Burroughs: The Movie

Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) was a lifelong drug addict who incorporated his own experiences and drug-induced visions into his work, which included underground classics such as Junkie and Naked Lunch (the latter adapted into a film by David Cronenberg). When filmmaker Howard Brookner released this documentary in 1983, following five years of conducting interviews with Burroughs and various friends, colleagues, and fans (including Allen Ginsberg, Terry Southern, and Patti Smith), Burroughs's legacy was in the midst of a resurgence. Burroughs himself dominates and shapes this film with his sardonic commentary, reading excerpts of his work and even acting out scenes from his novels in odd mini-movies—all with his distinctive nasal drone and deadpan expression (which bring an oddly animated quality to his delivery). Burroughs is more memoir than biography, which is both the film's strength and weakness—emerging as a rare literary documentary in which the indulged subject works very closely with the filmmaker. Burroughs's first-person account provides insight into the artist and his life, including an account of his homosexual experiences that made him an early outspoken queer icon, a figure who defied the gay stereotypes of the era. Released to art cinemas in 1983, Burroughs was then lost for decades until it was rediscovered, restored, and re-released theatrically in 2014. Shot on 16mm, the film's coarse visual quality is preserved in this digital restoration, and is presented with extras including audio commentary by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, new and archival interviews, outtakes, footage from the 2014 premiere of the film's restoration, and a short experimental 1981 edit of the film. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)