Director:
John Dullaghan
Starring:
Charles Bukowski
Joyce Fante
Michael Cano
Tom Waits
Release: 4 Jun. 04
IMDb
|
Bukowski: Born into This
BY: DAVID PERRY
Like many people of my generation, I was introduced to
Charles Bukowski in high school when the canon fodder of my English courses
failed to speak to me. While Bukowski’s prose weren’t always representative
of my self, his poetry and novels had personality to spare. Even if I never
read any biographical material, I felt like I knew Charles Bukowski.
There were still blanks, of course, in my understanding of the Bukowski
ethos, which is where the new documentary Bukowski: Born into This comes in.
Built largely on film excerpts from Bukowski decades of public appearances,
the film draws many conclusions as to what provoked such a rabid writer to
come out of this man: the broken background, the obsession with women, the
deformed face.
However, most of the people interviewed fail to truly compliment Bukowski
himself. There are the occasional friends who have something to say, but
it’s hard to find much insight in an interview with Bono from U2 as he waxes
poetically on why he loved Bukowski’s work. I only entertainer who might
have something to say is Mickey Rourke, likely unwilling to appear in this
film. Unlike the others, he could explain what it’s like to poorly portray
Bukowski in Barfly, long creating a false impression of Bukowski until this
film.
|