TheExpatriate700
Charles Bukowski was arguably the greatest poet of the twentieth century. His output sustained its quality long after that of Beats such as Allen Ginsburg had faded, while still retaining a daring unknown to figures such as Robert Frost. This documentary gives insight into Bukowski's life, showing both his artistry and his personal problems.Particularly for someone who is new to Bukowski's work, this film will be a revelation. The documentary artfully combines information about the poet's life with excerpts of his work, including a reading of "Dinosauria, We" the poem which gave the film its title. We see how the artistry reflected the reality of Bukowski's life, particularly fitting given the experiential focus of his work.The film is not a hagiography, and gives extensive coverage to the poet's dark side. However, it makes clear that his behavior was a mechanism of coping with his childhood traumas and sensitivity. Ultimately, it is a moving portrait of a flawed man.
oyason
Nothing explains Bukowski like Bukowski himself, and that's why this film works. This memoir keeps his voice at the center, alongside some tough minded commentary by his wife Linda Lee Bukowski and his publisher John Martin at Black Sparrow Press. His daughter Marina also appears briefly,as do a number of his former girlfriends. As a long time admirer of his cleanness of line on the page,and contempt for long winded abstraction in poetry, I think this film of John Dullaghan's rings true as a work convinced of the worthiness of its subject. Bukowski was one of the best poets of the 20th century, though if you troll through the much esteemed halls of poetry even now, you'll see the same pretentious farts scoring him downward. That's the way of it. Bukowski was his own poet, his own voice, his own reference. What a hustle, What a game. Here's to Bukowski, here's to Director John Dullaghan. Let the spoonfed tend to the spoonfed.
adrian_3
Nothing wrong with Born Into This, I thought it brilliant. It simply showed one completely individualistic and unique person that never told people what they should do or or how to lead their lives As you get older you basically settle down into the life of a sheep - always a slave to something. Whether it be marriage / a relationship, the job, or keeping up with the neighbors ("ooh dear, they have a new car with 2 cup holders. Better go get one that has 3") etc etc. He just didn't give a toss about any of that stuff and basically kept the same attitude throughout his life. At the very least he kept true to his "endurance is more important that truth" saying
knichols1
For Bukowski fans, this film is another of those items you have to possess but which will leave outsiders repulsed or appalled.Most of the information in the film has been captured in various published interviews and biographies and in Bukowski's own autobiographical writings. But it is good to see the man moving about before our eyes again, driving his VW, visiting the track and the laundry, and his childhood home, where he 'reminisces' about the beatings his father administered with a razor strop. And it's interesting seeing some of Bukowski's lovers and associates again.The quality of the archival footage is pretty poor, having been shot, it appears, with amateur 8mm equipment. We can be thankful it was shot at all, since who knew what value it might have. The sound, however, is quite good.After many years of reading about Bukowski, I still haven't decided whether he was a sensitive soul driven to occasional episodes of egotistical pettiness and meanness by a bad childhood or just a self-centered ass who happened to have talent. However you view him in that regard, you cannot deny that he stuck by his vocation in spite of all. He personified the driven writer.
AD
