next Generation. It aired in June on CBS' Summer Playhouse, a program that featured rejected pilots and allowed the audience to vote on whether they wanted the show to be picked up. Unfortunately, it was poorly received and wasn't chosen for a series. In 1988, brandon took on the role of the main villain in an episode of the TV show O'Hara. Jeff Amata advised against the role due to the character's nature, but Brandon saw it as an opportunity to expand his acting range. In 1990, the home video release of Laser Mission marked another step in his emerging film career From Turner Home.
Brandon Lee:Entertainment. Can I ask you a personal question? You carry a gun and you're not afraid to use it. You can out-drive the best of them. Who are you and who are you working for?
James O'Barr:Agent Michael Gold has a mission on his mind.
Brandon Lee:You didn't tell me who he was or why he was, so important.
James O'Barr:The enemy on his tail, alyssa.
Brandon Lee:You people blew this operation from the start.
James O'Barr:And this woman on his back.
Ernie Hudson:You're not my idea of a dream date.
James O'Barr:This unlikely couple is out to recover the ultimate weapon Laser mission.
Ashley:That same year Brandon met Eliza Hutton while at Rennie Harlan's office, where they both shared the same agent. They hit it off immediately and started dating. Before meeting Eliza, brandon had been a confirmed bachelor with a history of non-committal relationships. In 1991, he asked Eliza to move in with him, and the following year they got engaged in Italy. They planned to get married on April 17, 1993, on a beach at sunset in Ascendia, mexico, and they hoped to start a family soon after the wedding. In 1991, brandon became certified in Muay Thai by the Thai Boxing Association. While he always credited his martial arts skills with helping him break into Hollywood, he remained eager to explore more dramatic roles outside of the generic action films he had been typecast into.
Brandon Lee:I've turned down. You know, for that reason I was always it's not about that. I mean, that's not what acting's about, it's not what. Listen to me this 27-year-old actor with three films under his belt telling me what acting's about, but I know it.
Brandon Lee:In my opinion, in my young, uncultured, uneducated opinion, it's not what it's about. It's about people and human situations and that's what's always affected me about it, you know. And if it doesn't have that, I mean if the film, if you don't care about the characters, you don't believe in them as people, it's just kind of a pointless exercise in blowing things up you can really tell here that he is just itching for some sort of more serious role where he can play a character with depth yes, you can really tell that he wanted to branch out.
Remi:But he was kind of being typecast in these cheesy C-level action movies and he really wanted to act. He wanted to be a dramatic actor. If it was up to him, I think he wouldn't be in any action movies. He would be doing an indie drama or something like that. But he had to break in any way he could.
Ashley:And I think what's really admirable about him is in all of his movies you can tell that passion to play a more serious dramatic role is there, but he doesn't bash on any of the work or opportunities he's been given. He's genuinely grateful that he's being given any opportunities at all.
Remi:I watched a lot of interviews with Brandon leading up to this to prepare and do research and it is really kind of offensive how many interviews start with the exact same questions about his father.
Remi:They always bring it up. It is the first thing they ask him about in every single interview and he is so gracious, he is so courteous, he answers any question the interviewer has, even though it's very clear this isn't what he wants to focus on. He would like to talk about other things, but he never is rude. He is always well-spoken, he is always charming and he is never offensive or snarky or anything that he has all the right in the world to be at all of these people bringing up his dead father to him over and over and over again when he's an adult trying to make his own way in the world. I mean, I understand his father was one of the most famous people in pop culture ever, but I think it's kind of sad that he was trying so hard to make his own way in the world but he had to do so by going through all of this.
Ashley:I can't remember if I heard this in an interview or read it somewhere, but there was some sort of interviewer who said something like if you show pretty much anyone in the world a photo of Marilyn Monroe, elvis and Bruce Lee, everyone is going to know who they are. And that's what this kid he's still a kid in my eyes at this point was faced with. Everyone knew his dad and wanted to know what it was like being his son.
Remi:And I do remember watching another interview where one of his co-stars in these films talked about how he was Bruce Lee's son. If he really wanted to lean into this and be the martial arts master movie star that his father was, he could have done it. But that's not what he wanted for himself and I think that's very respectable for himself. And I think that's very respectable. In April 1991, Brandon Lee was considered a contender by Universal Pictures to play his father in the biopic Dragon, the Bruce Lee story. However, he turned down the role, finding it too awkward to portray his father and being understandably uncomfortable with the idea of depicting the romance between his parents, comfortable with the idea of depicting the romance between his parents. Producer Raffaella De Laurentiis also expressed doubts, stating Brandon didn't look Chinese enough for the role. She even mentioned she would have refused to work on the project if they had to resort to making him appear more Asian, which is pretty outrageous.
Ashley:It is insanely offensive that this woman not only felt this way, but felt this way strongly enough to think it was okay to vocalize it.
Remi:Racism in Hollywood was pretty rampant during this time. Unfortunately, ultimately the role went to Jason Scott Lee, no relation. He initially found the role intimidating, but he overcame his fear after speaking with Brandon. Director Rob Cohen also mentioned that he spent hours talking to Brandon during preparations, valuing his insights. Brandon's American feature film debut came in 1991, with Showdown in Little.
Michael Massee:Tokyo, though it received largely negative reviews. Good job officer.
Brandon Lee:You know, all that upper body strength that really slows you down.
Michael Massee:I'm not slow.
James O'Barr:You didn't hit me.
Michael Massee:Well, if I did, you wouldn't be here.
Brandon Lee:I'm not arguing, but you didn't.
Ashley:In 1992, he starred in Rapid Fire. The film came after producer Robert Lawrence saw Brandon's potential as a Hollywood action star following Legacy of Rage. Brandon was actively involved in the story development, particularly connecting with the plot point where his character loses his father. Amada recalled Brandon bringing a book of his father's work to emotionally prepare for the scene. It was also the first time both Lee and Amada were credited for fight choreography, which blended elements of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do.
Brandon Lee:It's an open ballgame, you know you can do anything that you can possibly think of and fight. Choreography to me is just a fascinating, fascinating enterprise. I mean you can do things that are so expressive of character. You can have people express things in the action sequence of a film that maybe they can't express in words in the other sequence of the film, and to me it's so much more interesting than you know a gunfight or a car chase. It's so much more balletic.
Ashley:Rapid Fire debuted at number three at the box office and earned over $14 million. Though critical reviews were mostly negative, many still found Brandon's charisma undeniable, and he soon signed a three-picture deal with 20th Century Fox. He was now being regularly compared to other stars of the time like Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Though his fame was on the rise, he still yearned for more challenging acting opportunities. That same year, while doing publicity for Rapid Fire, Brandon was given the news he landed the iconic role that would ultimately define his entire career.
Brandon Lee:It's very noir. It's about love, death and revenge and I get to quote Edgar Allan Poe at length and carry a guitar and kill people and come back from the dead and it's just a freaky film. It's gonna be.
Remi:You can literally hear the excitement in his voice. He is so pumped to do this movie. The Crow is a dark, supernatural revenge story about Eric Draven, a rock musician who dresses in goth, paints his face white like a jester and is resurrected from the dead by a bird to seek revenge on a gang of violent pyromaniac street thugs for the horrific murders of him and his fiancée. The Crow was an adaptation of a graphic novel written by a man named James O'Barr. Many years before the film adaptation, o'barr's fiancée, beverly, was killed by a drunk driver. Driven in part by the grief of losing her, o'barr enlisted in the Marines at 18 years old, hoping military service would help him cope.
Remi:While serving in West Berlin in 1981, o'barr began working on the Crow as a way to process his personal tragedy. The story was further inspired by a news report from Detroit about the murder of a young couple over a $20 engagement ring. The first mini-series of the Crow was published in 1989, but O'Bar later admitted the catharsis he had hoped for never materialized. In a 1994 interview he said as I drew each page, it made me more self-destructive. If anything, there is pure anger on each page.
Ashley:I haven't seen the graphic novel. Don't we have it? Don't you own it?
Remi:I haven't seen the graphic novel. Don't we have it? Don't you own it? I read it for the first time last year actually, and it is not really story driven. It's more of just an episodic thing where it's showing his revenge and there's an issue where it has the backstory. It is more of an art piece than a story driven graphic novel, I would say, but it is beautifully drawn.
Ashley:And did he illustrate it as well?
Remi:Yes, james O'Barr illustrated and wrote the graphic novel for the Crow. In the 1990s O'Barr became affiliated with the experimental metal band Trust Obey, briefly signing with Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's Nothing label. Briefly signing with Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor's Nothing label. The band released Fear and Bullets Music to Accompany the Crow in 1993, which was packaged with a special edition of the Crow graphic novel.
Ashley:When O'Barr first met with a major studio about adapting the Crow into a film, the proposal was quickly dismissed as the vision for the movie was a musical starring Michael Jackson.
Remi:Why was Michael Jackson pitched so many movies over the years? He was almost in Chicago. He was almost in Men in Black. I do not understand why he was being considered for all of these roles.
Ashley:The Phantom Menace. He was going to be Jar Jar Binks.
Remi:I'd completely forgotten about that one. Yeah, what was Hollywood thinking, even considering this?
Ashley:this. Eventually, Obar agreed to workshop the project with writer John Shirley and producer Jeff Most, turning down a significant offer from New Line Cinema in the process. I'm not going to lie, I wouldn't mind to see a musical version of this with Michael Jackson. I'm glad that's not what we got, but if there was some sort of alternate universe where I could transport myself and see it, I would do it. Obar directly collaborated on the first two drafts of the screenplay, but Shirley was fired after a clash with a development head at the production studio. Initially, Obar wasn't sure about casting Brandon Lee as the lead. Having only seen him in Showdown and Little Tokyo, he feared the film might turn out like a kung fu movie and go straight to video. However, all this changed when he first met Brandon on set in full costume and makeup, speaking the exact lines Albar wrote in his comics.
Brandon Lee:Still each one of these is a life, a life you helped destroy. Come back here.
James O'Barr:Don't kill me.
Brandon Lee:I'm not going to kill you. Your job will be to tell the rest of them that death is coming for them Tonight. Tell them.
Ashley:Eric draven sends his regards unsurprisingly, the reasons obar liked brandon were the exact same ones that he landed the role in the first place. His deep insight into the character and commitment to the role were particularly impressive to producers and filmmaker Alex Proyas.
Remi:As for production, most noted, Brandon focused on the brevity and rhythm of his character's dialogue to make his portrayal sound more threatening. To prepare for his fight scenes, Lee and Proyas studied martial arts movies for inspiration. Lee convinced the team to hire Jeff Amada as the stunt coordinator and together they oversaw the fight choreography. They agreed Draven's movements should be unique and avoid traditional martial arts techniques, since his character wasn't trained in martial arts but gained his abilities after resurrection. To translate this idea to the screen, they incorporated a more fluid and aerobic-inspired fighting style. Both Lee and Amada were pleased they could include elements of martial arts without making it a direct part of the story. Given his background, Lee opted to perform most of his own stunts, further showcasing his commitment to the role and determination to make the Crow as authentic as possible.
Remi:To fully embody the role of Eric Draven, Brandon underwent significant physical and mental preparation To achieve a lean, rockstar-like appearance rather than looking like an action hero. He went on a strict diet weeks before shooting, meticulously weighing his food. He focused on cardio, lighter weight reps to elongate and stretch his muscles, and aerobics to rapidly reduce body fat. Depending on the source, he lost either 20 or 40 pounds during this transformation. For the resurrection scene, he immersed himself in bags of ice, believing the freezing sensation would help him connect with the character's rebirth. This scene, filmed on the first night of production in the winter, required him to perform barefoot and naked in the cold. Hairstylist, Michelle Johnson, also shared that in rainy scenes, Brandon soaked himself in water before filming to make the performance more authentic, often acting shirtless in freezing temperatures.
Ashley:This is some mad dedication.
Remi:He was all in on this role. He thought this was a fascinating character and he thought it was important to get into that headspace during these scenes so he could perform the scenes as authentically as possible. It is really really admirable how much he went through and how dedicated he was to this role and to this film.
Ashley:It reminds me of method acting, but like an individualized mental method acting Like he wasn't going around set. From what I could see, he didn't do this like acting as Eric Draven in between takes, but he was doing all all this stuff on his own to try to get into the mental headspace of what his character would be thinking and feeling.
Remi:And it really translates on screen in his performance. It is phenomenal.
Ashley:Most accounts suggest Brandon didn't want metaphysical characters alongside his in the film. According to costume designer Roberta Bile, brandon modeled Eric Draven after Chris Robinson, the lead singer of the Black Crows, and he even learned to play guitar for the role. Lastly, since he was unhappy with how the makeup department initially applied Eric Draven's face paint, lee and Alex Porras decided it would look more authentic if he applied it himself Each night. He put on the makeup before bed so it would appear naturally worn and smudged the next morning for filming.
Remi:A method that Heath Ledger similarly used when he was portraying the Joker in the Dark Knight, which had very similar makeup to Brandon Lee in the Crow.
Ashley:Oh, so he did the same, put it on the night before, slept on it and then filmed.
Remi:He would apply his makeup himself. I'm not sure if put it on the night before, slept on it and then filmed. He would apply his makeup himself. I'm not sure if he slept in it the night before, but he thought it was important for him to put it on himself because his character would have put it on himself.
Ashley:And he's not a professional makeup artist, so it would look more sloppy and like what any person would do.
Remi:More real. Any person would do More real.
Ashley:While talking about the Crow to the media during production, Brandon often spoke about how the role was his big break, a chance to step out of the shadow of Bruce Lee and establish himself as a serious actor with his own distinct identity. He was particularly proud of how the film balanced its supernatural elements with raw human emotion, believing it could resonate with audiences on a deeper level.
Brandon Lee:It poses some really interesting questions. If you died and then somehow, a year later, you had one day, two days to come back, what would you do? I mean, first of all, would you tell anyone? First of all, would you tell anyone, you know, because you got to think, like you've got people you left behind, right, but I mean they've had a year now to cope with it, right, they've had a year to deal with having lost you. They've had their grief. We hope they've. They've gone on in some way. You know they found a place to keep that and hold it. And now you're back for two days.
Brandon Lee:But I mean, tell me you could sit someplace, and you know you just want to pick up the phone. So I thought about it and I thought about it for a long time. I thought the first person I'd want to call would be Eliza, my fiancé, right, but of course in this piece she's gone, you know, and so that's another pressure on the character, and he's just got the whole concept of having come back from the dead in the first place, uh, to deal with it's. It's a very interesting character, for me.
Ashley:Uh, that clip just kills me because there was probably so many times eliza wish she could just pick up the phone and talk to him one last time.
Remi:I specifically picked that clip because he gave a lot of interviews, while doing promotion for the Crow, of course, but this was one of the early interviews and it's the only one where he mentions Eliza. After that it goes into something it seems like he's said many times before, but this is more genuine. It seems like he was contemplating the character and really looking into it and hauntingly, yeah, it is something that his fiance would have to bear not long from this point.
Ashley:Remy, I did not see the Crow until well after we started dating. I think you mentioned it one night and I said I've never seen this and you were like we're watching it right now. I loved it when I saw it and I know you saw it much, much, much earlier. So what, if anything, did the Crow mean to you? What was your reaction after you saw it for the first time?
Remi:if you can remember, I did not see it in theaters I was a little young when it had come out but I saw it a lot throughout high school. It made the rounds. I remember seeing that poster on a lot of my friends' walls where he is walking through the shadows with the logo above him, and it had this cult-like underground feel to it when I was in high school. It wasn't something that seemed mainstream and it was cool. It was raw, it was edgy and everyone thought it was fucking awesome. And it was cool. It was raw, it was edgy and everyone thought it was fucking awesome because it was. I remember I was also a wrestling fan growing up, as I am today, and there was even a storyline where one of the characters had brightly colored face paint for a long period of time and then a tragedy happened to this character and he got a new look. His character's new look was Brandon Lee's look from the Crow. It was the exact same thing. This was just present everywhere. I remember seeing people with the shirts. I remember seeing the posters. Like I said, it was not a phenomenon, but it was just something that you always heard rumblings about, Even when I went off to film school.
Remi:It was often discussed in this gothic fairy tale type regard, and it's a great film. It's one of those films that not a lot of people have seen surprisingly, that I've run into later in life and I take joy in showing them this film. Ashley, you are not the first person. I have shown this film for the first time and I remember many people telling me after seeing it wow, what other films are like that, what other movies are like this? Like they wanted more of this. But this is one of those. Once in a blue moon, all the stars just happened to align to make this film and it's all we're ever going to get of this type of thing, I think.
Ashley:It really is the definition of a cult classic.
Remi:On March 31st 1993, just eight days before filming of the Crow was set to wrap, only three days of which Brandon was required for the cast and crew assembled for a scene that depicted Brandon's character, eric Draven, being shot by his co-star, michael Massey. It was a flashback scene depicting the moment Draven was murdered. Originally, funboy, played by Massey, wasn't supposed to be shown shooting Draven, but the director changed it last minute to show a bullet being fired 12 to 15 feet away. After the director called cut.
Remi:No one initially had any idea something had gone wrong. Although Brandon fell backward instead of forward and didn't get up right away, the crew thought he was still acting or joking. Stunt coordinator Jeff Amata quickly checked on Lee and found him unconscious and breathing heavily. An onset medic shook Brandon, believing he might have hit his head, since there was no visible bleeding. His pulse was regular at first, but it slowed within minutes before stopping entirely. He was rushed to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, north Carolina, where he underwent six hours of emergency surgery. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at 1.03 pm. So how in the world did this all happen? Well, brandon's death was the result of a firearm malfunctioning caused by a series of preventable errors and a lack of adherence to basic firearm safety protocols that started weeks earlier, turning what was intended to be a simple night shoot into a devastating tragedy.
Ashley:Due to time and budget constraints, the crew didn't purchase professionally manufactured dummy cartridges professionally manufactured dummy cartridges. Instead, the special effects team made their own dummy cartridges and blanks by dismantling real ammunition and modifying the components a common but dangerous practice in film production at the time. The live rounds had their gunpowder removed, but the primer was kept inside to simulate a real bullet. That would create a loud sound and some smoke. The dummy cartridges were used for distant shots, while blank rounds, which still had the live powder, charge and primer but no actual bullet, were used for close-up shots. This way, the gun can be fired without the risk of anything actually shooting out of it. Several witnesses later recalled seeing an unsupervised actor pulling the trigger of the actual revolver while it was loaded with the powderless butt-primed round. It's not entirely clear whether this played a direct role, like I couldn't find if it hadn't been touched for two weeks or if it was used earlier. I think I heard that it hadn't been touched since then, but I'm not entirely sure. Either way, it's worth mentioning, as it does speak to the lack of strict gun safety precautions taken on set During an earlier scene, either the one with the actor pulling the trigger or something closer to the actual day, one of the dummy rounds was fired. Closer to the actual day one of the dummy rounds was fired when the primer was struck. It created enough pressure to dislodge the bullet from the casing and pushed it partway into the barrel, since there wasn't any gunpowder to fully push it out after it stayed stuck inside.
Ashley:Given the film's tight budget and rushed environment, the production company sent the firearm specialist home early. They didn't want to pay him anymore. This left an inexperienced prop assistant responsible for the critical gun safety checks. Although the individual looked at the gun, they didn't really know how to check it thoroughly and missed the bullet lodged inside the barrel. So a blank was put in for the scene. When the blank was fired, it expelled the previously lodged bullet from the barrel with nearly the same force as a live round. It struck Brandon in the abdomen, rupturing a major blood vessel.
Remi:I could not even imagine the confusion and chaos and worry going on set during this time, and all of this was so avoidable. Basic safety protocols were not done here and it's a reason why today most movies do not use this type of ammunition or blanks. They prefer to do CGI or something like that for safety reasons, and it is completely justified.
Ashley:There's so many things that could have gone differently that in the end in my mind all boil down to production trying to finish this as quick as they could, as cheaply as they could. They could have spent the money for the properly made dummy cartridges and blank. They could have paid the extra day, the properly made dummy cartridges and blank. They could have paid the extra day or two salary to have the weapons specialist whose whole job is to check the guns and make sure that there's nothing stuck inside that could kill someone. But because they wanted to save a couple bucks, a couple hundred bucks, this happened. Someone died. The star of the movie died.
Remi:Despite these movies costing millions upon millions of dollars. That is the case with most film sets they are looking to pinch a penny and cut costs anywhere they can and as a result, people can get hurt. Brandon Lee was laid to rest beside his father at the Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle, washington. A private funeral was held in Seattle on April 3, 1993, followed by a memorial service in Los Angeles the next day, which was attended by 200 family members, friends and business associates. In the weeks following his passing, interest in Lee's earlier work surged. In the weeks following his passing, interest in Lee's earlier work surged, with his previous films experiencing a significant rise in video sales as fans sought to honor his legacy. After Brandon's death, the Crow production team was faced with a difficult decision Abandon the project entirely or find a way to complete it without Brandon. Ultimately, alex Proyas chose to finish the film as a tribute to Brandon's passion and dedication, a choice which was supported by his fiance and mother.
Ashley:Paramount Pictures, the original distributor, pulled out of the project due to delays and concerns over its violent content. Following Brandon's accidental death, merrimack's film stepped in to save it and contributed an additional $8 million to complete production. Writers were brought in to rework unshot scenes, relying on flashbacks, voiceover narration and pre-existing footage of Brandon to fill the narrative gaps. The opening sequence and a key apartment scene were completely rewritten and reconstructed. The cast and crew took a temporary hiatus following the tragedy and during the rewrites Many were deeply affected by Brandon's passing, making the completion of the film an emotional experience. Brandon's stunt double, chad Stahelski, who would later go on to direct the John Wick films more on our thoughts about this later was used as a stand-in for his remaining scenes. Initially, the production team planned on using a mask made from a mold of Brandon's face for the doubles. However, it was destroyed after the cast and crew found it too unsettling, and rightfully so. That would be so just unnerving. I can't imagine the mold looked that great.
Remi:I can't believe that was even considered. I feel like that's one of those things that you put on in the dressing room and you realize, yeah, this is not gonna work at all.
Ashley:Thankfully, filmmakers instead utilized CGI to superimpose Lee's face onto Stahelski, using a technique developed by an effect shop called DreamQuest Images, which previously worked on James Cameron's the Abyss.
Remi:And Total Recall.
Ashley:The film's use of CGI in this way was groundbreaking, opening doors for future projects to innovate in similar circumstances.
Remi:They utilized this technique during the Fast and the Furious film, where Paul Rocker had passed away.
Ashley:They do face swapping like this all the time now. It is crazy that they were using it back in 1993.
Remi:They used rotoscoping and I watched a video on it. It is insane. It looks like they are using a Microsoft Paint doing this sort of thing. It is very, very, very impressive that you can watch this film and there is not one scene, in my opinion, where you think that it's not Brandon Lee. The Wilmington DA office did an investigation into the cause of Brandon's death. In the end, the shooting was ruled accidental due to negligence. No charges were filed since there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. On August 9, 1993, brandon's mom, linda, filed a negligence lawsuit against 15 entities and people, alleging their negligence was responsible for her son's quote agonizing pain, suffering and untimely death. Among the defendants were the production companies and various producers. The director and first assistant director the special effects contracting company. Visual effects consultant. Assistant. Property Assistant Director the Special Effects Contracting Company. Visual Effects Consultant.
Ashley:Assistant Property Master and Stunt Coordinator, Jeff Amata. That last one made me particularly sad to hear. I get why she did it. It just must have been so hard for him to be named in this lawsuit as responsible for the death of someone that he trained and has such a close relationship with.
Remi:They were friends, I don't think that he would have done anything that he knew would be unsafe for Brandon. One of Linda's lawyers, james Neal, successfully defended director John Landis against manslaughter charges in connection with the 1982 death of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors during the filming of a helicopter scene in the Twilight Zone movie, which we will be covering in a future bonus episode. The lawsuit was settled out of court two months later for an undisclosed amount.
Ashley:The corner-cutting and cost-saving efforts turned what should have been Brandon's breakout role into a devastating loss for his family, friends and fans. Co-star Ernie Hudson recalls eating dinner with Brandon on the eve of the accident.
Ernie Hudson:Very, very nice to her. And then he and I got into a conversation. I'm like I've been doing this stuff for so long and I'm like I'm just, you know, I mean I've done everything I know to do and I'm not getting. I was just in one of those spaces and he was saying, ernie, hang in. He said I'm, you know, I'm not just starting this, I just signed a three picture deal. You know, I'm getting married, we just bought a house, life is good and I'm sure it's going to happen for you. Just just hang in there and you be like me. You know, we flew to Minnesota the next day and as I was walking in the house, I got a phone call that he was dead.
Ashley:James O'Barr, author of the Crow, later remarked that he felt guilty promoting and profiting from the project after Lee's death, even going so far to say that there were times he wished he never even wrote it.
James O'Barr:I'm like you know, it's just kind of like after he, after Brandon, was killed, after he died, um, um, I don't know, I had, I had a lot of like, um, residual guilt over it, like somehow I was responsible, um, you know, even though that's like dog logic, it doesn't make any sense. I mean, I wasn't even there when it happened. So it was, you know, but I still kind of felt like, well, this is his moment to shine, you know, and I'm getting all the glory from it. You know I'm getting wealthy from it. And you know, it's, like you know, entertainment tonight's fucking parked outside my apartment, you know, it's just like. You know, it didn't seem right to me.
Remi:I feel bad for James. He lost his Beverly long ago and it seems like he and Brandon were actually pretty chummy towards the end of things. After at first not feeling that Brandon would be right for this role, they actually became friends on set and would communicate, and I read a lot of articles about how they had become buddies throughout all of this.
Ashley:It's particularly sad because this comic was birthed out of a tragedy the death of his fiance and was supposed to be some sort of cathartic experience for him. And even he said it didn't do that for him and he was reluctant to turning it into a movie and agreed to do it and was excited about it and then the star died. So I understand his point of view when he says I feel guilty for even ever have written this.
Remi:And the part where he's speaking about this was Brandon's moment, and it's a movie that he would be proud of. It's something he wanted people to see, but feeling that guilt of profiting from it at the same time, I can understand feeling very conflicted about that.
Ashley:Michael Massey, the actor who fired the prop gun that accidentally killed Brandon, was deeply affected by the tragedy and carried the emotional weight of the incident for the rest of his life. He couldn't bring himself to come back to set after filming resumed, never watched the final product and stopped acting for a year. His next film was a small role in Seven. In later interviews he said he had nightmares about the accident and struggled to cope with what happened. He rarely spoke about it and when he did he reflected on the immense guilt he still carried, like during this 2005 interview with Extra.
Michael Massee:And I've never talked about this on camera, and it was shooting of the crow and Brandon died during it. And Since then I am very conscious of the dangers of making a movie and it is a dangerous Proposition where you, we, throw ourselves out there with, at least me, with very Little regard for my body when I'm doing it and you're using different props. That can be really dangerous, especially if they're not treated well. I mean, what happened to Brandon was a tragic accident and it's something that I'm, that I'm going to live with. It's taken me, took me the time it took to be able to not so much put it in perspective but to be able to move on with my life, and I never felt the the need or the obligation to talk to anybody about it other than his fiancée at the time and his mother, who I called.
Ashley:I cannot imagine how difficult of a phone call that was to his family.
Remi:I do feel for the guy. I mean, he was just an actor shooting a prop gun. He didn't know what was going to happen at all. It was not his responsibility to know and he has to live with what happened for the rest of his life and it clearly has affected him. You can tell in the voice clear where he's just talking about it that it still is something that deeply affects him.
Remi:The Crow was released on May 13, 1994, and debuted at number one in the US box office, earning $11.7 million during its opening weekend. It went on to gross $50.7 million worldwide against a $23 million budget, making it the most successful film of Brandon Lee's entire career. The movie later became a cult classic and is widely celebrated for its gothic aesthetic, emotional depth and Lee's iconic performance. Critically acclaimed, the Crow holds an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising it as filled with style and dark, lurid energy. The Crow is an action-packed visual feast that also has a soul in the performance of the late Brandon Lee. The film was dedicated to Lee and his fiancée Eliza Hutton, further cementing its legacy as both a cinematic achievement and a heartfelt tribute to Brandon.
Shannon Lee:His sister, shannon Lee, had this to say about her experience seeing the film when the movie came out I was really on the fence about whether to go see it because, you know, obviously it was a very emotional time for me and my family. But I had to go see it because I knew that Brandon would be so proud of his performance, he was so proud of this movie and so I went to go see it. In a nice big movie theater I picked the biggest, fanciest movie theater that I could find and went to go see it and I'm so glad I did, because he was phenomenal and the movie was a great movie and I'm just really proud of him, really proud of him.
Ashley:That was one of the clips I had not seen before and I got choked up during it. It is heartbreaking hearing her talk about that. The only reason she saw it is because she knew how proud her brother was of the movie, how proud he would have been of the final cut so excited for this film.
Remi:Every interview I saw with him. I watched a lot of interviews with Brandon preparing for this podcast and there is a difference in the way he's speaking about his projects.
Ashley:I was going to say that, even the ones I watched for this that you showed me. When he's talking about his earlier films, he's going through the motions and answering the questions, but when he's talking about the Crow, his face lights up.
Remi:And it's one of the few times when interviews were not centered around action scenes and his father. He got to talk about his character, he got to talk about the film and he loved that. He had the opportunity to play this complicated, unique, intriguing character.
Ashley:It's what he wanted, what he said he wanted in his earlier interviews of I just want to get cast in a role where I can play a character and show the emotional depth that human beings have.
Remi:And I think he knew that this was the film that could break him out of his father's shadow. It could differentiate him from what had been done before. He did not want to be making the types of movies that he was making previously, and when this came along, he saw it as such an opportunity to show what he could do and explore a complicated character and portray depth and emotion on screen, instead of just doing fight scenes and being asked about his father. It is so sad, because he would have gone on two amazing things if this tragedy had not occurred.
Ashley:We've talked about this before Remy, but there was a lot of rumors. We can't find anything like substantiated by people involved with the project, but it is pretty widely known that he was tapped to play Neo in the Matrix and that the whole movie was written with him in mind as the star.
Remi:We were discussing this previously, like you said, but I honestly feel if Brandon hadn't passed away, he would have had the career that Keanu Reeves has today. From everything that I had researched and read again, I couldn't find concrete evidence about this, but there was a lot of stuff speaking about how the Wachowskis had written the Matrix specifically with Brandon in mind. Because of his martial arts background, he would have been perfect for the role of Neo, and in later years, with the John Wick films, they were made by the stuntman for Brandon from the Crow films. So it's pretty natural to think that if he was around, he would have been John Wick, and it just makes it so much more tragic thinking about all that could have been. He was so excited about this movie and that it was his chance to do something new, and this Brandon's death sparked calls for stricter gun safety onsets.
Ashley:The accident highlighted the dangers of mishandling of firearms, even when they are props, and reportedly led to product teams becoming more diligent about inspecting the guns and ammunition used. However, from time to time, productions revert back to budget-cutting and time-saving measures, leading to continued tragedies like what happened on the set of Rust in October 2021. The industry now has stricter rules for dummy and blank rounds, in that no active primer or gunpowder is used. The dummy and blank rounds are often marked or designed differently to avoid confusion with live rounds.
Remi:There are also stricter rules when using blanks, including ensuring that the firearm barrels are completely clear of any obstructions before loading if there is ammo, because there was a law passed that states that any time someone is handed a gun on a movie set, they are required to check and see if it is loaded in any way, even if they are filming a scene. So look out for a lot of different times, especially on television shows.
Ashley:If someone passes a gun off, they will covertly have to put it down and check to make sure that there's nothing in there, and that's before it's shot and after it's shot, right, so it leads to double eyes looking at it each and every single time it passes hands.
Remi:Basically, it's a requirement that anytime you are handed a gun, you need to check.
Ashley:Productions are also now required to have a licensed and trained weapons handler on set whenever guns are present. This specialist is responsible for storing, inspecting and maintaining all firearms, preparing dummy and blade grounds and ensuring proper handling by actors and crew. Guns shouldn't ever be directly pointed at another person, even during a scene. Instead, angles, editing or CGI are used to simulate direct aim. A full safety briefing with all cast and crew is conducted before any firearm is used. Brandon's sister, mom and fiance have all advocated for stricter gun safety protocols.
Remi:The success of the Crow spawned several sequels and adaptations, though none matched the acclaim or success of the original. These included the Crow City of Angels in 1996, the Crow Stairway to Heaven, a 1998 Canadian TV series. The Crow Salvation, a 2000 direct-to-video release, and the Crow Wicked Prayer, which had a limited one-week premiere in Seattle before heading directly to video-on-demand in 2005. There was another planned sequel titled the Crow 2037 in the late 1990s, with Rob Zombie attached to write and direct, which thankfully never came to fruition.
Ashley:Did you ever see any of these sequels or spinoffs?
Remi:No, actually, I think I may have seen parts of the sequel, the Crow City of Angels, which was, I think, one of the only one of these that was released in theaters at the time. But beyond that, yeah, I wasn't interested in seeing the Crow without Brandon Lee, and none of these films had the same feel and aesthetic as the original did. It just didn't feel the same, you know.
Ashley:It feels like a cash grab.
Remi:Yeah, it feels like these were literally just being made to piggyback on the name of the original Crow film. Discussions of a reboot for the Crow began in 2008, with Stephen Norrington announcing plans to write and direct a reinvention of the Crow graphic novel. However, the project lingered in development hell for years, with numerous actors rumored or attached to the leading role, including Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston and Alexander Skarsgård.
Ashley:I also read Nicholas Holt, and some of these names are absolutely wild Channing Tatum, channing Tatum, magic Mike.
Remi:I could not see it, but this seems like a project that a lot of actors in Hollywood were interested in, but it never felt right.
Ashley:Mark Wahlberg was actually attached to it at two separate times. I think a lot of people were really interested in doing this, but because it was just languishing and it would be on and then it would be off, and then it would be on. These are all very, very, very famous actors, if not at the point when they were tapped for the role, certainly afterwards. Famous actors, if not at the point when they were tapped for the role, certainly afterwards.
Remi:And I can see that they just couldn't be sitting around waiting to get the green light. They just couldn't get the story together. It's not a complicated story. It seems like something that if you wanted to make this you could get it together, but I don't know. The stars aligned perfectly for this original version and it's hard to beat it.
Ashley:It's not a complicated story, but the events surrounding it are certainly something that need to be considered and respected when moving forward, and I think that's the primary reason why it took so long.
Remi:Agreed. That in and of itself does complicate the story.
Ashley:And as it should.
Remi:In 2013, the Crow creator, james O'Barr, was named as a creative consultant for a new film, and in October 2014, o'barr discussed his involvement in co-writing the script and emphasized his goal of respecting the original film and source material. That November, obar appeared at Wizard World Tulsa Comic-Con, confirming his collaboration with screenwriter Cliff Dorfman, with Luke Evans now attached as the lead. Evans was forced to leave the project shortly after due to scheduling conflicts, and by 2018, jason Momoa became attached to the project, with Corin Hardy being brought on as director and out there that Jason Momoa is going to be.
Ashley:Eric Draven. What do you think? Can you see it? He seems a little buff.
Remi:I can't really see it. I don't know what version they were going with on that, but, honestly, many of the actors that they named I couldn't envision in this role. It is a very iconic part and I don't know. It's hard to see someone else playing this role besides Brandon. Well, regardless, Jason Momoa and Corin Hardy would both drop out due to creative differences and production delays sometime after.
Ashley:Throughout the development of the Crow reboot, the project was largely met with unanimous disapproval from the cast and crew of the original, With many voicing criticisms it would be disrespectful to Brandon's legacy. Director of the original film, Alex Proyas, dismissed the idea of a reboot as a cynical cash grab, while actress Rochelle Davis, who played the little girl Sarah in the original, refused to watch it for similar reasons. Actress Sophia Shinnes, who played Shelley in the original, also expressed dissatisfaction. Ernie Hudson, who played Sergeant Albrecht, had mixed feelings regarding the project. The Crow reboot began gaining traction again in January 2020, with Rupert Sanders and Zach Balin announced as director and writer. By April 2022, Bill Skarsgård was officially cast in the lead role of Eric Draven.
Remi:Years after his brother had been cast in the role at one point.
Ashley:We've talked about this before. Now that Alexander Skarsgård is a little bit older, he's kind of been around the block a bit playing the sex symbol big buff guy. He's kind of more than willing to let his younger brother take on the action shirtless roles.
Remi:And, honestly, this seems like a role if changed is something that he could have tackled.
Ashley:Director Rupert Sanders described the reboot as a dark romance focused on themes of grief and morality, with the tone inspired by the cure. To honor Brandon Lee, and in response to concerns following the Russ tragedy, sanders prohibited live firearms on set instead, opting for airsoft guns with visual effect muzzle flashes being added in later. Production began in Prague in July 2022 and wrapped in September. Skarsgård mentioned that the film's ending was altered by the filmmakers to leave room for a sequel, a decision he disagreed with as he preferred a more definitive conclusion. He also stated that the reboot was purposefully crafted to be entirely different from the original so to not tread on Lee's legacy.
Bill Skarsgård:An iconic performance, a tragic, a tragic thing that happened with Brandon and for me it was just. I approached this like I'd do any other job, where it's just like what's this story? How can I do this story justice? This movie is so different, so I didn't. It wasn't, we were not remaking that movie and that was never the intention. The movie and his performance is iconic and shouldn't be tampered with at all.
Remi:I think you can tell in the interview that he felt strongly that this was something different than what Brandon had done. He's a smart guy. He likes to invest himself very fully into these characters and I even remember reading interviews with him where he was talking about how he didn't like the fact that the studio made him get buff for this film. He felt that his character would be thin, he would not be a character that was going to the gym, but the studio made him do that. It sounded like he was trying to approach this as an actor would approach a character, and in no way was he trying to emulate anything that Brandon had done before.
Ashley:Everything I've seen and read about Bill Skarsgård is that he is very aware and it seems to me that going into this role he was very well aware that he's going to be compared to Brandon Lee and that the Crow 2024 and the Crow 1994 are going to be compared and some people are going to be pissed.
Remi:It really is unavoidable and it's almost a no-win situation with this type of thing. James O'Barr's direct involvement with the most recent reboot was reportedly minimal to non-existent In the final cut. He was only credited in relation to his original comic, not as an active contributor to the reboot's development or production. The Crow reboot was theatrically released in the United States on August 23, 2024. With a budget of $50 million, it went on to only gross $24 million worldwide. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a 22% approval rating. The critical consensus reads dreary and poorly paced. This reimagining of the crow doesn't have enough personality or pulse to merit its resurrection.
Ashley:Oof 22% is so low, I don't necessarily agree with the 22% approval. Remy, what are your thoughts on the remake?
Remi:It's a controversial opinion, but I liked the remake. I don't view it as the same thing as the original Crow at all. It is very different. I think that the rules of the Crow are different. I think that the story is different. I think it is different enough to be viewed as something entirely separate from that original film. I love that original film and I always will, but I do think that the reboot does have a lot of things that are really really worth seeing.
Ashley:One of the biggest differences was that the two main characters, their love story, wasn't something that was this deep, passionate, true love story. They were young kids that were drug addicted and just kind of together for a short while out of really convenience.
Remi:And there was an aspect to the story of if Eric questioned his love he would lose his powers, and just toying with different concepts like that I think was really interesting. Another thing was, anytime he was shot or injured he felt the pain and I thought it was original. I thought that they did enough to differentiate it and, honestly, the entire time I was watching it I was not thinking of the original. Not at one point was I comparing what I was viewing in this reboot to what Brandon Lee had done in the original. This is a totally, totally different reimagining of everything about the Crow.
Ashley:I remember we threw it on TV one day, I think on just a lazy Sunday, and thought like whatever, we'll just put this on, have very low expectations for it, and we were both intrigued and watched the whole thing because it was so much better than what we were hearing and expecting.
Remi:I went in expecting it to be bad. In all honesty, I don't think it disrespects Brandon's memory at all. I think it is a completely separate thing, based on the idea of the crow reimagined into something entirely different and, in my personal opinion, I think, besides the ending, I do agree that a more final ending would have been better. I think the film is not bad and I think it was overly persecuted because of the original, because the original will always be so loved and so iconic and is ingrained in so many people's lives. It's hard to deny that, but I do think that there is a place for this one somewhere. It's not on the same level, but I don't think it's a bad film.
Ashley:Well, and with that ending, you know the producers changed it in case it was a success. It's probably not going to have a sequel now with how it was received and bombed at the box office, but they left it open for that, and you can tell that Bill Skarsgård was like no, this doesn't need a follow up, it is a contained story and it should stay that way.
Remi:I believe that Bill Skarsgård was approaching the role the same way that Brandon Lee was approaching the role. I think he was given this character it was a different character in both films and I think he was really trying to get into the mindset and trying to understand that character, trying to see what that character would be conflicted with and facing. And again, it's very, very different and I think that is an important thing to emphasize. This is not a reboot of that original. This is a reimagining of the concept.
Ashley:In my opinion, and it's kind of a double-edged sword, right. Like, all of the people that were involved and deeply loved the original were upset about the remake because they thought it was going to be just that a remake, and that it was going to try to replace the original. And then you have all the fans of the original that went into this one expecting it to be a remake, and it wasn't that. So you had people on both sides pissed at what they got.
Remi:It was a no-win scenario, and Hollywood has a tendency of attaching names of loved and well-known projects like the original Crow to other films. That, if need be, it could be a separate thing entirely, but they attach a name like the Crow to it and people have certain expectations as a result, and I think this is something that could be viewed separately, but with that name, the Crow, it never will be.
Ashley:Brandon Lee wanted to be remembered as more than just Bruce Lee's son and although his life undeniably ended far, far too soon, he did achieve that goal. When you say the name Brandon Lee, most think about his performance as Eric Draven in the Crow, a performance so legendary that he became the Crow. After listening to this episode, we hope when you hear his name, you also think about more than just his last acting role. You also think about more than just his last acting role. We hope you think about what he stood for, what he inspired in everyone who knew him and what his death meant to the world. We're going to let Brandon close this episode himself with a passage from Paul Boyle's book the Sheltering Sky. He quoted it during the last interview before his death. He chose it for his wedding invitations and it is inscribed on his tombstone. Rest in peace, brandon.
Brandon Lee:There's this wonderful quote from the book Sheltering Sky where he says Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. And yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.
