Filmed in 1987 by Barbet Schroeder and produced by American Zoetrope, this telling of the classic Charles Bukowski story stars Mickey Rourke as the lead, Henry Chinaski and co-stars Faye Dunaway.
Plot: Henry is a drunk, a barfly, he hangs around the local pub and fights the barman on a regular basis, usually losing. He also writes and flirts in a an oddly successful and lacklustre way. He meets a woman (Dunaway) and moves in with her straight away, two drunks understanding in each other the same things.
There really isn't a great deal more to this story, but it is as a story and in the telling, that we delve into this life they lead. Henry is the a functioning alcoholic who writes short stories and has them discovered...not that it really changes anything but the amount of drinks he can buy.
It's an odd cast. Rourke plays a character, but having read some of bukowski's more widely spread novels and having see the recent film of his book Factotum, I'm not convinced that he plays Chinaski and not just a random, aggressive drunk. This film doesn't capture Bukowski's writing as faithfully as it could, shame.
If you are a fan and given the prose, you should be...watch Matt Dillon's 2005 version of Factotum.
Fun Fact: Faye Dunaway insisted on a lingering shot of her legs in one scene. Whether it was to prove her sexuality or whether she simply thought it added to the character I don't know, she did have great legs for a then, 45 year old though.
Plot: Henry is a drunk, a barfly, he hangs around the local pub and fights the barman on a regular basis, usually losing. He also writes and flirts in a an oddly successful and lacklustre way. He meets a woman (Dunaway) and moves in with her straight away, two drunks understanding in each other the same things.
There really isn't a great deal more to this story, but it is as a story and in the telling, that we delve into this life they lead. Henry is the a functioning alcoholic who writes short stories and has them discovered...not that it really changes anything but the amount of drinks he can buy.
It's an odd cast. Rourke plays a character, but having read some of bukowski's more widely spread novels and having see the recent film of his book Factotum, I'm not convinced that he plays Chinaski and not just a random, aggressive drunk. This film doesn't capture Bukowski's writing as faithfully as it could, shame.
If you are a fan and given the prose, you should be...watch Matt Dillon's 2005 version of Factotum.
Fun Fact: Faye Dunaway insisted on a lingering shot of her legs in one scene. Whether it was to prove her sexuality or whether she simply thought it added to the character I don't know, she did have great legs for a then, 45 year old though.
