Bukowski @ Bellevue (1 Viewer)

[HenryChinaski]

Anybody have this dvd?

What is the quality of the footage? I know it was filmed by students and is in black and white but thats about it. How long is it? Post pics, ect.

 

[mjp]

I have the Black Sparrow VHS release, and I assume the DVD was made from that (I've never been able to determine if that DVD release is legit or a widespread bootleg).

Anyway, the quality is okay. It's black and white, the sound is okay...the picture freezes for a few seconds at several points during the tape, but the audio continues on uninterrupted. That could be a reel change on the originals, I don't know. This was the early days of video tape, so don't expect perfection and you won't be disappointed.

The reading itself is quiet and uneventful. Not like the later "rock star" readings. All in all, interesting to watch, because it's so early.

 

[HenryChinaski]

yeah I love the early stuff. I've been debating weather or not to get the dvd because it's so easily found on ebay. if anybody actually has the dvd it would be great if you could post pics because I don't want a bootleg. Although I really don't suspect that it is.

 

[HenryChinaski]

well the quality of this dvd is horrible.

i believe Linda about the dvd being a bootleg.

 

[mjp]

Yeah, if she says it's not legit, I believe her.

But I have to tell you, the VHS copy I bought from Black Sparrow is not perfect. I remember thinking it was a piece of shit when I first played it, especially considering how much he charged for it ($50 or $75? - a lot). But it grows on you. Ha ha. Like a mole.

 

[HenryChinaski]

yeah the only thing that pisses me off...is that every minute or so during the whole movie, the picture pauses but the audio keeps right along and somehow when it starts back up again the picture is exactly with the audio.
it pisses me off to no end though. good reading though...lots of my favorites read like fire station, the lesbian, and soup cosmos and tears.

the best part of the whole film is when Buk says...inbetween poems, "by the way, did you know I was born to hustle roses down the avenues of the dead?"

classic

 

[Melissa Sue]

i used the freezey frames to draw little pictures of buk. XD

 

[mjp]

I don't remember it being that often...I thought they were reel changes. Those old VTR's had short reels.

The guys who did the Redondo Beach and Vancouver readings were telling me how they were edited to get around things like that. They changed reels between poems, then used long shots to cover up the missing video. But the audio is all there.

Man, those are going to be nice...

 

[HenryChinaski]

yeah I can't wait for those. hopefully they'll be a little better than the Bellevue reading. i think it will grow on me though.

 

[Melissa Sue]

I don't remember it being that often...I thought they were reel changes. Those old VTR's had short reels.

the dvd copy i watched was awful, ed almost stopped watching it b/c of that.

 

[HenryChinaski]

yeah melissa's right. it's pretty frequent.

 

[hank solo]

i have the Screen Edge one, and the freezes don't bother me as the audio continues. think i've only watched it once, but i was not disappointed. from what i've read about the vhs version from black sparrow, the missing footage is not unique to the dvd copy.

I believe its not a bootleg btw, as noted above it says its licensed from Harper Collins and theres a blurb from Martin on the back.

 

[poptop]

The Pit And The Speculum

Anybody have this dvd?

What is the quality of the footage? I know it was filmed by students and is in black and white but thats about it. How long is it? Post pics, ect.

If anyone would like to see Bukowski agonizingly self-conscious, consummately tortured, and imminently fuck-upped"”this is the performance for you. He must have gotten off a real binder, been totally down on his luck, or down to his last sawbuck, to go all the way North only to agonize in front of this sparse group of people and the indifferent, stationary camera work. I've seen this tape once and found it so thoroughly disconcerting that I never wanted to see Bukowski in such a lowly position again or have it in my permanent collection. He was paying some heavy dues for being a poet, and I sometimes imagine that his distaste for giving bloodsucking poetry readings stemmed from this bloodsucking experience. I'm glad I saw it, but once was more than enough, and less than I imagined.

Poptop.

 

[the only good poet]

i think it's great that there is such early footage. he sure had guts - i don't recall the title of the poem, but to read, "you dead bastards you, you've got death coming to you..." in such staid surroundings was something else. why hasn't it been collected yet? the poem about "Neal C." pricked up the ears. there had to be something more in that thermos...

 

[Johannes]

Now pieces on youtube:

-->
-->
-->

 

[Bukfan]

Talking of youtube. The BBC docu seems to have been removed. Too bad...:(

 

[oneiros]

Hello again, been quite a while since I was last here.

I bought Buk @ bell today and have almost finished watching it. So far I am impressed by the footage, it is way better than I feared (considering, this IS footage taken by a b/w camera way back when) and the audio is splendid. Buk's voice is, as always, amazing. The way he almost growles his words, the elongated pauses, great.

But, I have to agree with some of you guys above, he looks very uncomfortable.

 

[Bukfan]

I have the video version and the audio is not splendid because there 's a buzzing sound in the background. I guess you have the dvd version and the buzz has been removed...

Talking of youtube. The BBC docu seems to have been removed. Too bad...:(

I was Wrong! It wasn't on Youtube but on Google Video - and is still there!...:)

 

[oneiros]

Yup, I have the DVD version. The sound is impeccable and that, I find, is the most important thing when it comes to Buk readings.

On a different note; any of you guys ever had the chance to see Buk live?