Bukowski and Barfly (The Movie) (1 Viewer)

So my plans for Bukowski's birthday, reading War All The Time and having a Heineken, digressed into watching Barfly and drinking MGD. I recently bought the Barfly DVD and was watching the short documentary feature on the making of Barfly. As I did so, I was quite surprised to see BUK being interviewed on the set, next to Mickey Rourke in character, talking about how much he liked what Rourke was doing with and adding to the character of Chinaski. I have always read that BUK was somewhat unhappy with Rourke's portrayal, especially with the way Rourke appeared dirty and unkept. Does anyone have any insight on this? Could this have been becuase BUK had not yet seen the final cut? Was he just being complimentary? What do you think?
 
He was promoting the movie. Most people involved in a film promote it whether they think the film is great or crap. In fact, most name actors are contractually obligated to promote their films.

If Bukowski had a financial interest in the film doing well (I don't know if that's the case or not), he would want to see it succeed, whatever his opinion of the finished product was.

Even without a financial interest, he was invested in the production since he wrote the screenplay. There was a lot made of that fact in the press at the time, because it is unheard of for a director to shoot a screenplay exactly as the writer wrote it. Schroeder would actually consult Bukowski any time a line was changed. That may be the only time in Hollywood history that has happened. Writers are usually ranked somewhere between the craft service people and the honey wagon (portable toilet) driver as far as their "importance" in the movie making food chain.

He also wrote a glowing press release about the movie (https://web.archive.org/web/2020/https://bukowski.net/misc/bukowskimisc018.php), but later said and wrote that he did not care for it. His actual opinion was probably somewhere between not caring for it and considering it to be "a piece of shit," as Linda has characterized it.
 
Thanks MJP, I don't typically take the promotional side into account, but it certainly makes sense. The press release was interesting, I have not read that before and I was unaware of the type of control BUK had over changes(though I think something similar was mentioned in the featurette).

I guess all that being said, I will just have to consider BUK's attitude toward the movie something akin to his soured friendships; Enjoyed and Engaging at first, then rejected and despised later.
 
Writers are usually ranked somewhere between the craft service people and the honey wagon (portable toilet) driver as far as their "importance" in the movie making food chain.

You're damn right about that.
 
Well wadayaknow...

Over at IMDB, reading reviews of Factotum (they ether love it or loath it) I found the following tidbit:
"Oddly, the movie was preceded by a trailer for "Barfly," apparently soon to be rereleased under the aegis of Francis Ford Cappola -- the colors were awful, the picture fuzzy, cogent argument to see a movie while it's still fresh, in the theater"
I for one would love to see it on the big screen again.
 
Coppola was a Producer of Barfly, but I haven't heard of a theatrical re-release. Doesn't make much sense. I think the reviewer may have confused a showing at the specific theater he was in with a general re-release...
 
after reading 'hollywood'
i was under the impression
that he was disenchanted and amused
through the creation of the film

regardless
i like it
and in his own words:
"i've seen worse"
 
In "Born into This", Hank did state that Mickey Rourke was over the top. His hair was long and unkempt, he looked dirty, he was abrasive and he shouted too much.
 
Mickey Rourke was all wrong for that part or maybe he was having a bad day what ever,does anyone out there know who else was up for the part?
 
James Woods was attached to the project a few years earlier.

But I liked Rourke.

I think Penn would have got it if it wasn't for Hopper. But I don't think Penn could have done it any better in 1987.
 
But I don't think Penn could have done it any better in 1987.

You are so definitely right on that!



(oh, - OFF-TOPIC - here, but necessary :
I JUST realized, theres an older member ('ESMoist') having the same Avatar as I do! Haven't seen this before - sorry! - thinking of another one tomorrow ...
 
(oh, - OFF-TOPIC - here, but necessary :
I JUST realized, theres an older member ('ESMoist') having the same Avatar as I do! Haven't seen this before - sorry! - thinking of another one tomorrow ...

I just love that avatar! How did you remove the background? And change the color?
 
Ah ! - Though now we're getting REALLY off-topic here, I'll tellya:

You need some software to work on pics, (esp. able to create 'GIF'-pictures).
I'd guess, ANY pic-program can handle this these days (I'm working with 'Corel' now - but, as said, I think every-one will do!)


Creating GIFs you need to reduce to 256 colors or less, which is stupid for regular photographs but makes sense for drawings, b/w-pics or any sharp-edged-things like 'sayings/words' etc.
Then - saving your pic in GIF-format, you usually are ASKED if-and-which-color of the palette you'd like to be 'TRANSPARENT' (you can only have ONE color for this !) - now you simply chose - that's it!
(o.k., in most cases you'd have to decide BEFORE, what should be transparent, so you'll chose a color that does NOT occure in the real pic. These are thoughts important for other sorts of pics than the simple drawing you asked for of course - but now you know EVERYTHING important about it. - have FUN !)
 
Thanks a lot, Roni! I have the Photoshop programme and Paint of course. Maybe I can use one of those. I never got into using Photoshop. It looks so damned complicated...
 
thanks for the info on barfly,Iwas so ready for that flick that when I saw it I was let down some how mr. Mickey missed it. and I am a fan of hisPenn and Woods would have liked to seen both give it a shot,for that matter how about Rod Steiger? anyway...
 
Well now, film has evolved over the years. I saw Barfly in the "thea-aters" and I liked it. Really liked it. Remarked to my then wife, that I could "smell" the joint. Haven't seen it since it was released.

Unfortunately I don't see as much film as I'd like, or should. But, the next representation of bar culture that really stuck with me was "Tree's Lounge"...I mean Jackie and Stan (Suzanne Shepard & Rockets Red Glare) this really hit home for me, and fleshed out the true barfly that I'd grown up with and come to know.

And as an aside, how about Rourke as "Jan The Actress" in Animal Factory?

Am I drifting off topic here...time for another visit with Sir Veza...
 
Granted...I saw the movie the first time before I knew who Bukowski was, but it was Mickey's performance that brought me my love of Bukowski. The first time I heard Buk's real voice and speaking cadence, I thought, "what a wonderful characature Mickey pulled off." Yes, it was overplayed, but over played wonderfullty in my opinion. I continue to love the movie and Rourk's portrayal, for what it is, to this day.
 
I know some forum members disagree, and some will say Bukowski hated Rourke and thought Barfly was a piece of shit, but my opinion for the record (once again) I love Rourke's performance and think Barfly is great. The tone of the movie is near perfect.

I have previously thought the problems with Hamer's film of Factotum were due mostly to the limited budget and time - he says he "shot it in 24 days." However, having recently learned that Schroeder completed the filming for Barfly in just 34 days and considering that the budget was also quite small I think its obvious that Barfly benefits heavily from a superior script. Bukowski's direct involvement creates a special quality. Factotum (the film) is almost completely without humour. Even worse, its almost without life. The novel remains one of my favourites, but the film. . . a massive disappointment.
 
Barfly is still one of my favorite movies. All I had at the time to compare it to was Buk's poetry, which, for me at least, was hard to come by.

The bizarre thing about Rourke in that time period is that in his next 3 or 4 movies he seemed to play that same character. The difference, for instance, between 'Year of the Dragon' and Barfly and his next 3 or 4 movies was staggering. In Year of the Dragon he looks like a normal person. In the movies after (and including) Barfly, he always appeared as a kind of hunched over character with weird facial features and mannerisms. I've long wondered about that. What happened to his face?

Anyhow, I had a copy of Barfly on beta (taped, not bought - and boy does that date me), and now I have it on DVD. As I said, it's still one of my favorite movies, whether the Buk approved or not.

Ghostwind
 
Just got a VHS copy of Barfly in English from my video store for $10.00.
I had seen it twice already.
They never rent it so I ask them if I could buy it. I had tried ebay with no luck.
I love the movie and love Rourke as well, just can't dig the way he walks.
Did Buk walk anything like that?

Barfly is still one of my favorite movies. All I had at the time to compare it to was Buk's poetry, which, for me at least, was hard to come by.

The bizarre thing about Rourke in that time period is that in his next 3 or 4 movies he seemed to play that same character. The difference, for instance, between 'Year of the Dragon' and Barfly and his next 3 or 4 movies was staggering. In Year of the Dragon he looks like a normal person. In the movies after (and including) Barfly, he always appeared as a kind of hunched over character with weird facial features and mannerisms. I've long wondered about that. What happened to his face?

Anyhow, I had a copy of Barfly on beta (taped, not bought - and boy does that date me), and now I have it on DVD. As I said, it's still one of my favorite movies, whether the Buk approved or not.

Ghostwind
What happened to his face???? Everything happened to his face. He is second after Michael Jackson for the highest number of cosmetic alterations.
They was a tv show about it.
 
I suppose that fame can really get to your head distorting your sense of self.
I used to love Rourke as an artist but something went wrong in the lab.
 
...

MICKEY.jpg
 
OMG! - That's horrible. The nose no longer fit the face...:eek:
 
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LOL. That pic makes him look like Jocelyn Wildenstein!!

I have been a big fan of this hugely under-rated actor for many years. His boxing career was reasonable but he did get bashed up quite badly, then he had the surgery. It's a real shame but he seems happy with his lot. I believe he just lives with his collection of Chihauahs in a trailer now. Lost everything in the late nineties. Good to see him returning to more serious movies with better budgets and co-stars. But then thats what you get when people are afraid to work with you I guess.
 
I'm a big fan of Barfly. I think they did a good job of it. I watch it a fair bit. One thing's for sure, Mickey Rourke is a heck of a lot better than Matt Dillon - what were they thinking! And Faye Dunaway's wonderful.
 
I'm just watching mister rourke in Rumble Fish, and he looks okay to me.

Actually so does mister dillon.

Who next to play Bukowski - nicolas cage ???
 
dogdice said:
Who next to play Bukowski - nicolas cage ???

good bet. I can see him as a mailman. (though he may be a little too thin - but we know what the dream factory can do about looks.)
 
Bukowski on "Barfly"

This is probably old news for most of you, but the quotes may be of interest to those who've never seen them before, from a publicity flyer upon the release of the film. Apologies if it's been posted under a previous thread. Best wishes to all....PT

Bukowski on the Movie "Barfly"

"Most writer's lives are more interesting than what they write. Mine is both. They meet on an equal plane."

"Barbet [Schroeder] just showed up one day. Said he wanted to make a film about my life. So I typed it out. I started writing dirty stories and I end up writing a fucking screenplay. I just wrote it and said it was in the hands of God, they'll fuck it up. Fortunately, because of Barbet Schroeder's directing... they got a great cast and it worked."

"I was hiding out. I didn't know what else to do. This bar back east was a lively bar. It wasn't a common bar. There were characters in there. There was a feeling. There was an ugliness, there was dullness and stupidity. But there was also a gleeful high pitch you could feel there. Else I wouldn't have stayed.

"I did about three years there, left, came back, did another three years. Then I came back to L.A. and worked Alvarado Street, the bars up and down there. Met the ladies--if you want to call them that."

On the effects of fame on writers, Bukowski believes that, "if you're old enough, you have a better chance to overcome what they put on you. If you're a genius at 22 and the babes come around, the drinks ... How old was Dylan Thomas when he died, 34? It can come too soon. It can never come too late, I guess. I think I'm safe."

"I get letters from women who want to show their naked bodies. 'I'm 19 years old and I want to be your secretary. I'll keep your house and I won't bother you at all. I just want to be around.' I get some strange letters. I trash them."

"As Ezra said, 'Do your W-O-R-K.' That's where the vigor comes from, the creative fucking process. Puts dance in the bones. Like I said, if I don't write for a week, I get sick. I can't walk, I get dizzy, I lay in bed, I puke. Get up in the morning and gag. I've got to type. If you chopped my hands off, I'd type with my feet. So I've never written for money; I've written just because of an imbecilic urge."

"I waited a long, long while. At the age of 50, I was still in the post office, stacking letters. I was still working, I was not a writer. I decided to quit and become a writer. When I went to resign, the lady in the post office clucked her tongue at me. I always remember that. It was my last day on the job. One of the clerks said, 'I don't know if he's going to make it, but the old man has a lot of guts.

"I'm 66 now. That was in 1970. 1 guess I got lucky late.

"[Raises toast] Here's to my father, who made me the way I am. He beat the shit out of me. After my father, everything was easy."
.
 
Barfly is actually my all time fav movie...and Rourke is actually my fav actor..so i love the fact that Buk wrote a screenplay for a movie he stared in..
 

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