 Directed by David Cronenberg; 1991
Based on the novel by William S. Burroughs. Exterminator Bill Lee finds himself following his wife into an addiction to the bug powder he uses. After accidentally killing her, he descends into a hallucinatory existence in which he imagines himself a secret agent answering to a series of bizarre creatures. He channels his energies into writing "reports" on his delusional mission. The plot freely weaves together the text of the novel and biographical anecdotes of Burroughs' life to create a 'cut-up' film true to the nature of the work itself-- a leap of ingenuity on Cronenberg's part.
Featuring shorts from THE EXPERIMENTAL CHANNEL!
 The Late Night Picture Show has put together a show that would Make William S. Burroughs proud to precede its Screenings of Naked Lunch... by joining forces with San Francisco's own Experimental Channel! The Channel will be contributing selected short films from its daring new program Eyeplugs prior to the Midnight shows, turning this rare screening into an all-out clebration of artistic outlaws, be they literary or cinematic. Their cutting edge collection of bay area-produced short films have graced venues across the city; don't miss out on this opportunity to see the best of what they have to offer on the Clay's colossal screen!
EYEPLUGS Volume 1 Features videos and short films, many of which are based on music and sound. Curated by Ronaldo Barbachano and Mike Daddona, EYEPLUGS v1 has screened at such venue’s as The Little Roxy, The Clay, San Francisco Art Institute, Garage Bienalle, and has upcoming screenings as part of Free Form Film Festival in Utah (freeformfilm.org) and Red Scroll Records (CT) and others. Eyeplugs is an on-going program series.
The Eyeplugs Volume 1 was released by Ratskin Records and Experimental Channel.
Ratskin Records is a artists run independent record label based out of San Francisco. Ratskin Records collaborates with musicians, visual artists, and archivists to create and distribute new innovative experimental projects in the form of LP's, CD's, DVD's, books, internet releases, and events.
 The Experimental Channel aims to feature artwork and artists who use technology as their medium to express their artistic vision and message. The Experimental Channel is open to many works (video, installation, etc.) and is based in San Francisco California. The full EYEPLUGS lineup, selections of which will play at the Clay, includes work by Mike Daddona, Tyrone Davies, Ronaldo Barbachano, Rafael Canedo, Johnny Rogers, Gera Lozano, Erik Wilson, Shalo P., and Nyq Bonaventura.
For more information about The experimental channel and ratskin records, visit them on the web:
 Sucking on Mugwumps The film that would showcase addicts hooked on insecticide, lizardlike aliens known as mugwumps who suckle humans on mugwump jism, and Roy Scheider, had its genesis when the director and the writer met in 1984 at Burroughs's seventieth birthday party in New York City. Cronenberg visited Burroughs a few times in Kansas, discussing how to approach their project. "I wanted William's blessing, because basically, there was nothing he could do for me, I had to do it myself'' Cronenberg finally wrote the script in 1989.
"I sent it [to Burroughs] to see what his reaction would be. He hated it and threatened to sue.'' Burroughs smiles indulgently. He actually liked the script, but a Japanese backer pulled out after reading a translation of the screenplay. "It could have been something as simple as talking assholes,'' says Cronenberg with a shrug.
For years there have been other attempts to get Burroughs's books, including the notorious Junky, to the screen. Among the people rumored to star in earlier incarnations of Naked Lunch were Mick Jagger, Dennis Hopper (who also wanted to direct), Jack Nicholson, and David Bowie. Chuck "The Gong Show'' Barris wanted to produce; Terry Southern was supposed to write the screenplay. While these projects fell through, Naked Lunch had nevertheless penetrated the public consciousness in one way or another long before now.
 "One of the problems I had when I said, `Okay, how am I going to do this movie,' '' says Cronenberg, `was that a lot of the book, and Burroughs's writing in general, has been absorbed into the culture.''
Indeed, he has revealed that when he wrote his first commercial horror film, They Came from Within, his favorite book was Naked Lunch.
Originally released in 1975 in Canada as Shivers, the film concerns a venereal parasite that infests an apartment complex, causing some rather grisly deaths. Burroughs has lately been credited for graphically predicting in Naked Lunch what is now known as AIDS, when he wrote of a venereal disease that would originate in Africa and afflict homosexuals. "Males,'' he wrote, "who resign themselves up for passive intercourse to infected partners like weak and soon-to-be purple-assed baboons, may also nourish a little stranger.'' Cronenberg in his own right earned the title of King of Venereal Horror.
 "It's a limited kingdom,'' Cronenberg says with a proud smile, "but it's mine. One of the reasons Burroughs excited me when I read him was that I recognized my own imagery in his work," he says. ``It sounds only defensive to say, `I was already thinking of a virus when I read that!' But there is a recognition factor. That's why I think you start to feel like you're vibrating in harmony with someone else. It's the recognition, not that they introduced you to something that was completely unthought of by you.
"Here's my conceit,'' says Cronenberg. "Burroughs and I have been fused in the same telepod together,'' he says, referring to The Fly, where Jeff Goldblum and a housefly are fused at the molecular genetic level. "And what you've got now is the Brundlething, which is my and his version of Naked Lunch. It's a fusion of the two of us, and it really is something that neither one of us would have done alone. Now I don't know which of us is the fly and which is human.''
--excerpted from Esquire Magazine, February 1992
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squirrels
Written by joe, on 16-04-2007 00:04
If you are at all a cool and smart person, it would be enormously difficult to find something more enjoyable to be doing at Midnight on Friday, May 19th than to be seeing this movie on a big screen at The Clay. The following is in short what I think about the film.
Naked Lunch, a book by William S. Burroughs, is violently original. It's Burrough's twisted, threatening and ultimately truthful perception of reality. The vision and perception of the film Naked Lunch directed by David Cronenberg is not the same vision, yet it's equally as fascinating and is heavily influenced by Burroughs literature and actual life. The film is the story of a man left with a cold, hollow sadness that he smothers with the quicksand warmth of opiates. His reality is distorted into a world that is so dark shadowy and cool that one cannot help but be entirely engaged in the film.
Actors playing Ginsberg and Keroauc are the only exception to the ridiculously good performances in this film. |
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