Review: Bukowski Born Into This.

Charles Bukowski

Director John Dullaghan has scraped together scarce footage of Bukowski to paint an honest and revealing picture of this brilliant but troubled writer. Bukowski was relatively unheard of until his latter years and much of the footage was taken from obscure European interviews. The film is also interspersed with interviews with his wife, lovers, friends, and family, along with high profile fans Bono, Sean Penn, and Tom Waits.Bukowski comes across as a damaged man, prone to sudden fits of anger. One altercation with his wife captured on film is especially disturbing. But the film also shows a childlike quality to the man and brings out his sharp sense of humour. His speech has the rhythm of a poet and each conversation and interview with him is stirring.While it seems that it is impossible to find footage of Bukowski without a bottle or glass in his hand, his alcoholism was not a focus in the film. Instead, it explores Bukowski’s childhood which he calls ‘A horror story’ and the causes behind his suffering. He was beaten repeatedly by his father until the age of 12. The movie shows Bukowski returning to his childhood home and pointing out the bathroom in which the beatings took place.What is most striking about the movie is Bukowski’s remarkable discipline for writing. Throughout his life, Bukowski wrote 45 books of poetry and prose. In the movie, Bukowski talks about his early days traveling around America with very little money. He would stop in a town for a couple of weeks, rent a cheap room and write, surviving on only one candy bar a day. He later gained a position at the U.S postal service where he worked nights. He would follow a relentless routine where he would drink and write all day and then work at the post office at night.For much of his life, Bukowski inhabited a dark subterranean world, which he drew upon as inspiration for his writing. Interviews with family, friends and lovers gave an interesting insight into his unconventional existence. Bono, Waits and Penn were a little nauseating in their blind adoration, although Bono did tell a funny story about Bukowski being dragged by his wife to a U2 concert.For fans of Bukowski this film is a must see. For everyone else, this would be a good introduction into Bukowski’s work and an insight into the troubled mind of a gifted writer.