Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27002 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 130 minutes

Video Description
The film traces the extraordinary life of Charles Bukowski from an abusive childhood through decades of poverty and alcoholism; numerous menial jobs and turbulent relationships to his eventual international celebrity as a poet, novelist and underground cult figure. Director John Dullaghan spent seven years researching and shooting Bukowski: Born Into This, conducting dozens of interviews with relatives, neighbors, fellow post office workers, girlfriends and friends like Bono, Sean Penn, Harry Dean Stanton, Barbet Schroeder and Taylor Hackford. In doing so the director has crafted a fitting portrait of a literary icon, offering the most revealing look yet of Bukowski and his work. The result is a film that peels off the hardened mask of the mythic Bukowski to reveal the insecure, loving and extremely human man -and the artist -underneath.

Synopsis
Director John Dullaghan spent seven years searching high and low for the most pertinent material he could find about the notorious writer, drinker, and recluse Charles Bukowski (1920-1994). The result is BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS, a highly entertaining, informative tribute to Bukowski's work, his life, and the people who were inspired and influenced by him.

With readings of Bukowski's poems peppered throughout, the documentary traces the progress of his life from his miserable childhood to his 14-year tenure as a postal worker, his column 'Notes of a Dirty Old Man' in the L.A. Free Press, his foul mouth and dark outlook, his misogynistic view of women, his books, and of course, his steady heavy drinking. And yet, the film is uplifting and shows Bukowski's soft, ironic side. BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS succeeds with flying colours, adding new insight to this fascinating and hard-to-know character whose memory will not soon be forgotten.

Customer Reviews

Excellent purchase
The dvd is brilliant. Nice interviews. Hank was simply unique and i enjoy listening to his voice. This item is a must see

intersesting bio
Interesting and sympathetic ( perhaps too sympathetic) account of his life and work. Well made and some good interviews. Sometimes people are a bit sycophantic and he comes over as a bit of a bore. His voice is a major let down, all winy and nasal but alot of his writing is good.