Lorna Irvine reviews 'an excellent portrait of a contrarian and genius'.
William S Burroughs, one of the most influential writers of all time, has been on screen before--notably in Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy as Tom the Priest--but this lesser-seen documentary by Howard Brookner predates it by several years, filmed from 1978-82.
Tracing his past as a shy little boy with night terrors and a distant father, through to misadventures in Tangier and readings in London and New York, there are insightful and moving contributions from best friends Terry Southern and Allen Ginsberg, admirers like Patti Smith and Francis Bacon, and even family members like son Billy Jr and brother Mortimer.
These interviews are naturally the most revealing. Mortimer admits he struggled to get through Naked Lunch, and Billy Jr, who sadly succumbed to his own drug addiction during filming, talks sweetly of his father sending rare butterflies on his many trips.
Despite typically Burroughs escapades like the scabrous Dr Benway sketch (hilarious), Burroughs' penchant for weapons in spite of his supposed pacifism (!) and a grizzled version of Danny Boy, the writing process is revealed, he talks lovingly of wife Joan and comes across as charming, funny and less opaque than often portrayed.
An excellent portrait of a contrarian and genius, with a voice like an irritable wasp and an unquenchable intellectual thirst, even in old age.
Dir: Howard Brookner, 1983, USA, 1hr 30mins.
Burroughs: The Movie trailer: http://youtu.be/9g3uNAzlKqk
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