Bukowski: Born into This (2003)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

John Dullaghan

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

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:

Memory | Photograph | Novelist | Poetry Reading | Poet

Awards:

1 nomination

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
Mike Meloan	...	Himself
Jack Micheline	...	Himself
Pam 'Cupcakes' Miller	...	Herself
Dom Muto	...	Himself
William Packard	...	Himself
Sean Penn	...	Himself
Steve Richmond	...	Himself
Barbet Schroeder	...	Himself
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Himself
Tom Waits	...	Himself
Carl Weissner	...	Himself
Liza Williams	...	Herself

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sexual content/nudity.

Runtime:

130 min | Japan:113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:MA

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.

Movie Connections:

Edited from The Charles Bukowski Tapes (1985)

What Great Footage!

An old friend of mine used to regail me with stories of Charles Bukowski, the great everyman poet who wasn't afraid to tell it like it his, who didn't care at all about formalism or what had come before him...he just wanted to put his essence on the page (no matter how crudely he might fashion it).

BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS is a great show into the life of this man. It meanders at points, and tries a bit too hard to exemplify this guy, but you can't argue with some of the majestic footage different folks got. A scene shot in 1986 shows a drunk Bukowski yelling at his wife and then literally trying to kick her off the couch...footage that silenced the auditorium and solidified the idea of Bukowski as a drunken belligerent. But at another point, we see Bukowski cry while reading a poem of his about a woman he lost...completely different from the mythical man. Other stories of his rudeness are shadowed by stories of his covert kindness.

There is nothing incredibly special about how this is shot...but for any Bukowski fan, this is a must-see...the most in-depth look into the life of the man so far shown in America. Too bad that one of the greatest American poets ever is more famous abroad than at home.