 |  Bukowski: Born Into ThisDirector: John Cullaghan Rating: MA 15+ 113 mins Kaleidoscope/Shock Let's start with the disclaimer: I've just watched this DVD again, I'm listening to a Bukowski spoken word CD now and I'm eyeing off the new Buk biography sitting on my left, so the chances of this review being unbiased would seem next to impossible. But why even try to be? An eight year labour of love for first time director John Cullaghan, 'Born Into This' is more than just a bio-pic for fans; though, of course, we are well looked after. Cullaghan has managed to show us the poet as well as the drunk and the womaniser; he has remembered the words, which are the reason why people are so taken with Hank (sounds obvious? It's too often forgotten). Sure he was a drunk, a womaniser (though to be fair he was just making up for lost time) but he was first and foremost a writer. He was a man who knew how to get the straight line down, knew how to express the life, the hopes, the failures, the drinking, the women, the escapes, the humour, the small victories and the mad laughter of the working class; the underclass, the people you and I step over on our way to the band, the job, parties, class, spoken word gigs, pubs and trains home while pretending to be working class ourselves. By talking to those that knew him - old girlfriends, workmates, his wives, writers, directors, his publisher, friends, the odd musician, all having their say, interspersed with footage of Bukowksi himself sprouting words and nonsense, drunken banter, truths and lies - Cullaghan has managed to get behind the myth of Bukowski and let us see the man beneath; including, perhaps surprisingly for some, the romantic that lurked beneath the tough man image. We see the search for love to which even the self proclaimed 'iceman' succumbed: crying during a reading about a former girlfriend, waiting for another girlfriend to come home... Like all the beaten down and hurt old time tough guys from the depression era, all they really ever want is someone to love them. As a fanatic I was pretty happy with this documentary (other than now being filled with the need to find the rest of the footage from the various early docos and interviews) and had I not known much about Bukowski, after watching this and hearing his words I think I'd be looking for more. What more could one ask for?  | |
The latest issue available now!     |
All content copyright dB Magazine