Barfly

United States

1987

97 Min

Color

1.85:1

English

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
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EXEC Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan

PROD Tom Luddy, Fred Roos, Barbet Schroeder

CAST Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance, J.C. Quinn, Frank Stallone, Sandy Martin, Pruitt Taylor Vince

MUSIC Jack Baran

Cannes (In competition), Toronto, New York

Synopsis

Downtrodden writer Henry (Mickey Rourke) and distressed goddess Wanda (Faye Dunaway) aren’t exactly husband and wife: they’re wedded to their bar stools. But they like each other’s company – and Barfly captures their giddy, din-soaked attempts to make a go of life on the skids. —Warner Home Video

Director

Barbet Schroeder

Barbet Schroeder’s Swiss geologist father was on assignment in Iran when he was born. After a globe-trotting childhood, Schroeder was educated at the Sorbonne; then, like half the under-30 population of France (or so it seemed), he became a movie critic. Brief jobs as a jazz concert producer and news photographer followed before Schroeder went to work as an assistant for one of his role models, French director Jean-Luc Godard. In 1964, the 22-year-old Schroeder set up his own film production company, Les Films du Losange. Among the many prominent pictures produced by Schroeder include director Eric Rohmer’s “Moral Tales” La Collectioneuse (1966), My Night at Maud’s (1969), and Claire’s Knee (1970). Schroeder himself turned director with 1969’s More, gaining critical attention with several unorthodox documentaries. With the American film Barfly (1987), Schroeder established himself as a prime purveyor of “slice of life” drama — albeit entertaining enough to please the crowd. Oscar nominated… read more

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Donald Alexandre

9Jan12

Excellent film sur Bukowski (même si ce n'est pas vraiment un "biopic"). C'est tiré d'un des livres du vieux Hank je crois, et le personnage de Mickey Rourke est une représentation de Bukowski probablement assez réaliste.

Hunter Duesing

24Aug11

Captures the spirit of Bukowski's prose nicely, I suppose the fact that he wrote it helps, but most directors don't respectfully adhere to the voice of the writer the way Barbet Schroeder does here. If you're a fan of this movie, read Bukowski's novel HOLLYWOOD, in which Bukowski talks about making this movie the way only he can through his Henry Chinaski alter-ego.

Paula Ramos Salas

11Aug11

"Nothing but the dripping sink. Empty bottle. Euphoria. Youth fenced in, stabbed and shaved. Taut words propped up to die" http://youtu.be/mLMXuoyQ67Y ... Bukowski and Dirty realism.

Publius

1Mar11

Mike is wrong; Bukowski rather liked Rourke's performance by the end. He says so in the accompanying interview tapes.

Daniel McCarthy and Hunter Duesing like this

Hunter Duesing

23Aug11

This is correct. Bukowski had his criticisms, but he is on record as saying seeing Rourke play Chinaski brought him back to the old days when he was drinking, fighting, writing, and generally being a misanthrope.
Mike

11Jan12

In the novel Hollywood, Chinaski (not Bukowski) refers to the performance from Rourke's character favorably. However, in an interview, Bukowski stated that Rourke "got it wrong" and "played it up too much." If I could track down the interview video, I would link it. Although Chinaski does serve as a fictional alter-ego for Bukowski, he is still a fictional character. Fictional text is not good evidence of Buk's opinion on the performance. Suffice it to say that none of us knew Bukowski personally, so none of us know for sure what he really thought.