Bukowski: Born Into This

Sorry, but I just wantet to be helpful and provide a Link on Labour Day for the working class and the poor who can't afford to buy this dvd. Like myself.
I think Bukowski would have approved of it.

yeah that would probably piss him off...but if you were in a library and stumbled upon a copy of Crucifix.. or It Catches.., you wouldn't try your hand at obtaining it?

i can speak for myself when I say that I'd steal it in a heartbeat. And I'm not a theif but sometimes you just have to make exceptions.

I had the chance to easily steal A Signature #1 (one of the most sought-after Bukowski items) and I didn't do it. Sometimes I regret that

Born Into This (cigarettes)

The main brand available outside India are called Ganesh Bidi. In India you can get them everywhere for about 10c for a small pack of twenty, wrapped in pink paper. You pay about €2-3 for the same pack exported. They are small hand rolled cigarettes with little shredded tobacco- most of the "kick" comes from the tendu leaf that they use instead of paper. They smell rather like grass and they are quite strong; the taste may not be for everyone. In India they're mainly smoked by poorer people who can't afford real cigarettes.

If it wasn't for these things I wouldn't be smoking normal cigarettes! I lived with an Indian friend for a few years, and he brought them home one day. So I tried them and liked them- eventually they became too much to smoke all the time so I moved on to regular cigs- which was not, in retrospect, a good move.

I haven't smoked them for about a year, last time was actually in India. Anyway... they are available in Ireland in small Asian/Indian food shops, so that’s the best place to check- just ask at the counter.

If you're going to try and find them, also ask for Gutka just to give it a try. It's a kind of chewing tobacco fused with betel nut, but you don't actually chew it- instead you put it inside your mouth beside your gum for about two minutes. The feeling is interesting- a bit like strong coffee and a mild smoke, students use it in India while studying. Make sure you don't swallow it or you will be very sick. Be warned it tastes horrible!


WARNING: Bidis and Gutka are BAD FOR YOU and addictive. Gutka, if you get hooked and use it a lot, can lead to mouth cancer and Bidis can obviously lead to lung and throat cancer. Try these things once or twice if you like, but don't make it a habit!!!!!

Graham.

PS- Wikipedia links follow.
Bidi : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidi (the picture is of Ganesh Bidi)
Gutka : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutka

I watched the DVD last night (there are no subtitles, but you can enable the caption, at least in the main movie, it doesn't seem to work in the extras) and I liked it in general terms, but let me tell you I had this feeling it was way too amateurish all the way through. JD says in the extras he tried to keep it "simple" as B did in his work, but I feel his concept of simplicity just didn't materialize and it looks simply amauterish. and I'm not talking about the clips from the 70's, it's just the way everything is shot and then edited.

I had a good laugh when Richmond explained the story about the shrinking Bukowski. When I interviewed Richmond he wouldn't answer my questions in a natural, direct way, he would just ramble on and on telling weird stuff like this one.

As much as I like Tom Waits music, I think Waits, Penn and Bono were simply out of place. They just don't fit in right. Too bad, really. I'm sure JD could have found a way to include their vision of B's work in a more flow-like manner. As we say in Spain, it's as if he used a shoehorn to squeeze their appearances into the doc.

I had the good fortune of seeing this at the Tribeca Film Festival a couple of years ago with my girlfriend who, until then, had never heard of Buk. She was shocked, saddened, thrilled, and impressed all at once. When we got home she wanted to read BLUEBIRD. Seems it struck a chord with her.

I'm a bit late on the uptake, but last night I watched BORN INTO THIS on a rental DVD and was blown away by it. It's far better than I hoped it would be. The film presented a truly rounded, in-depth portrait of Bukowski, avoiding the easy cliches of his popular myth. It's changed how I perceive him as a person (not as a writer). I was not aware of the very genuine sensitive, sentimental side of the guy. It's well documented that he was often brutish, cruel, hostile, all that angry alcoholic stuff, but apparently could also be quite tender, and the film does a beautiful job of showing that little known side of him. I found it unexpectedly touching at times. The scene where he's reading a poem about Linda King and breaks down and cries surprised the hell out of me. I never imagined he felt that deeply for her. I don't think this side of Bukowski has gotten much attention as it contradicts the image of the hard-drinking, indifferent, sex-crazed madman poet of the streets, but there it is, on film. Also (contrary to the picture I had of his last marriage from that notorious kick on the sofa scene), I was surprised by the gentleness he displayed towards Linda Lee. He speaks of her and to her with tenderness in several scenes. So much to enjoy in this film: the great vintage clips from the 70s (love that one of him driving in the Volks), the last home video footage taken by Linda, the visits to his childhood home, where again, you see the raw emotion as he relives the horror of the beatings by his father. What a great film. I haven't yet watched all the bonus interviews. The interviews in the film itself with Waits (who I like) and Bono are okay, although I would have preferred interviews with people who actually knew Bukwoski well. Locklin would have been a good choice. Nonetheless, Waits has some valid insights. Cool for me to learn that Waits discovered Hank the same way I did: reading his column in the L.A. Free Press. They could have used Steve Richmond more. All in all, I give this film an "A". It makes me hungry for the other films I haven't seen (B. at Bellevue, The B. Tapes), and the forthcoming films of readings and interviews. I'm going to have to buy this DVD.

David

MY GOD!

You guys have such a thorough bred knowledge of all the tiny microscopic details of Bukowski dvds (and just about everything else) it fascinating and completely insane....keep it up...I have yet to purchase 'Born into this' but I will eventually get round to it....money has started to drip drop my way....

Keep up the search for more details and more information!

The Swedish version is available on the torrent site [deleted]. It wasn't easy to download as there aren't many people uploading. All the same, it's terrific and well worth viewing until the more complete Director's cut is available.
It is Pal but I was able to convert it to NTSC.

JD was interviewed by Wendy Wallace back in 2004 I think for a podcast show called Near-Life Experience.

Recently, going thorugh my CDs of stuff about Bukowski, I found this show and decided to share it with you guys, as I'm not sure this kind of thing might have fell under the radar, being a unknown show podcast and all.

Anyhoo, here it is:

http://www.sonearsofar.com/2005/12/john-dullaghan-interview.html

It's an hour long. It's pretty informative, if you can stand Wendy's accent and annoying voice.

Do you know if 'Born into this' has been officially released in the UK?

I can't get my hands of a copy. It's driving me fucking bonkers.

the French one is indeed region 2, and the French subtitles are not embedded -you can remove them.

Any idea when I can buy the French edition? I know you where selling some cirerita but if I remember correctly you are out of copies.

Where can I get the French edition?

And can I just clarify, the subtitles are in french and they can be switched on and off?

Let me know.
I'm eager to get a hold of it.

Olaf,

I didn't "sell" them since I was making no profit at all! I bought it on Amazon France, but it was pretty expensive, almost 30 euros, shipping included.

I do have one copy left because there was this guy who promised to get one but finally didn't. Please pm if you're interested.

The subtitles are in French and they can be enabled/disabled quite easily.

This doesn't really have anything to do with anything we're talking about right now but I noticed something funny when I was re-reading Ham On Rye the other day.
You know the part in Born Into This where John Martin is talking about that amazing chapter in Ham On Rye when Henry's standing outside watching his prom. Well he goes on to say that he's standing out in the rain and that he has wrapped himself in toilet paper and the bleeding boils have soaked through the toilet paper.

WELL I was surprised to find out that when I re-read that chapter that he mentions nothing about being wrapped in toilet paper or anything about it raining outside.

LOL...I know I know, I have wayyyyy too much time on my hands.

I just think its funny when his publisher of all people would totally remember things that didnt even happen in the chapter. I mean yeah John, that would've made for a really sad chapter but either my copy of the book has been altered or you got your facts a lil mixed up.

So you noticed it too. So did I (you can see my post about it on page 3 in this thread). John Martin mistakes the prom scene in the book with the prom scene in the movie "Crazy Love"...

I just saw BIT for the first time last night and reacted the same way to Martin's take on this poem. I've always read it this way: When all the pretense of "trying" to be spiritual, of "trying" to be a poet, is dropped, an honest, natural, strong form appears. This poem is a cousin of his epitaph: "Don't try". He also wrote/said something like: "to write a profound thing in a simple way is the most difficult task." That's in the same vein isn't it? Martin's take doesn't work. Without any "spirit" or "soul" (Buk calls it moxy in the film!) your not going to get any form either...

Slightly disappointed after my first viewing. But plenty of valuable insights all the same. All in all I think "The Buk Tapes" are far more powerful. Too many flimsy second & third hand opinions on Buk for my taste... like Richmond's "incredible shrinking man".

Still some great moments, like when he reads "the shower". A real myth-buster that one. (He skips some lines doesn't he?) And the comments from his co-worker at the post office were fascinating as well: "Was Post Office accurate? Yes, it was accurate." He also lets us know tht Jane had a "big ass". I guess that rules out Faye Dunaway & Lili Taylor.

Was that Dullaghan? I was sure it was JM. Oh well, watched it "real" late...

Another interesting detail I noticed. In a scene inside the old Volks, the interviewer comments on the Iron Cross hanging from the car mirror. Buk doesn't seem to know its an Iron Cross. This same cross turns up as a "Maltese Cross" in the poem "I made a mistake":

[...] I take the Maltese cross
cut it from my car mirror, tie it
to her doorknob with a shoelace, leave
a book of poems" (Love is a dog from hell)

...ooops! Just looked up "Iron Cross" on Wikpedia and there it says "Sometimes erroneously called the Maltese cross", so Buk's error is a common one.
I wonder if there are any other "props" from his poems in BIT. Of course the Volks is another one. Is that cracked windshield mentioned in any poems?

Hi, I have just had the same experience!. I had never heard of Bukowski until I recently saw the doco, 'Born Into This' on Australian tv. It totally blew me away and I have been on a 'Bukowski binge' ever since. I thought 'Bluebird' was one of the most beautiful and optimistic poems I have ever heard.
I am hoping somebody on the list might be able to answer this query...In 1977 a person gave me a hard cover book of short stories. I randomly opened to a story of a child being taken to an abandoned house; to a dusty room overlooking a street and being sexually assaulted. The story ended with sirens being heard. The book was taken and of course I didn't have the chance to read anything more. (although that was enough!...I was 18yrs old and that story was so disturbing it seared into my psyche) For over 30yrs I have wondered what that book was.
I see "Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness" was published in 1972. Could this be the book?.
I have a very strong feeling Bukowski is the author.
I might just be mature enough now to read on...
Thanks in Advance,
Anna

you're probably talking about "The Fiend"...

It really is a beautiful poem.
By the way, reading and
thinking is much superior to hearing, try it.

Thanks in advance.

"you begin to feel like a snob
yourself
and you give the guy at the next table
a sidelong glance
he catches you and
you twitch your nose
a bit as if you had just smelled
dogshit
then you
look away

and
as you eat and drink
you realize that everybody is
terrorized"

I just couldn't stop laughing when I read this poem!.
Old Buk had just allowed me to understand or at least cope with my inflated ego and that very same dullness in others.
Go Gently,
Anna.

Anyone see in the movie how Bono was talking about Bukowski going to one of his concerts, and how at the start of a song he said this is for Charles and Linda Bukowski. Bono says "I think we got to the old fucker". Bukowski wrote he didn't like the concert, didn't like the music. Bono didn't know Bukowski, opinions are like assholes, and Bono's ego was showing. Why interview Bono?

because it sells?