Synopsis

Storyline:

Burroughs: The Movie explores the life and times of controversial Naked Lunch author William S. Burroughs, with an intimacy never before seen and never repeated. The film charts the development of Burroughs’ unique literary style and his wildly unconventional life, including his travels from the American Midwest to North Africa and several personal tragedies. Burroughs: The Movie is the first and only feature length documentary to be made with and about Burroughs. The film was directed by the late Howard Brookner. It was begun in 1978 as Brookner’s senior thesis at NYU film school and then expanded into a feature which was completed 5 years later in 1983. Sound was recorded by Jim Jarmusch and the film was shot by Tom DiCillo, fellow NYU classmates and both very close friends of Brookner’s.

Written by

Pinball London

User Reviews: I love movies about artists, writers, musicians and so on and I really wanted to like this one, especially as most of the footage contains the man himself.

Always interested in the whys and wherefores of creativity, of particular interest was the blurb line: "…charts the development of Burroughs’ unique literary style."

However, the movie is mostly about the life of the man, his friends and associates, than the development of his writing style. There are fascinating interviews with Ginsberg and other friends, and a fun cameo from Patti Smith who complains she couldn’t get him into bed. Oh chuckle…

I came away not knowing much more about Burroughs than I did before, and certainly not more about his literary style or how it developed. It’s tragic that the director, Howard Brookner, died so young. He spent five years putting the movie together.

In spite of the lack of deeper revelations, as there are scant movies about Burroughs, this is still worth watching.

Interesting to see that over 370 people have rated this movie but only one has bothered to review it! Make of that what you will.