tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post8405445313709191386..comments2023-05-20T01:05:28.064-07:00Comments on Cinema Geek: Friday Night Films: Naked Lunch (1991)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954838068836802591noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-52434566107479008702011-03-12T15:12:30.979-08:002011-03-12T15:12:30.979-08:00I got turned onto Naked Lunch when I was about 18 ...I got turned onto Naked Lunch when I was about 18 years old. I had just completed reading On The Road, which I still give out to family friends and relatives who are graduating high school. On the Road might have changed my life, but Naked Lunch twisted my perception. It's a tough pill on the first swallow, but as TL Bugg says, it gets easier. I will suggest Andre that if Burroughs interests you in the least that you take a more accessible route to the Interzone by attacking Junky. It's more readable and does a great job at immersing you into Burroughs mind, also providing context for the material both in Naked Lunch the book as well as the film.Marc Pattersonhttp://www.brutalashell.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-9763913707987574052011-02-26T03:18:46.875-08:002011-02-26T03:18:46.875-08:00I have read Cities of the Red Night by William Bur...I have read Cities of the Red Night by William Burroughs and got the same feeling as you from Naked Lunch. I think that this delirium isn't a literature.<br />All tales which were written by drug addicts isn't art.miumiuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12584224640538063935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-7854732766244427752011-02-10T08:11:29.183-08:002011-02-10T08:11:29.183-08:00I can definitely feel your frustration! I read NAK...I can definitely feel your frustration! I read NAKED LUNCH back when I heard that Cronenberg was going to do an adaptation. At first I approached it like a "regular" novel with a linear storyline and was vastly disappointed and gave up. But I was intrigued, it was like a puzzle I had to solve, so I read *about* Burroughs's life and the cut-up style, then about how when published the book's chapters were tossed in at random (I believe this is alluded to in the movie). Once I "deconstructed" the book for myself, it opened right up. But yes, multiple readings are required. T.L. Bugg's and Simon Powell's comments are spot-on. <br /><br />A few months ago I rewatched the movie on the stellar Criterion DVD and was impressed at how well it held up. Cronenberg's ending is sublime - few filmmakers know how to end a movie like he does - in that it links the accidental death of his wife with his emergence as an artist of real substance. The only true emotion Bill Lee ever shows is in that last, final shot. Brilliant!Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-77568294464540802142011-01-23T08:36:16.397-08:002011-01-23T08:36:16.397-08:00As a big William Burroughs fan, I think Naked Lunc...As a big William Burroughs fan, I think Naked Lunch is definitely a fascinating film, and David Cronenberg is the perfect director to make it. Although some sections of dialogue are lifted straight from it, it is not a movie version of the book, but more of a symbolic biography of a period of William Burroughs life time and the events that led to the writing of the book. He did accidentally shoot his wife, Interzone is basically Tangiers in the 1950s, and the Hank and Martin characters are made to look like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who helped in the compilation and editing of Naked Lunch. Cronenberg is also the perfect director to make a film like this because of the obvious influence of the book on him. Any one of the strange foundations or corporations in his 70s and 80s work is straight out of Burroughs, as well as the fearless and controversial exploration of sexuality. Plus, Peter Weller's impersonation of his voice is spot onSimon Powellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-38295773957590860652011-01-20T18:22:54.609-08:002011-01-20T18:22:54.609-08:00Thanks Nate ; )
That is what I'm trying to bl...Thanks Nate ; )<br /><br />That is what I'm trying to blab on about anyways. It's funny how I inadvertently described exactly how to enjoy a reading experience like Naked Lunch by describing how to enjoy a film watching experience like Naked Lunch the movie. Just sit back and let it happen. Don't be so worried about it not making sense it won't---not yet anyways.Andre Dumashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170879111034420803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-76474279522917185702011-01-20T14:15:48.717-08:002011-01-20T14:15:48.717-08:00I don't think Andrea so much has a problem wit...I don't think Andrea so much has a problem with the book as she doesn't feel she's at the right place in life to appreciate it. Hell, the last time I tried to pick it up, I was the same way. Now it's been six years and I may give it another shot, see what happens.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954838068836802591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-49902201331783211622011-01-20T09:33:29.534-08:002011-01-20T09:33:29.534-08:00If you apply a Gone With The Wind sensibility of l...If you apply a Gone With The Wind sensibility of linear prose and story telling style, then yes Naked Lunch is going to appear like a rambling diatribe or insane nonsensical gibberish. if you take it for what it is and allow the text to do what it does than it's a fabulous book. Burroughs was also a champion of the cut up style of prose writing (a very Beat thing to do at the time) and a lot of that is evident in the construction of the book. it's not an A to Z experience. it's a ride without a start and no clear finish.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01166925812165966163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-42245403903300631562011-01-19T17:47:14.528-08:002011-01-19T17:47:14.528-08:00Haha no I feel you Zach. The thing is breaking bli...Haha no I feel you Zach. The thing is breaking blindly into a book like Naked Lunch is kind of horrifying. It's the kind of book that is, I will maintain this "unreadable" on your first stab. <br /><br />It reminds me of how people always say not to try to read Ulysses until you are well....older, or rather, until you been through more than a few walks of life. <br /><br />I should have clarified that I'm not saying Naked Lunch is a meaningless book, I'm just saying it's meaningless to me at this point in my life, and especially now when my brain is constantly in movie mode and hard to grasp onto little words on pages....aahh<br /><br />It makes sense of course that my immediate disinterest in understanding the film is directly correlated to my inability to understand the book. Although it is my understanding that Cronenberg's vision is really not about the book so much. After having just read Cronenberg on Cronenberg it explains this more intelligently (obviously, because he's the smartest person I know). But I know what you are saying. Maybe someday I will return to Naked Lunch, but right now I just feel anger and confusion. <br /><br />Anyways, I agree with you that I'm probably wrong. This wasn't really a review per say--just a description of my initial reactions to what I have now dubbed as the strangest film I have ever seen....Andre Dumashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170879111034420803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816394122569768359.post-22442986851145688172011-01-19T16:00:00.208-08:002011-01-19T16:00:00.208-08:00I normally think that your reviews are spot on And...I normally think that your reviews are spot on Andre, but I have to take you to task for this one. Naked Lunch is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century and without the novel, Lynch, Cronenberg, etc. may never have become the artists that they are. <br /><br />I've been reading Naked Lunch every two years for twenty years now and slowly it becomes easier to understand, but like Joyce, it only rewards the reader with a real fervor for the material. It's not for everyone, but I think calling it barely readable is entirely incorrect and hyperbolic. The thing is to understand the movie you have to have a basis in the book and in William's life. If you have neither, it will leave you baffled. If you have both, it's intensely rewarding.Zachary Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15622085931330902943noreply@blogger.com