Cronenberg's Naked Lunch
03-07-05, 04:14 PM
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Cronenberg's Naked Lunch
I just finally got around to finishing the book, and I'm still a bit stunned, crazy stuff. Anyways, before I go out on a blind buy on the Criterion I figured I'd ask here to see for those of you who have read the book, do you recommend the movie? I don't get how this could be made into a coherent film, it seems there's a lot of mixed reviews.
03-07-05, 05:14 PM
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The film is more of a mix-mash of Naked Lunch and random episodes in Bill's life... Everything covered in Naked Lunch, the book, does not show up in Naked Lunch, the film. Cronenberg used some of the ideas from the book and fused some of Bill's life and other works into the film. Naked Lunch, the book, has always read much better in bits and pieces for me since there's no real cohesive storyline. The film did a good job at catching some of that and yeah... It's a trip. That said, I'd personally recommend a rental before buying the DVD. I really enjoyed the film when I was younger but it just didn't hold much appeal for me, especially in the repeat viewing department, when the DVD was released. I ended up trading or selling it in the exchange forum IIRC.
03-08-05, 08:49 AM
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Lay off the alcohol, and huff some Raid!
I was thrown the first time I saw this film, too, as it wasn't "Naked Lunch", the novel. Rather, as Johnny notes, it's more about Burrough's life and particularly the events surrounding the writing of that novel, his relationship to Ginsberg and Kerouac, and the event that apparently spurred his writing career (or at least provided the fodder for its continuation): the killing of his wife.
Believe it or not, there's actually a fairly structured plot to this film (something that cannot be said of the novel!), but I think one needs to bring a bit of knowledge about Burrough's life to really follow it. Sorta like Ruiz's "Time Regained", it almost requires knowledge of the source (and a good bit about the author's life, particularly in the case of Burroughs) for it to really make sense.
I've been meaning to check out the commentary, and perhaps that helps to contextualize the events of the film. Cronenberg does some of the best director commentaries of all and it wouldn't surprise me to find that this one is also extremely illuminating.
I was thrown the first time I saw this film, too, as it wasn't "Naked Lunch", the novel. Rather, as Johnny notes, it's more about Burrough's life and particularly the events surrounding the writing of that novel, his relationship to Ginsberg and Kerouac, and the event that apparently spurred his writing career (or at least provided the fodder for its continuation): the killing of his wife.
Believe it or not, there's actually a fairly structured plot to this film (something that cannot be said of the novel!), but I think one needs to bring a bit of knowledge about Burrough's life to really follow it. Sorta like Ruiz's "Time Regained", it almost requires knowledge of the source (and a good bit about the author's life, particularly in the case of Burroughs) for it to really make sense.
I've been meaning to check out the commentary, and perhaps that helps to contextualize the events of the film. Cronenberg does some of the best director commentaries of all and it wouldn't surprise me to find that this one is also extremely illuminating.
03-08-05, 11:00 AM
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I think it's a really good movie, although I've never read the book.
However, I think it might help if you're a writer insofar as...ahem...'appreciating' what goes on in this picture.
However, I think it might help if you're a writer insofar as...ahem...'appreciating' what goes on in this picture.
03-08-05, 01:18 PM
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The film is brilliant and as others have said it doesn't follow the book to the letter. There are scenes with whole chunks of monologue lifted from the book though, so it should appeal to fans of the book. I don't know a Burroughs or Cronenberg fan who doesn't love the film.
03-08-05, 06:50 PM
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Check out http://www.library.ucla.edu/librarie.../burroughs.htm
seems to be a pretty definitive listing of Burroughs' works, as well as info on a number of books about him
seems to be a pretty definitive listing of Burroughs' works, as well as info on a number of books about him
03-08-05, 09:47 PM
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I saw Burroughs give a reading here in town almost 20 years ago (Sept. 11, 1986 to be exact) and read his stuff voraciously for years afterward. I was hyped to see how Cronenberg could translate even a fraction of the book to the screen. When I saw it in its theatrical run, I was severely disappointed in almost every aspect of the movie except for the score. I thought the attempt to force a structure on the material and the inclusion of relatively few ideas straight from the book weakened the movie at every turn.
After re-reading Junkie and Queer more than a decade later, parts of the movie came together for me in retrospect. In a way the movie combines all three books and works as a movie about the writing of Naked Lunch, not as a direct adaptation of the book, if that makes sense. Then after listening to Cronenberg's commentary on the R2 disc, I understand why he treated the material the way he did. He made deliberate choices in adapting the themes - if not the actual incidents - from the book and damned if they don't seem like pretty good choices. So IMO this movie has indeed gotten better with repeat viewings.
After re-reading Junkie and Queer more than a decade later, parts of the movie came together for me in retrospect. In a way the movie combines all three books and works as a movie about the writing of Naked Lunch, not as a direct adaptation of the book, if that makes sense. Then after listening to Cronenberg's commentary on the R2 disc, I understand why he treated the material the way he did. He made deliberate choices in adapting the themes - if not the actual incidents - from the book and damned if they don't seem like pretty good choices. So IMO this movie has indeed gotten better with repeat viewings.
