Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider

Catherine Hiller Warnow and Regina Weinreich's utterly fascinating 1994 documentary on the life and work of prolific writer Paul Bowles (1910-1999), shot on location in Tangier, Morocco (the author's home from 1947 forward), presents the celebrated wordsmith as a delightful raconteur, who speaks freely of his career and famous friends. In fact, the celebrity name dropping is very entertaining—particularly since the names aren't Britney or Brangelina, but rather Gertrude Stein, Jean-Paul Sartre, W.H. Auden, Salvador Dali, and Leonard Bernstein. Bowles, who was in his 80s at the time of filming, also reads from his work and discusses his non-literary collaborative efforts (he studied music under Aaron Copland and wrote incidental scores for plays by Tennessee Williams and Lillian Hellman). Also featuring interviews with Bowles' friends and admirers (most notably Ned Rorem and a gregarious Allen Ginsberg), Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider is not exactly hagiographic, presenting sensitive material on wife Jane Auer Bowles' openly lesbian affairs and the writer's own self-destructive alcoholism. Fans of Bowles' work, particularly his cult novel The Sheltering Sky, will appreciate the insights here into his creative process, although this topnotch profile should also appeal to biography buffs in general. DVD extras include new interviews with Rorem and the filmmakers. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)