Barfly (1987)

Henry Chinaski never cared for the American dream, the thought of needing to become 'something' and fit into the system disgusts him. He believes that life is free and yours to live like ... See full summary »

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writer:

Charles Bukowski

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Henry Chinaski
Faye Dunaway	...	Wanda Wilcox
Alice Krige	...	Tully Sorenson
Jack Nance	...	Detective
J.C. Quinn	...	Jim
Frank Stallone	...	Eddie
Sandy Martin	...	Janice
Roberta Bassin	...	Lilly
Gloria LeRoy	...	Grandma Moses
Joe Unger	...	Ben
Harry Cohn	...	Rick
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Joe
Joe Rice	...	Old Man in Bar
Julie 'Sunny' Pearson	...	Hooker in Bar
Donald L. Norden	...	Man in Alley

Storyline

Henry Chinaski never cared for the American dream, the thought of needing to become 'something' and fit into the system disgusts him. He believes that life is free and yours to live like you see fit, and if that in some cases involves copious amounts of whiskey then so be it. Henry spends his days drinking and listening to the radio, and he spends his nights drinking and fighting against Eddy who he thinks personifies shallowness and shameless self promoting. Sometimes in the middle of this he finds the time to jot down a few lines of poetry or a short story. After fighting Eddy and winning for a change Henry is thrown out of his regular bar where Eddy is a bartender. This leads him to seek another watering hole where he happens to find Wanda who is a barfly, in her own words "if another man came along with a fifth of whiskey, I'd go with him". Henry is not fazed by this thou and moves in with her. Of course Wanda immediately goes off and sleeps with Eddy, but after some clothes ...

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Plot Keywords:

bar | whiskey | fight | radio | bartender | 

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Taglines:

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bar kelebegi

Filming Locations:

Bryson Hotel - 2701 Wilshire Boulevard, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$3,221,568 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golan-Globus Productions, Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The apartment building where Wanda's apartment was located was an actual building where Charles Bukowski and his lover Jane Baker Cooley, the real-life counterparts to Henry and Wanda, had lived. No one knew this until Bukowski, who was watching the filming, remembered.

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Goofs

Henry calls an ambulance and gives address of apartment building as 334, while in scene earlier that day building is clearly marked 360.

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Quotes

Tully: I take it you don't care for my world.
Henry: [scoffs] Well, baby, look around. It's a, it's a cage with golden bars.

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Connections

Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Theme for Ernie"
By Fred Lacey
Published by Presitge Music (BMI)
Performed by John Coltrane
Courtesy of Fantasy, Inc.

User Reviews

Not your typical Golan-Globus production

Barfly is a rarity in American cinema: a character study that doesn't worry about telling a story with a beginning, middle, and explosive end. Mickey Rourke is excellent as Henry Chinaski, a writer and habitue of skid row who isn't so much slumming as soaking in it. The real surprise here is Faye Dunaway as his love interest: it's easily her best performance since Chinatown and proves she still has it. Also of note is Frank Stallone as Eddie, the barman who keeps getting into one sided fist fights with Henry. A triumph and one of the best American films of the eighties.