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Naked Lunch (David Cronenberg)
"Exterminate all rational thought. That is the conclusion I have come to."
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, while trying to break his addiction. The story loosely reflects events in the life of author Burroughs as he wrote the novel.
Author Burroughs wrote this novel while he was on drugs and most of the things that take place did happen in real life, most noteably Burroughs accidently killing his wife. So when you add Canadian David Cronenberg into the mix, it makes Naked Lunch one of those movies that will leave you scratching your head. Not to say that Naked Lunch is weirder then Videodrome, but it certainly is up there.
When you watch a film where the lead character talks to his typewriter after he imagines it transform into a bug who speaks out of it's anus....you wonder to yourself can this be any good? Naked Lunch is definitly a film that you either love or hate, but ironically I'm neither. For those who are fans of Cronenberg, Burroughs, or Weird Films, then definitly check this out.
Peter Weller is the perfect choice for this character, who is clearly insane. He has gone past the melt-down stage of his life and enter a zone of unimaginable thought. Iam Holm plays the nasty old writer who is married to Joan, who is also Lee's wife. Judy Daivs is the leading lady the plays the two characters, who in Burroughs mind tripping novel are the same.
Naked Lunch is exactly what you would expect from the weird mind of Cronenberg who brought us such films like Videodrome and The Fly. Nothing new here, we see aliens, talking anus bugs, huge centipede people and so on. Cronenberg adapts the novel to the screen and uses the dialogue beautifully. He knows what colours to use in this style of film and the work.
The film does suffer from it's length, it stretches to about 2 hours. With that time length it drags in some places and many might be turned off from it's confusing plot line. Which I still do not fully comprehend. But that is the ultimate goal from a film such as this, along with any film from Kubrick. If you fully understand it, then the artist has failed at what they have tried to do. The ending to Naked Lunch may confuse some people, but think hard enough and those who discover the reason behind it will link it to the rest of the film and might enjoy it a little more.
7/10
"Exterminate all rational thought. That is the conclusion I have come to."
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, while trying to break his addiction. The story loosely reflects events in the life of author Burroughs as he wrote the novel.
Author Burroughs wrote this novel while he was on drugs and most of the things that take place did happen in real life, most noteably Burroughs accidently killing his wife. So when you add Canadian David Cronenberg into the mix, it makes Naked Lunch one of those movies that will leave you scratching your head. Not to say that Naked Lunch is weirder then Videodrome, but it certainly is up there.
When you watch a film where the lead character talks to his typewriter after he imagines it transform into a bug who speaks out of it's anus....you wonder to yourself can this be any good? Naked Lunch is definitly a film that you either love or hate, but ironically I'm neither. For those who are fans of Cronenberg, Burroughs, or Weird Films, then definitly check this out.
Peter Weller is the perfect choice for this character, who is clearly insane. He has gone past the melt-down stage of his life and enter a zone of unimaginable thought. Iam Holm plays the nasty old writer who is married to Joan, who is also Lee's wife. Judy Daivs is the leading lady the plays the two characters, who in Burroughs mind tripping novel are the same.
Naked Lunch is exactly what you would expect from the weird mind of Cronenberg who brought us such films like Videodrome and The Fly. Nothing new here, we see aliens, talking anus bugs, huge centipede people and so on. Cronenberg adapts the novel to the screen and uses the dialogue beautifully. He knows what colours to use in this style of film and the work.
The film does suffer from it's length, it stretches to about 2 hours. With that time length it drags in some places and many might be turned off from it's confusing plot line. Which I still do not fully comprehend. But that is the ultimate goal from a film such as this, along with any film from Kubrick. If you fully understand it, then the artist has failed at what they have tried to do. The ending to Naked Lunch may confuse some people, but think hard enough and those who discover the reason behind it will link it to the rest of the film and might enjoy it a little more.
7/10