Naked Lunch

Based on the famed William S. Burroughs novel, Naked Lunch tells the story of an exterminator whose addiction to a mysterious substance has him becoming a spy at an Islamic port called Interzone. Written for the screen and directed by David Cronenberg, the film is more a mixture of Burroughs’ own novel and Cronenberg’s own ideas with surrealism. Starring Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, and Roy Scheider. Naked Lunch is a stylish yet strange film from David Cronenberg.

It’s 1953 as William Lee (Peter Weller) is an exterminator whose job hasn’t been going well because his wife Joan (Judy Davis) has been stealing his insecticide for drug use. With Lee starting to hallucinate and see a big bug talking to him about an assignment, Lee starts to question his own drug use as well as his wife. When he turns to a specialist named Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider) for help, Benway gives him a special powder which only increases his hallucinations where something bad has happened. With help from his literary friend Martin (Michael Zelniker), Lee flees the U.S. and ends up at a strange Islamic port called Interzone.

Writing reports for the Interzone company, he would meet various characters including Hans (Robert A. Silverman), Kiki (Joseph Scoren), and a charming man named Yves Cloquet (Julian Sands). With his typewriter that is also the bug he confers to, Lee would create material through the use of powder where he would meet another important writer named Tom Frost whose wife looks like Joan. Lee is intrigued by Frost’s wife, who is also named Joan, as they later have an affair while Frost lends Lee his typewriter. Yet, Lee learns that from his typewriter bug about something where things go wrong after he meets a mysterious woman named Fadela (Monique Mercue). When Joan goes missing and Lee is in trouble with Frost, Martin and Hank (Nicholas Campbell) come to help out reading the material he has written.

With Kiki offering to help Lee by fixing Frost’s typewriter and use it as an exchange to get his own typewriter back. There, Lee learns something is up as well as what Interzone is trying to do as he hopes to save Joan from whoever is running Interzone and its intentions.

While there are elements of William S. Burroughs’ novel in the film as the character of William Lee is writing the titular book. It’s really a surreal yet fictional account about a man in the 1950s trying to write this revered book through strange hallucinations as he deals with his own addictions in a world where it’s about the power of writing. What David Cronenberg does is deconstruct Burrough’s novel by infusing a lot of his own ideas by creating a noir-style film where Lee is Burroughs set into this very dark yet surreal world filled with talking bugs serving as typewriters.

Cronenberg also creates a world that has noir-like feel in the character of Lee who is pretty laid back and always trying to keep himself in check despite his addictions. The Joan characters are essentially a characterization of Burrough’s own wife where Cronenberg brings some of Burrough’s own real-life stories into the film. The complexity of the story that is a mix of noir, drama, surreal comedy, and Cronenberg’s own provocative take on technology is one that isn’t easy to tell. It does start off slowly as audiences who are familiar with the book would realize that this is not going to be a conventional adaptation.

Cronenberg’s direction is truly hypnotic for the way he creates the world of 1950s America as well as the world of Interzone which is really a take on Tangiers. There is a very rich quality to the way Cronenberg made the film which is miles away from his early yet grittier films of the 1970s and early 1980s. The compositions are more striking as the way he allows the surrealistic elements to be more lively and humorous. At the same time, Cronenberg is a filmmaker who is never afraid to get his hands dirty and play with expectations. One key scene is a conversation between Lee and Frost where Frost reveals dialogue that isn’t spoken is that he is saying something while his mouth aren’t saying something much different.

It’s Cronenberg being a trickster in order to play off the ideas of conventional cinema since he is not telling a conventional film. Some of the effects scene such as the typewriters as well as the bugs and such do create something is very creepy. It’s also disturbing but in a fun way because he’s not trying to be absolutely scary but rather make it OK for the audience to laugh at these creatures. Overall, Cronenberg creates a film that isn’t just eerie but also entertaining as it’s a great take on Burroughs’ novel.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky does an amazing job with the film‘s stylish cinematography from the more gritty yet dark look of the scenes in the U.S. in both its exterior and interiors to the lush yet vibrant look of the Interzone port scene with its bright, yellow colors for the daytime exterior settings. Editor Ronald Sanders does a great job with the editing as he adds some wonderful, rhythmic cuts for some of the suspenseful moments of the film while keeping it straightforward for a large portion of the film.

Production designer Carol Spier, along with set decorator Elinor Rose Galbraith and art director James McAteer, does a brilliant job with the look of the apartment Lee lives in along with the lavish world that the people at Interzone live in along with the eerie factory towards the end of the film. Costume designer Denise Cronenberg does an excellent job with the costumes to play up the 1950s film noir style with the suits the men wear to the different array of clothing that the two Joans wear. Sound mixer Bryan Day does a fantastic job with the sound work to capture the chaos of the Interzone port as well as the small, cluttering noises of the typewriter bugs.

The music by Howard Shore is phenomenal with its array of eerie orchestral score to play up the film‘s dark mood and suspense. With additional contributions from Ornette Coleman, Shore is able to use Coleman’s music to help play up the feel of the 1950s literary world that is booming at the time. The overall score is among one of the film’s highlights.

The casting by Deirdre Bowen is terrific as the cast includes some notable appearances from Sean McCann as a detective, Robert A. Silverman as the sly Hans, Joseph Scoren as the sensitive Kiki, Michael Zelniker as the bookish Martin, Nicholas Campbell as the fun-going Hank, and Peter Boretski as the voices of the creatures. Other memorable performances include Monique Mercure as the creepy Fadela, Julian Sands as the charming but dangerous Yves Cloquet, and Roy Scheider in a wonderful cameo as Dr. Benway. Ian Holm is great as Tom Frost, a version of novelist Paul Bowles as Holm brings a calm intensity to a dark character who is obsessed about great, foreign typewriters.

Judy Davis is wonderfully captivating in the dual performance as the two Joans. In the role of Lee’s wife Joan, Davis brings a troubling yet stupor physicality to a woman heavily-addicted to insecticide powder. For the role of Frost’s wife, there is a woman who is far more stranger as Davis brings something more entrancing and seductive to a woman who falls for Lee. Finally, there’s Peter Weller in a mesmerizing performance as William Lee. Playing a version of William S. Burroughs, Weller brings a very understated yet chilling performance as an exterminator who is haunted by his own hallucinations. There is a calmness to Weller’s performance in the way he reacts to the situations he’s in while he manages to create a character that is very intriguing over the things that is happening to him.

Naked Lunch is a disturbing yet hypnotic film from David Cronenberg that is led by a exhilarating performance from Peter Weller. Fans of Cronenberg will no doubt see this as one of his finest films for the way he deconstructs William S. Burroughs’ famed novel. Anyone seeking a straight adaptation of that famous novel will be disappointed though could be intrigued by how Cronenberg takes that story into a stylish noir film. Naked Lunch is truly a film that is one-of-a-kind as it could only be made from some as unique and as daring as David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - M. Butterfly - Crash - eXistenZ - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - A Dangerous Method - Cosmopolis - Maps to the Stars - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2011

Drugstore Cowboy

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/15/05 w/ Extensive Revisions.

1980s independent American cinema helped open doors for films of all subject matters. One of them was drug abuse were many independent filmmakers took a more realistic, documentary-like perspective into the drug culture. One director in the late 80s went full-on for a dramatic approach in his exploration on drugs and his name was Gus Van Sant. After helming his 1985 debut feature Mala Noche, Van Sant had been hailed as a new visionary yet wasn't ready to move into the Hollywood circuits as he wanted to remain independent in his vision. No matter what subject he wanted tackle, even after a brief stint with Universal that failed. Van Sant moved to Portland, Oregon to create his tale of the drug world with 1989's Drugstore Cowboy.

Based on an unpublished novel by James Fogle, Drugstore Cowboy is a chronicle about four young drug addicts in 1971 Portland who scam their way into stealing pharmaceuticals at drugstores to feed their addiction. While evading a cop and staying at an apartment to plan their next heist, tragedy emerges as their leader tries to stay clean despite his wife's continuing addiction and the world he tries to leave behind. Adapted into a script by Van Sant and Dan Yost, the approach is more cathartic tale of four young, dysfunctional people living as a family while dealing with their addictions. Starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James LeGros, Heather Graham, James Remar, Grace Zabriskie, Max Perlich, and Naked Lunch novelist William S. Burroughs. Drugstore Cowboy is a gritty, off-the-wall masterpiece from Gus Van Sant.

Longtime drug addict Bob (Matt Dillon) has made a career stealing and using pharmaceutical and prescription drugs with help from his wife Diane (Kelly Lynch). With help from a couple of young addicts in Rick (James LeGros) and Nadine (Heather Graham), they have been successful as Nadine fake seizures while the rest steal. Using these drugs for themselves, Bob also tries to deal with a fellow dealer named David (Max Perlich) who is trying to rise up in the game. Bob is also trying to avoid a cop named Gentry (James Remar) who often checks for any of the drugs Bob and his gang has stolen. During a visit to see his mother (Grace Zabriskie), Bob and Diane ponder their own future as they also try to find a new home.

When Nadine asks Bob about getting a dog, Diane reminds her about the superstitions that Bob has where he believes that a dog or a hat on a bed would curse them for some time. After a prank on Gentry during a police assignment, Bob and the gang leave Portland where another heist is foiled by Nadine's clumsiness. Forced to hide out again, Bob finds a drug he had stolen as he makes another attempt at a hospital that was almost successful. The jinx that Bob claims is happening finally hits someone forcing Bob and Diane to leave only to be trapped by a nearby sheriff's convention prompting Bob to go straight.

Returning to Portland, Bob goes into treatment as a counselor (Beah Richards) takes him in where he befriends a former priest named Tom (William S. Burroughs) whom bob knew as a kid. Tom's wisdom prompts Bob to lead a straight life as he gets some unexpected help from Gentry. Yet, Bob's past would come to haunt him as Diane makes a chilling return along with some old adversaries.

Most films about drugs would either glorify or just attack the culture yet in Van Sant's approach, the film is not really about drugs. From his view, it's really about a family and their dysfunctions while feeding their habits in stealing from drug stores. It's also a story about a man who lives a certain lifestyle only that he realizes that it's not cracked up to be only to try and straighten up. The script Van Sant and Dan Yost come up with is excellent for its realism as well as surrealism in Van Sant's direction that includes fantasy backgrounds in whenever Bob is getting high or is feeling elated about something. While the film has a sense of doom in the second act, the third act is where the story shifts into a story where Bob finds himself in a room full of addicts. The conversation is about drugs yet there's no judgement towards them since Van Sant is really viewing them as human beings.

Everything that Van Sant comes up with is very well, even with the ending where in Bob's narration, it has a sense of irony. The narration really brings a perspective in what Van Sant wants to say, especially since it's from the words of James Fogle, the story's original novelist. The narration is unique while the film starts and ends in the same place and same time. The structure is pretty original in how it builds up a story, especially in the death scene where the emotions are mixed on how Bob and his team react. A lot of the credit goes for Van Sant for not glossing anything or being exploitive at the same time.

Helping Van Sant with his outlook and arty visual style is cinematographer Robert Yeomen who brings a dreamy yet gritty look of the film in the exterior scenes in Portland while in the interiors, brings a wonderful intimacy with his lighting and camera work. Production designer David Brisbin and art director Eve Cauley also bring an authenticity to the look of the hotels and homes since the film is set in 1971 along with Beatrix Aruna Pasztor on the costume design, particularly for the clothing of Kelly Lynch and Heather Graham. With wonderful layers of cinematic visuals done by editor Curtiss Clayton, the film has a nice, multi-dimensional look in the dream backgrounds of Bob while it's nicely paced throughout the film. Composer Elliot Goldenthal brings a wonderful score to the film for its dramatic moments and dreamy sequences while the film features a nice soundtrack of late 60s/early 70s music.

Then there's the film's wonderful cast that is filled with realistic and powerful performances including memorable ones from Max Perlich as the naive drug dealer David who gets caught up in his power, Grace Zabriskie as Bob's strict but loving mother, and Beah Richards as a wise drug counselor. The most eerie performance of the entire film is late Beat novelist William S. Burroughs who gained notoriety for his drug novel Naked Lunch. Burroughs gives a mesmerizing and disturbing performance as a former priest who continues to use drugs while providing some strange insight into its culture and roots. James LeGros is excellent in his performance as the doltish but resourceful Rick who manages to find his way and help out Bob while being the only real supporter for his young, naive girlfriend Nadine. James Remar is also brilliant in his role as Gentry, a cop who is willing to do anything to bust Bob. Remar might seem like a villain but he brings a lot more sympathy for Bob in trying to help him straighten out and when Bob does go straight, Remar becomes an unlikely supporter.

The film's most surprising performance goes to a young Heather Graham as the naive, innocent Nadine. With her winning smile and naive behavior, Graham makes herself into a believable character who is new to the game while learning and after a series of screw-ups, Graham takes her character to new dramatic heights as her performance is the film's real breakthrough. Kelly Lynch is also great in her role as Diane, a veteran junkie who is aware of the traps of the game but remains very upbeat on all levels, even as Bob leaves to go straight. There's never a moment in which Lynch gives a dull performance as she graces the screen with her amazing beauty and intelligence.

Then there's Matt Dillon who gives probably the best performance of his career, especially at the time when he had fallen off the radar for a while after his great moment in the early 80s. Dillon brings a lot of complexity and charm to his role as an addict who seems to know everything. Even when it comes to superstitions and how to create a perfect scam and heist. When Dillon goes straight, we see him trying to struggle with his upcoming role only to become content right till the end. This is truly one of the best performances of the decade and a real reason in why Matt Dillon is one great actor.

Drugstore Cowboy is a wonderful yet provocative film from Gus Van Sant that features a great cast and superb imagery. While Van Sant's best work is yet to come with the gay road drama My Own Private Idaho, it's this film that put him into the map of the independent film movement. While more mainstream fans will find this interesting, it's more likely they'll enjoy To Die For and Good Will Hunting more though fans of his recent work will definitely love Drugstore Cowboy. For a film with a lot of grit, surrealism, great performances, and a wonderful style, Drugstore Cowboy is the film to see.

Gus Van Sant Films: Mala Noche - My Own Private Idaho - Even Cowgirls Get the Blues - To Die For - Good Will Hunting - Psycho (1998 film) - Finding Forrester - Gerry - Elephant - Last Days - Paranoid Park - Milk - Restless - Promised Land

The Shorts & Videos of Gus Van Sant - Auteurs #4: Gus Van Sant

(C) thevoid99 2011