review: Barfly

This might be my favorite film. The poet, novelist and short story MASTER, Charles Bukowski (who based this on autobiographical events) is my all time favorite writer and, ironically, he hated movies. Nevertheless, he agreed to work with his friend Barbet Schroeder who asked him to write an original screenplay for this film which was difficult to get backing for as Bukowski wasn’t as recognized then as he is now (for details about the process of making the film, read Bukowski’s novel "Hollywood"). Dennis Hopper and Sean Penn (two big fans of Bukowski’s) actually offered to take over the production of the script and Penn offered to play the Bukowski character (Henry Chinaski) for the salary of $1 when Schroeder was having trouble finding backers and it seemed as though the film might not be made. Bukowski was reportedly turned off by Hopper and his expensive jewelry in his meeting with him and decided to stick it out with the more sincere Schroeder. Finally, the affluent and respected Francis Ford Coppola took the role of “Presenter” and the film was made. The result is Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway in their best roles with a script that is simply unequaled in gritty pragmatic brilliance. I LOVE this movie.