Bukowski: Born into This (2003)

Documentary on Charles Bukowski, author of 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man', 'Love Is a Dog from Hell', and the autobiographical novels, 'Women', 'Hollywood', and 'Post Office'.

Director:

John Dullaghan

Stars:

Charles Bukowski, Bono, John Bryan

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Bukowski	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bono	...	Himself
John Bryan	...	Himself
Linda Lee Bukowski	...	Herself
Marina Bukowski	...	Herself
Neeli Cherkovski	...	Himself
Joyce Fante	...	Herself
FrancEyE	...	Herself
Taylor Hackford	...	Himself
John Martin	...	Himself
Michael D. Meloan	...	Himself (as Mike Meloan)
Jack Micheline	...	Himself
Pam 'Cupcakes' Miller	...	Herself
Dom Muto	...	Himself
William Packard	...	Himself

Storyline

Documentary on Charles Bukowski, author of 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man', 'Love Is a Dog from Hell', and the autobiographical novels, 'Women', 'Hollywood', and 'Post Office'.

---

Plot Keywords:

dirty old man | author | lovers quarrel | cantankerous old man | archive footage | 

---

Genres:

Documentary | Biography

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexual content/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (UK)

Also Known As:

Bukowski: Gennimenos mesa se afto

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$35,685 (USA) (28 May 2004)

Gross:

$303,490 (USA) (20 August 2004)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title of the film comes from Bukowski's poem, "Dinosauria, we", which was published in his book, "The Last Night Of The Earth Poems". Published in 1992, it was the final book of poetry released while the poet was still alive.

---

Connections

Edited from The Charles Bukowski Tapes (1987)

User Reviews

Interesting and moving documentary about a great author

I may as well get it out of the way that I am a bit biased going into this film. Charles Bukowski is possibly my favorite author (only Dostoyevski and Burroughs gives him serious competition). The documentary didn't really tell me anything new, as I had learned most about Bukowski's life through his deeply personal series of "Henry Chinaski" novels. However, it was very entertaining and even moving towards the end. Here is such a unique character in American literature that it is good someone finally made a film about him.

There are a few very minor flaws. Like many documentaries, I often found myself wondering why I cared about the interviewee's opinion and that they didn't really contribute anything (Sean Penn and Bono were the cases in this film). Plus, it was slightly overlong. However, the wealth of archival footage and interviews with Bukowski presented more than make up for those insignificant details. Anyone who considers themselves a fan of him needs to check out this film pronto. Anyone who is interested in being introduced to his world view may pick up this doc as a good starter point (along with a copy of "Ham On Rye" and "Love Is a Dog From Hell"). (7/10)