The Poet

Starring:Fung, Lee, Morino
Studio: Tai Seng
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Italian star and filmmaker Massimo Troisi was dying of heart failure even before this film, his dream project, began production, and he prevailed upon British director Michael Radford (White Mischief) to see him and the film through to the end. (The 40-year-old Troisi, a beloved comic actor in Italy, died the day production wrapped.) Based on true events, Troisi plays a shy postman who strikes up an unlikely friendship with exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Philippe Noiret). Through Neruda's example and tutelage, the hero learns to think of his Italian fishing village in lyrical terms, as well as how to talk to women and even find the strength to take his political stands. Sweet as it is, the film finally pushes beyond its charming borders to become an even more complex and poignant story about the pain of growing into one's destiny. --Tom Keogh

Description

Cheered by critics and audiences everywhere, IL POSTINO (THE POSTMAN) is the record-breaking Academy Award(R)-winning (Best Dramatic Score, 1995) romantic comedy that delivers heartfelt laughs! Mario is a bumbling mailman who's madly in love with the most beautiful woman in town ... and who's too shy to tell her how he feels. But when a world-famous poet -- Pablo Neruda -- moves into town, Mario is inspired. With Neruda's help, he finds the right words to win the woman's heart! This unforgettably funny comedy proves that passion ... with some artful deception ... can win the most improbable love!

Customer Reviews:

Postman to Postman.......2007-07-04

I see all Post Office related movies.I am a Mailman. This film,unlike Kevin Costners, is pure Quality. Terrific,heartwarming,touching. All that makes a perfect film. See it,soon.

Best Acting Ever.......2007-05-20

Wonderful movie, brilliant actor. A legacy to the world, left by a kind and gentle spirit. One of my all time favorite movies.

Dangerous Poems.......2007-05-14

This movie may contain the single greatest scene ever constructed within a modern effort; hint: Tangos. There is also a very dangerous line suitable for theft concerning who art belongs to. Be Careful concerning what can happen to you from a careful study of the themes within this artwork!

A delight!.......2007-03-09

This is a wonderful film. It has romance, poetry, beautiful photography, a lovely score, and a great story. I so enjoyed the rented version that I immediately had to buy it. I will enjoy watching it over and over.

God bless Miramax for finally bringing this out!.......2007-02-27

Charming, poignant, breath-taking, quick. Beautifully spoken, with excellent costuming.

A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (Including West Bank Story and The Danish Poet)

Average customer rating:

West Bank Story - Riveting and Riotous

A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (Including West Bank Story and The Danish Poet)
Starring: Ben Newmark , Noureen DeWulf , A.J. Tannen , Joey Naber , and Assaf Cohen
Director: Ari Sandel , and Torill Kove
Manufacturer: Magnolia
ProductGroup: DVD
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A Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films
75th Annual Academy Awards Short Films
Volver
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Notes on a Scandal

ASIN: B000NU2TJW
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Description

Live Action Shorts: West Bank Story (OscarÂ® Winner), Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gram Idea),Ã‰ramos Pocos(One Too Many), Helmer & Son, The Saviour.

Animated Shorts: The Danish Poet (OscarÂ® Winner), Maestro.

Bonus Feature Shorts: The Wraith of Cobble Hill, The Passenger, Gentlemen's Duel, Guide Dogm, One Rat Short Surviving the Rush.

*Compilation and bonus features subject to change.

Customer Reviews:

West Bank Story - Riveting and Riotous.......2007-06-08

This film has caused delight in all of my classes; especially after seeing the dated West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet; a light satire on the tragedies now occurring in the West Bank now. A good way to introduce the topic to teens who are a bit clueless and yet sensitive. This film really deserved the award.

Average customer rating:

A powerful and gritty film
Smoke yourself thin
Sandra Oh, Jennifer Tilly
whether or not you admit it...
Tends to Be Annoying

Dancing at the Blue Iguana
Starring: Charlotte Ayanna , Daryl Hannah , Sheila Kelley , Elias Koteas , and Vladimir Mashkov
Director: Michael Radford
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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Lie With Me

ASIN: B00005QJIG
Release Date: 2001-12-25

Description

At the Blue Iguana, in the heart of LA's San Fernando Valley, the lives of five strip club dancers converge over the course of one week. Angel (Daryl Hannah), attempts to qualify as a foster mother; Jasmine (Sandra Oh), is a clandestine poet who finds love at a coffee house reading; Jo (Jennifer Tilly), faces an unplanned pregnancy; Stormy (Sheila Kelley), confronts her bewildering past and Jesse (Charlotte Ayanna) gets a tough introduction to life in LA. This glimpse into the oft-misunderstood world of the strip club bares each girl inside and out both onstage and off, providing an insight to the story behind the dance.

Customer Reviews:

A powerful and gritty film.......2007-02-18

Dancing at the Blue Iguana is a film whose story was developed during a five month improvisational workshop run by director Michael Radford. The story centers around the Blue Iguana, your average seedy strip club, this one located in a faceless semi industrial area of the San Fernando valley part of LA. Each of the lead actors developed their own character and storyline based on their own research.

There have been a couple of pathetic attempts by Hollywood to make a film about the world of strip clubs, namely Showgirls and Demi Moore's abhorrent Striptease, but both of those failed miserably. Dancing at the Blue Iguana succeeds brilliantly. Walk into any average to below average strip club in America and you'll find stories that are not at all dissimilar from the stories developed by the Blue Iguana's five dancers all played brilliantly by Darryl Hannah, Sandra Oh, Charlotte Ayanna, Shiela Kelly and Jennifer Tilly.

The one story element that sticks out as overly fantastic is that of the Russian hit man played by Vladimir Mashkov, who because his target is being held for questioning by the FBI, is stuck in a hotel next to the club and falls for Darryl Hannah's character because he sees her smoking outside the club all the time. But if you replace the Russian hit man with a businessman stuck in town for a week, it still makes sense, and would be much more believable.

Robert Wisdom who plays Eddie, the owner of the club, and W. Earl Brown, who plays his right hand man, Bobby, both do a wonderful job in this movie as well. The camera work is first rate and does a fantastic job capturing the unscripted dialogue. The soundtrack is perfect for this film.

In a film about strip clubs, there is obviously going to be a lot of nudity, and there is in this film, but it's not done in a gratuitous way. The film also kind of starts and ends in the middle of each of the stories, but that's the way life is. I found it just absolutely compelling and rivetting, in some sense the way a train wreck is compelling, because some of these young women have real problems. I could have watched another two hours of this, though, it was that good.

Strip clubs are often sad places, both the dancers and their customers often have melancholy tales. Dancing at the Blue Iguana captures that milieu in a perfectly downbeat way. Really a great film.

Smoke yourself thin .......2007-01-20

Prior to watching this, I expected something on par with "Striptease" or "Showgirls," which are films about stripping that also attempt to legitimize their titillation by tossing in dramatic subplots. Even with earnest intentions, films of this sort usually end up being clichéd and disappointing. Adding to my trepidation was the fact I had never heard of this film, which was released in 2000, prior to 2006. I finally took a chance on it and gladly admit that it really drew me in and convinced me to care about the characters. Like most people, these women only want to find love and something real in life, yet have lost their centers. Indeed, it is the actresses' portrayals of these characters that make each disappointment and set-back so painful to watch. Sandra Oh really moved me with her performance as Jasmine, a would-be poet who sabotages her own happiness because she has come to believe she cannot trust anyone, including herself. Her performance as a sensitive, intelligent person is the most tragic among these lives because she lacks the confidence to escape her current situation, even though she easily could. As Angel, Darryl Hannah is wonderful as a helplessly dim and hopelessly optimistic dreamer. (She also looks unbelievably fit!) Jennifer Tilly is also very good as the out of control Jo, a woman who tries desperately to win in a man's world, but comes to realize the playing field is not level. Charlotte Ayanna is remarkable as Jessie, an eager to please naïf, who has not yet had her spirit crushed by the weight of the world. Come to think of it, it does all sound very clichéd and there really isn't much of a plot to tie it all together, just several subplots. Nonetheless, the acting is exceptional, made all the more impressive by the fact much of it is improvised. (And yes, the ladies here all smoke, which would ostensibly account for their trim appearances) I enjoyed the entire two hours and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good character study without the hindrance of a plot. The DVD is quite decent, with a very good transfer, optional subtitles and some alternate scenes. This is a bargain for the price.

Sandra Oh, Jennifer Tilly.......2007-01-19

I'll be honest, any movie where I get to see Sandra Oh and one of the Tilly sisters nekkid is going to get 6 stars from me.
But it actually is a pretty good movie, though it is a little predictable. I would say it is fairly realistic (having dated a couple of strippers), except for the total lack of any lesbianism. But maybe thats just in the bay area.
On the plus side, this is one of the better Jennifer Tilly movies. That girl needs to get a better manager!

whether or not you admit it..........2006-12-21

youre going to go through an aspiring-stripper phase after seeing this.

with addictive plotlines, phenomenal dialogue and characters fabulous enough to make you immediately assign one to each of your friends (or at least to yourself) this movie is at very least a guilty pleasure, with star quality to boot.

to top it all off, the choreography is incredible. i recommend watching the behind the scenes, and then maybe renting "The S Factor" (the striptease workout by Sheila Kelley, who plays Stormy).

it's a movie worth seeing, and definitely a great addition to most collections. a serious classic!

Tends to Be Annoying.......2006-09-17

"Dancing at the Blue Iguana" takes a look at a week in the life (onstage, backstage, out in the real world) of a group of strippers working at the Blue Iguana. I love strippers just as much as the next guy, but these strippers you really don't care about. The movie is apparently improvised, at least for the most part, which is probably where some of the problems lie. The cast of characters includes Jessie (Charlotte Ayanna), Angel (Daryl Hannah), Stormy (Sheila Kelly), Jasmine (Sandra Oh), and Jo (Jennifer Tilly). Each night, each woman gets on stage and dances naked. Thankfully, taking away from the stereotype, when they go back stage they're not all sad and hopeless human beings who think they've failed at life. No, they're all happy people for the most part but they still have their share of problems. Jessie seems to be really lonely, and has apparently not spoken to her family in a few years. Angel is a naive, baby-like, annoying woman who longs to have a baby and finally decides to get a foster child. Stormy is probably the most stereotypical of the bunch, her brother has came into town (he's getting married) and she longs to see him but doesn't know how to approach him. Jasmine is an aspiring poet and Jo is exactly what most of Jennifer Tilly's roles are. The bad tempered rebel of the bunch, who happens to be pregnant. The writers of the film were obviously trying to develop the characters, but they didn't do a very good job of it. Yeah, you know what they aspire to do and everything but there's just something missing from the equation. With the lack of development, few of the characters are even interesting enough to follow through the two hour movie. Out of all of them, it's (surprisingly) Angel that's most annoying. Hannah uses (although, this wasn't what it would be referred to when the movie came out) a Paris Hilton voice and is just really annoying and stupid. If you're looking for a good movie (and this movie is OK, on the entertainment scale) that exposes the lives of strippers off the bar; This isn't for you. If you're looking for a few well known actresses to take off their clothes, then this may be your kind of movie. W. Earl Brown ('Deadwood')
co-stars.

GRADE: C+

Average customer rating:

Pretty great. Ledger is truly a powerhouse actor.
Splendor in the Grass... with drugs.
Scenes are compelling on their own, but the film as a whole is severely lacking
Drugs and love dont mix
A Terrifying Ode to Addictive Passions of Human Need

Candy
Starring: Abbie Cornish , Heath Ledger , Geoffrey Rush , Tom Budge , and Roberto Meza-Mont
Director: Neil Armfield
Manufacturer: Velocity / Thinkfilm
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ASIN: B000LAZDPG
Release Date: 2007-03-27

Description

Oscar®-nominee Heath Ledger stars as Dan, a charming but reckless young poet who falls in love with Candy (Abbie Cornish), a beautiful young student who is attracted to his bohemian lifestyle. In order to get closer to Dan, Candy joins him in his drug addiction. Their passionate relationship then alternates between bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destruction. Hooked as much on heroin as one another, their story becomes an intense love triangle - a boy, a girl, and a drug.

Customer Reviews:

Pretty great. Ledger is truly a powerhouse actor........2007-05-24

This is a very satisfying movie. Heath Ledger is probably going to become one of the most respected actors of all time. He's that good. His love interest in the movie is also a very attractive and solid actress. What really makes the movie for me is the soundtrack. Great choices for this film, and more than one song that I wanted for my collection.

Splendor in the Grass... with drugs........2007-05-06

This is one of those cult movies in the making, like Code 46, that I saw in the theater with only a couple of people present -- but everyone there sat almost religiously through the closing credits and walked out as if transformed.

Though the movie takes place in Australia, Dan, played by Heath Ledger in what is surely the most invested performance of his career so far, comes off as the epitome of the Southern poet, the Faulkner archetype. But like so much in this movie, including the drug theme, Dan's poetic side is really a red herring. Poetry AND addiction AND love all amount to the same thing for Dan -- a repressed or perhaps even unconscious yearning for heaven, three ways to fill the void of a world that has become irreligious and material to the core. Drugs in this movie are only a metaphor for addictions of all kinds, including male-female love, while spiritual transcendence must be and is an untethering from this world. The tension of the film is; will Dan succumb to his lower impulses, or higher spirit?

What makes this, to me, one of the greatest and truest of all love stories is that director Neil Armfield respects Dan and Candy's love for the purity of intent behind it, while at the same time acknowledging that it must be shattered for each to become individuals. There's another layer to this movie, an acknowledgement that we are entering a post-Christian, indeed hellish civilization. The characters who are doing drugs in this film are not out for a good time; they are trying to escape a bleak future, to put themselves to sleep. In the most memorable scene of the movie -- SPOILER HERE -- Dan's dealer and hopelessly inept father-figure Geoffrey Rush fades away while one of his boy-toys occupies himself with a monstrous video game, blasting away at Iraqis. Though suicide is not the answer, Armfield is right to pay respect to those who are suffering from the ant-like behavior that Darwin's children have embraced.

This movie, in fact, could even be seen as the Christian riposte to the condescending, mean-spirited Jewish view of the "goyim" and their self-destruction, Requiem for a Dream. What makes it special is precisely this hidden Christian quality, a detached but sympathetic view of the ways that, having forgotten Christ's promise of salvation after death, we try to reproduce heaven on earth -- art, sex, heroin -- and achieve only hell. But sometimes miracles happen, and Dan is a miraculous character.
When you see what happens to him at the end, you will look at everyone differently, every gardener, every fry-cook, every crossing guard, and wonder if they too have Candy in their past... And are waiting for her in their future.

Scenes are compelling on their own, but the film as a whole is severely lacking.......2007-04-22

Is Candy a love story or a drug story? A love story about the love of drugs? The movie is unflinchingly honest look at a couple addicted to heroin. The pair is played by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish (neither with a terribly good complexion due to their drug use). As a whole, the movie is a montage of rather clichéd scenes of drug abuse. You get the bad -- the crippling agony of going cold turkey, the violent rages when demanding a fix, a miscarriage and emotional pain on top of withdrawal, and so on. There are also the rare moments of beauty, of the enjoyment of life driving in the sunlight with the top down. The scenes are rounded out with the pure strangeness of drug havens, such as the juxtaposition of Geoffrey Rush playing Microsoft Flight Simulator while a tan cabana boy in an orange Speedo lounges in the background.

Individual scenes are compelling, moving, and shocking, but as a whole, the film doesn't leave an impression. This is a repackaging of vignettes that have been told before (and in much better films, like Requiem for a Dream, or, on the lighter side, Spun). Everything in Candy has been done before, and in better quality works. This is not to say that the acting isn't first rate, or that there aren't amazing scenes. but Candy as a whole is just not a memorable film.

My cynical side wonders if the director believed that "gorgeous people ruined by drugs!!!" was enough of a premise for a movie, and focused merely on scandalous scenes of drug use, rather than the film as a whole. I'm a junkie for movies about addiction and psychological pain, so I had to watch this one, but it isn't one I'll be recommending to friends.

Drugs and love dont mix.......2007-04-09

This movie was amazing. I want to own it. Geoffrey Rush, Abbie Cornish, and Heath ledger all give fantastic and realistic performances in this little film about the downward spiral of a couple who get hooked on drugs. The movie is more about their relationship rather than just trying to portray drugs as a good or bad thing. The movie doesnt take a side, which I liked, but instead focuses on the events and the feelings in the lives and of the people portrayed. This movie is amazing, beautiful, and poetic. I wish it were mine.

A Terrifying Ode to Addictive Passions of Human Need.......2007-04-04

I watched the movie "Candy" because the description on back of the DVD made me think it might have something significant to say about how poets manage to cultivate their creative gifts in the face of the world's harsh and often unforgiving realities. It was actually more about fueling delusions of escape from those realities through drug addiction and the intensities of love.

At the center of this brilliantly artful and emotionally powerful drama are the young hopeful artist Candy and the would-be poet Dan. Both are emotionally damaged individuals who lead each other through a nightmare maze of drug addiction into a junkie's hell of destitution, prostitution, theft, and death.

The film, based on Luke Davies' novel, does raise some important questions about how much we can or should expect of human love, a subject more and more artists seem to be examining these days. Creative acts of poetry--such as composition, recital, discovery, inspiration, etc.--do not make up the core of this extraordinary film. BUT: the soul-numbing angst suffered by the principle characters does build to one dynamic slam of a poem that makes real artistic and spiritual sense out of Candy's and Dan's horrible agony.

Actress Abbie Cornish absolutely astounds in her portrayal of the title character. The exceptionally gifted Heath Ledger provides yet another off-the-chain performance that demonstrates why he's destined to eventually win the Academy Award that eluded him for "Brokeback Mountain." Other ensemble members, including the phenomenal Geoffrey Rush, Noni Hazlehurst, and Tony Martin, are never anything less than perfect in their supporting roles.

by Aberjhani
author of I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
and The Harlem Renaissance Way Down South

Average customer rating:

Was my perception of Bukowski wrong or what?!
A Labor of Love And Inspiration. An Essential Document.
What is Bono the clown doing here?
a must film for bukowski fans.
This film chokes itself to death rather quickly

Bukowski - Born Into This
Starring: Charles Bukowski , Carl Weissner , Marina Bukowski , John Martin (XXIV) , and Taylor Hackford
Director: John Dullaghan (III)
Manufacturer: Magnolia
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Factotum
Factotum

ASIN: B000E8N8L6
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Product Description

This documentary looks at the life of poet and author Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), whose bibliography includes "Notes of a Dirty Old Man", "Love is a Dog from Hell", as well as the screenplay for Barfly. Bukowski earned a cult following attracted to his graphic and brutal stories of a life (often his own) lived amidst alcoholism, poverty and violence.

System Requirements:
Running Time: 130 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Director John Dullaghan's biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski's poetry readings are interviews with the poet's fans including such legendary figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Joyce Fante (wife of John), Bono, and Harry Dean Stanton. Filmed in grainy black and white by Bukowski's friend, Taylor Hackford, due to lack of funding, the old films edited into this movie paint Bukowski's life of boozing and brawling romantically, securing Bukowski's legendary status. Born Into This relies on interviews with Bukowski for biographical information instead of cheesy voiceovers, bringing the viewer even closer to the author. For example, in one amazing sequence, Bukowski rides the viewer around in the backseat of his car, telling us through his rearview mirror of his stint as a post office worker which inspired the novel, Post Office. Scenes splicing interviews with Bukowski's ex-wife, Linda Lee, and R. Crumb's comic strip panels portraying Bukowski as a sex-crazed maniac, set the tone for bawdier parts of the film. Occasionally the film displays lines of Bukowski's poetry on the screen, as reminders that he was not only a raging alcoholic with a fierce sense of humor but also a talented and beloved writer. With so much hilariously shocking footage of "Hank," Bukowski: Born Into This presents Bukowski as a troubled but classic genius. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews:

Was my perception of Bukowski wrong or what?!.......2007-04-24

I am not judging this documentary on the lighting or cinematography whatever (you wouldnt want me to anyways). I gave this documentary 4 stars because of the info relayed and the moments that we saw captured in Bukowski's life.

My negatives about the documentary: I watched this film on a whim and was so engrossed in the info I received, I just couldnt watch the film in an objective way to relay a good mix of negatives.
However, I do agree with another commentor how some of the interviews were a bummer. From his last wife, Linda #2, I didnt feel any sincerity or care or emotion coming from her as she stood today. And I feel as if thats an unfair statement to make about the documentary's appeal because I was truly doubtful of Linda's "love" for Bukowski versus being doubtful of the credibility of the documentary.
And then some of the other interviews ... like the guy who was Bukowski's first publisher, Bono, etc, I just found them really un-enlightening.

My main love for this documentary comes from my assumptions about Bukowski (through his poetry) being discredited by seeing the real man on this film. I thought Bukowski was just a loud, "dirty old man". And, in some sense, he was - but not in the way I had perceived.

Some of you guys might think Im simple but . . .
Good points
- I really loved hearing Bukowski's poems being read by Bukowski. He has a scratchy, but somehow gentle voice.
- I liked how Bukowski answered questions asked by reporters. They certainly asked him the rollyoureye questions, like "what is love?" but he played along and answered them - in a very poetic way. You could see him give the question considerable thought. Then he'd smirk and say something beautiful.
- I liked learning about the major "points" in his life. Learning about his job. His finances. His parents. His acne. The type of women he liked. Nothing too in depth here, but enough.
- I dont think I fully understand Bukowski's view on women. Despite the inadequacies in my interpretation, I was still engrossed by his relationship with women.
He was a virgin until he turned, what was it? 24?
He dated almost plain, sometimes ugly, even fat women sometimes. (which was shocking. i have read some of his short stories - and he did comment on the "ugly" appearance of his women, but i just somehow couldnt believe him bc of the way he talked about beautiful, young women in his poetry. but the documentary relayed that he almost would seek out the women weathered by life, the ugly ones). egs, one of Bukowski's women who was interviewed had long white moustache hairs growning out of her chin. It took me awhile to stop focusing on the hair and start focusing on what she was saying.
And THEN there was the 'behind the scenes' taping of Barfly, where Bukowski momentarily turns into the very man he hates, his father, and kicks Linda #2. TOTALLY did not see that one coming.
[another reason why I cant give a fair judgement to this doc ... I knew NOTHING about Bukowski but I've always been curious - so his life lived up to my expectations. How can I fairly critique a film that tells me his life in such a way?]
Lastly, seeing Bukowski reading a poem about the very gender he "disrespects" ... and then crying. That had to be my favorite part.
- Another scene I liked. Regarding Barfly - I cant remember who played him (brando?), but Bukowski mentioned how the lead actor barged into the bar, chest pumped out, and exclaimed to everyone his entrance. I forgot the exact saying, but Bukowski said the actor's line how he [bukowski] would have REALLY said it - subdued, with a sense of sadness.

Yeah. I liked it. Its one of the few documentaries I could watch more than 2 times.

A Labor of Love And Inspiration. An Essential Document........2007-03-11

Much like Charles Bukowski's writing itself, this outstanding film is both a labor of love and inspiration. With "Born Into This," John Dullaghan has provided us with a delectable and essential document, detailing one of the greatest writers and poets of the 20th Century. Painstakingly interviewing everyone from former postal co-workers, artistic colleagues, biographers, childhood neighbors, and relatives in Germany to the likes of Tom Waits, Sean Penn and Harry Dean Stanton (and yes, Bono), Dullaghan spent years and almost went bankrupt in producing this wonderful work. He even hired PI's to find people and went through Hank's FBI and employment files.

Now, all of this exertion, while heroic in and of itself, could still have resulted in a disjointed, rambling mishmash of a film. After all, culling from so much material and sculpting it down to less than two hours of celluloid is no mean feat. But with a yeoman's effort, Dullaghan has managed to make a compelling and coherent portrait of the artist as both a young and old man, and for this I thank him.

And while this film won't win any awards for sound, cinematography or editing, it is the substance in the subject matter, and the care of the filmmaker in choosing what we see, that makes this such a terrific film. Besides, Dullaghan himself says in the director's commentary that "to make a highly stylistic film would have violated his (Bukowski's) style."

And he's right. So we get grainy black and white footage of Chuck walking through LA, or driving the streets peering out from behind his cracked windshield, or drinking his way through some of his famously contentious poetry readings. But in this film's case (as in Buk's writing) form is overwhelmed by function. Thus, we get to be there when Charles breaks down in tears, later in life, reading a poem about a lost love. We get to see the infamous footage (also found on the Bukowski Tapes) of Charles kicking and berating his wife.

But Dullaghan clearly loves his subject matter, and in presenting the many conflicting aspects of this complicated man, from the harsh to the gentle, Dullaghan does what any good documentarian would do: show every side of the argument and let the audience make up its own mind (and so far the audience has responded enthusiastically, to say the least).

That said, the filmmaker does try to provide a summary of the man himself by including the poem "bluebird" as a sort of soliloquy in the final act. But even this choice is incredibly apt, as Bukowski's words do well to encapsulate the man himself (and who could do better?): "There's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out, but I'm too clever - I only let him out at night sometimes when everybody's asleep. I say, 'I know you're there, so don't be sad.' Then I put him back. But he's singing a little in there. I haven't quite let him die."

In "Bukowski: Born Into This," we get a laser-focused look at this man who liberated poetry from the academics and gave it back to the people, bluebird and all.

What is Bono the clown doing here?.......2007-03-10

I can understand why Tom Waits is here. Bukowski`s influence was present through most of his 70's work and persona. But Bono? How can this so-called artist who has spent millions of dollars on designer clothes and accessories even dares to mention Bukowski`s influence on his disposable pop music. He's gotta be kidding. Mr.Bono should read Hollywood and discover how much they "touched" the old man when they invited him and Linda to one of their mind-numbing concerts. That is, if Mr. Bono has ever actually read any of Bukowski's books.

a must film for bukowski fans........2007-02-20

this is such a well made film. even though it is long (130 minutes) it never felt long. in the end i wished there was more. bukowski comes off much more soft spoken than i would have thought from reading him, a troubled and extremely interesting character. sean penn, tom waits, bono, and harry dean stanton, along with many others are interviewed, and a fully well-rounded portrait of bukowski emerges. the interviews of bukowski himself, and clips taken from poetry readings, are by far the most interesting aspect of the film. his conversation about the regular beatings he suffered at the hands of his father when very young is particulary chilling. all in all, this is about as good a bio-documentary as i have seen. don't miss it.

This film chokes itself to death rather quickly.......2007-02-03

Lots of fairly interesting clips of Bukowski speaking. Some of the bits of other people speaking on Bukowski are interesting, some are irritating. There is some of Bukowski's poetry recited in the film, though more would have been welcome.
The film starts out ok and weaves poetry, clips, and anectdotes successfully. The film moves in a linear fashion through Bukowski's life and gets sidetracked and boring frequently. To the point that you start to get annoyed.
Its pretty interesting seeing Bukowski, and some of the interviewees are intersting. I just didnt like the film however, it somehow struck a sour note despite some of the good material contained in it.
I've given some thought as to why I didnt like this documentary, and I have come up with my answer.
The documentary writer doesnt let Bukowski breathe in this film. He has Bukowski all 'figured out' in his mind and dissects him and then stuffs in clips to fit his little intellectual framework. Its kind of funny in the film how the Black Sparrow guy says that form comes in when spirit leaves. How arrogant of a documentary director do you have to be put a clip of that in your film and not see how structured and dull your film is? The funny irony of that clip is the highlight of the film.
In a documentary on Bukowski I want to see him breathe, I want to connect with the essence of the man.
So with that in mind that explains the negative feeling I had for this film. Restraining Bukowski and dissecting him in that manner is insulting and condescending, by the nature of the act.
Heres a lesson for this documentary writer and all documentary writers: if you pin the butterfly down it croaks. Let it fly.

Average customer rating:

Intense film about an intense figure
What did you think of the words?
Portrayal of Affair with Assia
Mostly Suited For True Plath Fans
Paltrow's acting surprised me

Sylvia
Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow , Daniel Craig , Jared Harris , Blythe Danner , and Michael Gambon
Director: Christine Jeffs
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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The Mother
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The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

ASIN: B00005JMJD
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Amazon.com

The biting poetry and sad life of poet Sylvia Plath form the story of Sylvia, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. This subtle but fascinating movie centers around Plath's relationship with poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig, Love Is the Devil), with whom she fell aggressively in love while a student at Cambridge. Their relationship proved passionate but rocky; many of Plath's fans blame the depression that eventually led her to suicide on Hughes's infidelity. Sylvia doesn't let Hughes off the hook, but it doesn't paint Plath as a helpless victim either. Paltrow's superb performance captures the poet's fierce jealousy and artistic ambition as much as her debilitating sorrow. The movie makes no big statements about Plath's poetry, letting the troubling details of her life tell their own compelling story. Also featuring Jared Harris, Blythe Danner, and Michael Gambon; the acting is outstanding all around. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Intense film about an intense figure.......2007-06-23

"Sylvia" does a solid job of communicating the tragedy of Plath's life to devoted readers and the average viewer alike: Gwyneth Paltrow gives a notable performance as the disturbed, intense, and tragically flawed poetess who, with only two collections of verse, changed the face of modern poetry and never lived to bask in the fruits of her own greatness.

Since Plath's suicide a lot of baseless assumptions have been made from her work and certain aspects of her tumultuous, but very accomplished, life: the most absurd of which is that husband and poet Ted Hughes was somehow responsible for her self-immolation. If only it were that simple.

As shown very candidly in this film, Sylvia Plath was a woman with the ambition of a Caesar and the ego of Alexander the Great. The unrelenting pressure she put on herself to produce poetry (without which we might not have "Daddy", "Ariel"?) may have accelerated whatever imbalance she had to begin with. Before she even met Hughes a serious suicide attempt had been made. Her intensity was painful and frightening.

Not that the marriage helped--Hughes was a womanizing alcoholic who was more than willing to set aside ethical qualms to satisfy his slightest whims. In later life this all caught up to him and he developed something of a conscience, but by then it was far too late and he had left two dead women and one murdered child in his wake.

This movie gets very dark very fast, as you might expect. At the beginning, though, we are treated to a realistic and vivid portrayal of two great poets meeting one another in the heat of the muse's grip: reciting poetry with the speed of a computer, obsessing over every second that passes without a word written, and flinging verses at each other, some of them medieval and archaic.

Another reviewer said there "wasn't much of the writing" in the film. I'd have to disagree. While Hughes poems and Plath's poems aren't given exclusive attention, we hear Chaucer, Yeats, Lowell, and hosts of other poets referenced and quoted continually.

Even with the contagious romanticism of the film and of the poet's lives,
Plath and figures like her (Anne Sexton, Virginia Woolf, and similar male poets) have left some very dangerous and negative stereotypes as a result of their self-destruction. Decadence is miserable and not creative in the slightest. Poetry is particularly prone to this myth. After the movie I wondered: what if Plath had thought about her poetry before she stuck her head in that oven? Or her children? Imagine what poetry we would have today. All that aside, this is definitely a worthwhile film for anyone interested in the life of a real poet.

What did you think of the words?.......2006-11-13

The facts of the matter of Ted and Sylvia are well known, this movie presents them soberly, there are no cranky theories on offer (she may be the only American celebrity the CIA did not murder). On the surface what happened is banal, a marriage which went quickly wrong, and her left with two little kids. If we glance back through time 40 years we will find "Poor Cow" tells the same story. That was fiction, this story is not. But the genre known as the biopic tends towards the cartoon (Ah, Wilde, let me introduce you to my friend Whistler. I'm sure you'll find him most amusing... So, Oliver Cromwell, we meet at last.) and this portrait of Sylvia Plath in pre-feminist, pre-swinging 60s, pre-rock, pre-nearly everything late 1950s England, trapped like a bird in a house flying bang into the windows time and again trying painfully to escape, veers close to pure caricature.
Sample dialogue :
Sylvia : How was your walk?
Ted: Good. I got a poem. A good one.
Sylvia: I'm dried up.
Ted: Cause you've got nothing to say.
Sylvia: I'm no good.
Ted: You make great cakes.
Cue great offstage feminist moaning and gnashing. Then Ted says some useful blokeish things - "There's no secret to it (writing poetry - they never talk about anything else), you just have to pick a subject and stick your head into it." Sylvia retorts : "You go out for a bike ride and come back with an epic in hexameters - I sit down to write, I get a bake sale." A little later, on their honeymoon, they're in a dinghy rowing in the sea when Ted suddenly realises - he's out of his depth! ("the tide's dragging us out - I can't get us back in... people drown like this...") Heavy handed metaphor? Yes, I think so! And so under waves of risible dialogue like that, the movie slowly sinks whilst the captain stands bravely on deck saluting to the last - that would be Gwyneth Paltrow, who gives a fine performance, but what can even she do?
Middle aged woman to Ted after his lecture : Mr Hughes, your voice is so.... powerful.
Ted : But what did you think of the words?
Middle-aged woman (blankly) : ....the words?
Cue Sylvia smiling ironically. Cue audience rolling eyes and nudging each other - "I reckon there's Trouble Ahead!" Yes, we get it. Ted's a wow with the ladies. So it seems that these big name high toned poets have relationships which turn on exactly the same thing as Den and Angie - the tedious negotiations of sexual fidelity, or as Leonard Cohen gracefully put it, "the homicidal bitching that goes down in every kitchen to determine who shall serve and who shall eat". And this justifiable sexual and creative jealousy is given to us as the whole cause of Sylvia's misery. Her extremely disturbed adolescence is alluded to twice but never examined.
Sylvia Plath was a prisoner - of the 1950s and its common or garden sexism, of Ted Hughes, of her own ambition, of her marriage, of her children, and she was in an almost permanent rage. The only time she captured and channelled this rage was in the six month burst of energy in late 62 and early 63 when she wrote the Ariel poems, which collectively form one of the essential documents of the 20th century. This really unnecessary film cannot illuminate what happened. It peers at the photogenic surfaces. What was Ted thinking? What about Sylvia's friends - we only see one, Al Alvarez - had she scared them off? Why did she become suicidal? Was she born like that, as some people are born junkies? What the hell was she thinking, with her two little kids in the next room? This was no ordinary despair. Is this movie for those who haven't read Sylvia or those who have? Either group would have many complaints. They'd be better off reading Ariel and Janet Malcolm's book "The Silent Woman".

Portrayal of Affair with Assia.......2006-09-30

The film takes a lot of liberties with the plot exposition of Hughes' affair with Assia. Apparently they did kiss in the kitchen and Plath saw it. Apparently also Assia killed herself and her daughter by Hughes (by gassing) less than 10 years after Plath did. There is a biography of her which does not seem to receive much mention--in it there are exerpts from her diaries which divulge information about Plaths' second novel which was never found, and about her last diaries which of course Hughes destroyed. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/09/nhughes09.xml

Mostly Suited For True Plath Fans.......2006-09-29

Some excellent camera work and unusual visual angles highlighted by skilled use of lighting marked this dreary, crawling film's real achievement. Based on the marriage of the late poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, this movie does admirably achieve the telling of its story without placing undue blame or taking sides in a partisan way. The trouble is, its wending pace fails to hold the attention. Basically this movie is simply not that good, and considering its subject matter and the people involved, it should have been.

Paltrow's acting surprised me.......2006-09-19

I find it difficult to relate to Gwyneth Paltrow as an actress, although I've appreciated quite a few of the movies she has acted in. This time however, I marvelled at her, really marvelled.

Unfortunately I think that in order to show more complex real-life characters, film makers *must* frame them in the context of their romantic relationships primarily. A film just draws more attention that way.

That is where where I was left wanting in this...that I didn't believe that it was jealousy that unravelled her, or that had he "made her happy" she would not have killed herself. The illness was there, and the death of her father brought it to the surface for the first time. It was a disease.

The fascinating thing about the disease of mental illness, is that the same thing that disconnects a person from the world around them, seems to be the thing that enables them to be extra sensitive to other sensations, and maybe to their own inner workings as well. My favorite line of the movie is when she says that the truth loves her. She sees more.

I think that we're learning more and more that it is a myth to think that a person cannot be creative or tap into genius without continually slipping into insanity, or risking it. I'd like to see more exploration of the topic in film though.

Average customer rating:

If you've only read him, you must see this ...
If you saw Born Into This, you are going to want to watch this DVD
Much deeper insight into Bukowski than the 'Born Into This' documentary
All the wrinkles of character
A MAGNATE AMONG AMERICAN WRITERS

The Charles Bukowski Tapes
Starring: Charles Bukowski
Manufacturer: Barrel
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Bukowski - Born Into This
Charles Bukowski - Bukowski at Bellevue
Factotum
Come On In!
Love Is a Dog from Hell: Poems, 1974-1977

ASIN: B000GI3KK8
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Amazon.com

Fifty-two clips of Charles Bukowski ranting and musing comprise Barbet Shroeder's Charles Bukowski Tapes. It was, until now, a rarity that circulated amongst die-hard Bukowski fans, since the release of Shroeder's Bukowski-scripted feature, Barfly. This collection of monologues, ranging in topic from Bukowski's beef with God, to biographical tales of his life as an abused child, to his views on writing as a disciplinary craft, cover the gamut of Bukowski-typical topics, which can also be glimpsed in other Bukowski documentaries, such as Born Into This. But The Charles Bukowski Tapes are set apart by their sheer volume of candid author footage, in which Bukowski has drunkenly abandoned all camera-shyness to reveal, and revel in, his damage. In one chilling segment, Hank and Linda Lee sit on the couch and seriously discuss divorce, leaving the viewer feeling as if they've eavesdropped on a therapy session. In another, Hank takes us to his childhood home, to show us the bathroom, nicknamed "The Torture Chamber," where he was repeatedly whipped. The rawness of the tapes is refreshing but painful. This DVD package includes several segments in which Bukowski recites poems, as well as a booklet containing writing by Shroeder, an essay by Bukowski biographer, Neeli Cherkovsky, and a 1987 interview with Hank about the making of Barfly that is, of course, hilariously bitter. The Charles Bukowski Tapes allow for intimacy, making them charmed and disturbing. --Trinie Dalton

Description

When Barbet Schroeder (More, General Idi Amin Dada, Single White Female) began work on the movie Barfly, he had no idea that it would be such a struggle. During the seven years it took him to complete the film, he turned his cameras on its screenwriter, poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.

"I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to share the extraordinary evenings we spent together," said Schroeder. "I finally brought in a small crew, friends of mine, with a high quality video set up. Whoever was the least drunk took control of the camera."

Bukowski, legendary for his drunken excess and frank observations on life, love, and survival, took no exception with Schroeder.

Barbet Schroeder recalls, "I had no idea of what I might do with the material, but I didn't want those evenings to be lost. As I don't like formal interviews, I tried to get him started on a topic and then keep from interrupting him. The result was often a monologue of three minutes or longer."

Schroeder eventually completed The Charles Bukowski Tapes, a four-hour long study of the man and the music of his words. "The ideal way to show this material was in short video-clips—a new style of film. Once I had screened it this way, it seemed twice as powerful."

Available for the first time in the world on DVD, Barrel Entertainment is proud to present this exceptional portrait of one of America's most vital voices.

Customer Reviews:

If you've only read him, you must see this ..........2007-06-22

Being an avid reader of Buk's stuff for the past 20 years or so; it occurred to me that I had never seen him on film or for that matter even heard the man speak. After considering the volumes of his verse I had consumed prior to viewing this film I was still not prepared for what I was about to see. Just watch this and you'll feel closer to the writer, closer to yourself and ultimately - closer to truth.

If you saw Born Into This, you are going to want to watch this DVD.......2007-04-24

Although a bit "Euro" in its presentation (cheesy French piano in between sections), the substance of these two DVDs is solid. Nothing beats an interview with Charles Bukowski. His looks are as honest and peculiar as what comes out of his mouth. But, don't just watch the DVDs... his written poetry is just as captivating. He takes you back to scenes in the 70s and 80s that are long gone now. In his writing though, they are right there... present tense.

Much deeper insight into Bukowski than the 'Born Into This' documentary.......2007-03-24

Schroeder made an interesting choice in conducting this interview. Very little formal questioning was posed, he in fact very rarely interjects any commentary.
Bukowski seems to be a little disarmed by the format. Sometimes he seems closed off and embarrassed. Sometimes he seems too drunk to make a coherent point. However sometimes the format creates a level of openness and magic happens when Bukowski talks.
Its these moments that one watches the Bukowski tapes for, to me they were quite profound. Bukowski allows you in, past the drunkeness, past the angry shell.

You actually get something out of these tapes, unlike the terrible documentary 'Born Into This'.

All the wrinkles of character.......2007-01-11

I
fell in to a stupor of visions died like one hell of an all wet man and went way over to the closest neutral corner of a very amusing purgatory indeed. Now I'm right back where the fight started off so what else is new. Ask the dust I guess.

A MAGNATE AMONG AMERICAN WRITERS.......2006-11-10

All who fail to view this DVD are doomed to a life of ignorance and a sorrowful lack of wisdom.

John Martin was the most eloquent interviewee.

The celebrities seemed to be at a loss for words, apart from Tom Waits, who read just the right (Buk's) words.

Average customer rating:

Great clips but too damn Hollywoodized
The Glory of the Beatniks.
A good introduction to Beat influence, but very broad
A little disappointing but still worth seeing
'Source' of Inspiration

The Source
Starring: William F. Buckley , Jack Kerouac , Bob Hope , Richard J. Daley , and Johnny Depp
Director: Chuck Workman
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
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What Happened to Kerouac?
Lost in La Mancha
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Cannes Man

ASIN: B00004STH1
Release Date: 2000-07-05

Amazon.com

This documentary is a treat, a look at the beat writers that benefits not only from a wealth of vital source information, including interviews with major figures, but also from an abundance of intelligence and wit. Interspersed with clips of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs are brilliant montages of clips that set the beats in the context of their times. The story of how the beats rebelled against American conformity in the 1950s is well known, of course, but this documentary manages to find fresh ways to relate their views on life and writing. Segments in which Johnny Depp, John Turturro, and Dennis Hopper portray, respectively, Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs may strike some as extraneous, but the good performances redeem their inclusion in the film. As befits the documentary's title, The Source devotes considerable attention to the influence of the beats, and interviews with such notables as Ken Kesey, Jerry Garcia, and Philip Glass, performance clips of Bob Dylan, and news footage from the 1960s establish how the sensibility of the writers trickled into all of society. This is not only a fine introduction to the beats, but those who already revere them will find the profusion of material contained it to be a delight. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews:

Great clips but too damn Hollywoodized.......2006-02-18

What's good about this documentary is all the great footage of the Beats. There is amazing interview footage of Corso and Burroughs later in life that I haven't seen anywhere else, along with choice clips of interviews of all the Beats that are in the other three or so good documentaries out there. (Really worth seeing are "Kerouac: King of the Beats," "What Ever Happened to Kerouac?", and "The Beat Generation".) It's very worth watching just for this footage.

But unfortunately it tries to be too hip and too cute and ends up just being too glib and too distracting. It jumps frenetically between little swatches of otherwise great archival footage to stupid TV shows of the time, or to unrelated street scenes or bands playing. All of which gives it a distracting Attention Deficit Disorder/MTV music video feel. Very polished and Hollywood and very out of sorts with the Beats focus on authenticity. The film didn't need all this mess. The subjects of the documentary are so fascinating and energetic all by themselves, I don't know why the makers would try to spice it up by interrupting the enthralling footage with endless splices of goofy sounds and images.

Another annoying thing is that the makers work far too hard to draw the lineage between the Beats and the Hippies and the free speech movement. They end up talking about the 60s and to 60s personalities much too long. The connection between the Beats and Hippies is there, of course, but the makers way oversimplify and make it seem as if it's obvious to everyone that the Beats started the whole social revolution singlehandedly. And that's silly. It would have been much more potent if they'd spent less time on all that and instead had shown more of their great interview and performance footage of the main folks.

Again, very worth watching but I sure found the meddling of the film makers frustrating.

The Glory of the Beatniks. .......2005-05-14

This movie is a fast ride and a lot of fun. It is the furthest thing from a slow-moving documentary. The technical style and flair would appeal to practically any viewer. The Source is glossy and gorgeous. The director's clout is also impressive. Johnny Depp gives a performance monologue as Jack Kerouac and John Torturro gives an emotional reading from "Howl." Dennis Hopper imitates Burroughs as well later in the film. Their efforts are impressive.

Just to let the skeptics out there know, there is no room for doubt in this documentary. The beats are heroes and saviors--and not much else is considered. That some of them were minor talents is brushed over. Massive beat generation fans would give it five stars. A totally sanitized version of William S. Burroughs is presented, and it is implied that Kerouac was only a heterosexual, which is something that most commentators would regard as dubious. The film's attitude towards drug use is rather slanted. One memorable quotation was, "you can overdose on anything including sushi." Well no, not really.

It does not matter though, the movie is an amazing sprint and it succeeds in making itself impossible to turn off.

A good introduction to Beat influence, but very broad.......2005-04-25

A documentary that wears its heart on its sleeve, "The Source" is a great collection of archival clips and contemporary interviews. It overreaches trying to connect all of the movement's reference points from Herbert Huncke to Henry Rollins -- the final half hour is a dizzying mix of quick cuts and fleeting words -- though it certainly does indicate the breadth of Beat syle, the film takes on a very slapdash quality. The admirable recreations of Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs seem unncessary when there's so much available footage, especially in a film that runs only 90 minutes. Still, ten seconds of Neal's madcap jitterbugging is worth all the well-intentioned homage. (One final sticking point: an all-inclusive overview of Beat influence that doesn't include Patti Smith, Tom Verlaine or Richard Hell isn't really complete, is it?) Workman did extensive digging in the film archives, however, reminding us that the Beat movement was as visual as it was literary. The final scenes of Ginsberg reading his own words on Times Square marquees is inspired.

A little disappointing but still worth seeing.......2003-10-28

The DVD is interesting, but there is too much of the same old commentary that has been circulating in beat documentaries for years. Many of the folks interviewed weren't all that significant to the movement. However, the Burroughs footage alone is worth the effort - but not nearly enough Jack Kerouac footage - there should have been much more of Jack and much less modern critique by folks who just weren't there. I would have liked to have seen more of Gregory Corso as well, but he has some priceless moments in the film! The Neil Cassady footage is also very good. Ginsberg is Ginsberg. I didn't get the point of the Johnny Depp/Dennis Hopper/John Turturro bits. Although Turturro's performance is by far the best! Overall, it's a nice documentary but not as ground breaking as was hyped.

'Source' of Inspiration.......2002-07-10

"The Source," director Chuck Workman's documentary about the Beat Generation, is as close to communing with a bygone generation as possible. In this examination of the lives of modern American literature's unholy Trinity -- Allen Ginsberg ("HOWL"), Jack Kerouac ("On the Road") and William S. Burroughs ("Naked Lunch") -- and how they unwittingly made thoughts pulse to their own strange beat, Workman's film releases the essence of these legends by casting a spell of media voodoo. Ironically, this same method of divination is responsible for bringing bits of these great personalities into the minds of today's commercially fed youth -- remember the infamous Burroughs Nike ad and the use of Kerouac's image to sell blue jeans?

This look back at the fathers of the Beat Generation was filmed before Ginsberg was silenced by cancer in the spring of 1997, yet the poet functions as a spirit-guide not unlike Virgil in Dante's "Inferno." He gently takes us from the initial meeting of the three writers in 1944 at Columbia University to their inspiration by Neal Cassady through the '50s, the Jazz Age and into the '60s with the youthful interpretation of what they started and how it fomented a revolution.

Like Dante, we are left on our own for much of the documentary to sort through the barrage of incredible footage, interviews and huge cast of players, which Workman must have sold nearly a pound of his own soul to procure. The surreal nature of Burroughs loading his gun or watching Neal Cassady do a jig by a Volkswagen bus, plunges the audience even deeper into the past by humanizing men whose mythic importance is on the same level as JFK or James Dean.

It is these scenes that make "The Source" such a fine record of a lost age. Workman's labor of love is crafted like the best college history courses. We hear exactly what altered the state of the spoken and written word, and the writers' astonishment that they were being emulated and taken so seriously. Burroughs' contempt, Kerouac's confusion and Ginsberg's quiet acceptance of their fame are illuminating to those of us who weren't there or didn't pay close enough attention to the centers of culture.

Workman goes a bit astray with his use of reenactments, a decidedly MTV convention that, for the most part, serve only as a minor distraction. It's easy to buy Johnny Depp reciting bits and pieces of Jack Kerouac's works in what looks like a roadside bar, but Dennis Hopper's attempts at sections of Burroughs' "Junky," "Interzone" and "Queer" are terrible. It might be because Hopper is, in fact, a legend unto himself, and it's difficult to see him as another from the same period. (An excellent Burroughs can be seen in David Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch" starring Peter Weller as an amalgamated William S.). All is forgiven, though, because the fresh memory of John Turturro's visceral rendition of Ginsberg's "HOWL" outside the Rockland State Hospital in New York City is unforgettable and truly inspired.

However, much of the footage is painful, and Workman is determined to present this mythological period by picking at the scabs of time and the recent commercial deification of these people. Scenes of an angry and pickled Kerouac trying to discuss the essence of writing with talk show host Steve Allen -- and then if you can believe it, William F. Buckley -- are quite sobering and make it clear that theirs' was more of a struggle than a party.

Then there are the shots of Burroughs that are about as comforting as the cold sweat that lets the addict know he hasn't killed himself. He's young and dangerous, wielding a knife in one scene and a syringe in the next. And although there is a perverse thrill watching the world-famous junky shoot up for the camera, we also get to see the needles in his eyes filled with scorn for anyone unlucky enough to be on the other side of that camera. One can almost feel him looking through the movie screen, searching for the kind of people who will eventually frequent "art houses" to watch films about things that should be read in books.

Amazon.com

Although it barely registered as a blip on the indie-film radar, Particles of Truth should find an appreciative audience on DVD. After a marginal theatrical release and TV showings on the Sundance Channel, Jennifer Elster's assured debut as a writer-director will be remembered long after most indie-films fade into obscurity. It's one of those self-indulgent, angst-ridden, hyper-neurotic New York stories that seem to be a staple among first-time filmmakers (Elster was a 27-year-old Manhattan fashion stylist when she began writing her screenplay in 2001), but Elster--who also stars as Lilli Black, an insecure artist on the eve of her first gallery show--hits all the right notes in her anguished and all-too-human tale of love, loss, and the abject fear of failure. The movie encompasses a complex array of engaging emotions, focusing on Lilli's unlikely but life-affirming romance with Morrison (played by Gale Harold from the acclaimed Showtime series Queer as Folk), a reclusive writer with obsessive-compulsive disorder. They've both got parental issues (her estranged drug-addict father is dying of AIDS; his parents are suffering through health and financial crises), and Elster does a fine job of developing several other characters who complicate the film's turbulent emotional landscape, and her cast (including herself) is uniformly good. Elster's memorable characters express a broad spectrum of human dysfunction, but their stories are told with appealing humor, refreshing candor and compassionate sincerity. Particles of Truth is ripe for discovery as an overlooked gem that deserves to be seen. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Consumed with the fear of failing, Lilli (Jennifer Elster), a skeptical young painter crosses paths on the streets of Manhattan with Morrison (Gale Harold) an obsessive compulsive writer who rarely escapes the confines of his car. In the most harrowing 48 hours of their lives they are forced to come to terms with their past in order to feel worthy of success and love. As we weave in and out of eight defective lives, Lilli and Morrison expose us to the sad truths of life as well as its wonderful possibilities.

System Requirements:

Running Time 101 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

More than expected.......2007-05-15

Truthfully, I bought the movie because I am a fan of Gale Harold and I wanted to see his portrayal of the character. Not only was I pleased by his interpretation of Morrison, but in the end I was won over by the other characters as well. At some point in our lives, we all
have some of the same insecurities Lilli, Morrison, Flora and the others have, maybe not as pronounced, but they are there, and Jennifer's story lets us know it's OK. We are human, and we are all worthy.

Very itnteresting movie.......2006-11-02

Basically it's a story of two people living in solitude and with their very own problems due to their personal history and you can watch them develop and grow somehow in such a short period of time - within 48 hours.

Oddly Entertaining Movie.......2006-05-26

This is an amazing movie that takes you off guard and gives you insight while entertaining you. I was stunningly pleased.

amazing amazing movie.......2006-01-29

this is such an incredible movie. you have to watch it someday when you have the whole day to let it resonate. it's beautiful.

Indie+.......2005-11-12

Please listen to the commentary when you buy this film and enjoy Gale Harold and Jennifer Elster at their best.

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (Deluxe Two-Disc Set)

Average customer rating:

My favorite purchase of the year!
fascinating
Captivating and Inspirational
HOWLing with Delight
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (Deluxe Two-Disc Set)
Starring: Allen Ginsberg , Joan Baez , Timothy Leary , William S. Burroughs , and Abbie Hoffman
Director: Jerry Aronson
Manufacturer: New Yorker Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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