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Barfly by
Saddleback
"This is a world where everybody's got to do something. Somebody laid down this rule that everybody's got to do something, be something--a dentist, a glider pilot, a narc, a janitor, a preacher. All that. Sometimes I just get tired thinking of all the things I don't want to be, of all the things I don't want to do--like go to India, get my teeth cleaned, save the whale. All that. I don't understand it." Rourke did a good job of capturing Bukowski's vocal mannerisms; he and Dunnaway give stark, compelling performances, and while the subject matter is often grim, it has its absurdly humorous moments. The scene that stands out in my mind is that in which Henry answers a knock on the door in his underwear, with whiskey bottle in hand and his head and T-shirt covered in blood from wounds inflicted by his new love interest Wanda. Drunkenly oblivious to his condition, he tells the paramedics that everything is all right, and no one's been hurt. They make no effort to treat his wounds, but only insist that he sign a form confirming that they'd showed up. (Reminds me of the old Waits line, "The ambulance drivers don't give a $#it, they just want to get off work...") Then they leave, telling him, "Get some sleep, you'll feel better." Despite the unsettling content and subject matter, Barfly is a very good film. Reviews by Roger Ebert and The Internet Movie Database would seem to concur, but you can track it down and decide for yourself. "This thing upon me like a flower and a feast. This thing upon me crawling like a snake. It's not death but dying will solve its power ... And as my hands drop a last desperate pen in some cheap room they will find me there and never know my name, my meaning, nor the treasure of my escape." To my taste, this is not what Cabernet Sauvignon is all about, although some might disagree. There are no bass notes to it, to use a musical metaphor; it's all midrange and high tones. It could almost be mistaken for one of winemaker Nils Venge's Zinfandels or Sangioveses. I'm intrigued as to how this might age over the next five years or so, and maybe I'll find out, if I don't open my last bottle sometime sooner to pair with a seared piece of meat off of the grill. Lest I be misunderstood, I don't actually dislike this wine. I enjoyed sipping three glasses during and after the movie; I just pretended it was Zinfandel.
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994): Kicks you in the face with a representative Bukowski poem, then kicks in 32 more, plus articles and links; a good start. Bukowski: features lots of pics, several poems, short stories, articles, paintings and interviews. Also, over 350 photocopied poem and letter manuscripts, 2/3 or more never having been published, and a database of poems and stories indexes 64 books that span 40 years. A wealth of good stuff here. Black Sparrow Press: Buk's publisher, with a Bukowski Lives section featuring a few selected examples of his writing and drawings by R. Crumb from their collaborations. buk's page: The strength of this site is the extensive list of links to other Bukowski sites. Bukowski, an Appreciation by Richard Meltzer: excellent article includes some interesting and funny sound files. An Introduction to Charles Bukowski, by Jay Dougherty: A solid bio/overview of the author's work. The pock-marked poetry of Charles Bukowski - Notes of a dirty old mankind by Glenn Esterly: Rolling Stone magazine article, June 17th, 1976 These Words I Write Keep Me From Total Madness pages - A Selective Bibliography: features a brief bio, some images and brief descriptions of most of Charles Bukowski's books, letters, collections etc. thirty-something underground: some good sound files. Bukowski on Salon.com: more good sound files. The Official German Buk-Society has a page full of pictures, some of which are quite racy and not found in any other sites I've been able to unearth.
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