BUKOWSKI (TV)
Summary
This documentary about poet Charles Bukowski intersperses excerpts from readings of the poet's work in San Francisco, 1972, with an interview in which Bukowski discusses such topics as Los Angeles, liquor, and poetry. His lifestyle is captured on camera in cinema-verite style -- he is shown shopping, smoking, talking with friends, and drinking alcohol. The program begins with Bukowski buying beer at his neighborhood liquor store. Then, a clip shows Bukowski reading his poem "The Rat." Next, Bukowski talks about what it means to be a poet. Then, he shows off his Los Angeles neighborhood where he used to work as a postal carrier and the messy house in which he currently resides. He talks about his few other passions in life, mainly, horse track betting and women. One such woman, Linda King, talks about life with the twenty-years-older Bukowski. Another of his women, fortysomething Liza Williams, discusses trying to show Bukowski how to live a more normal, "safe" life. Next, Bukowski, King and associate Joe Kryziak fly to San Francisco for a reading hosted by City Lights book store. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, co-founder of City Lights, discusses the significance of Bukowski as a writer. Then, a drunk Bukowski takes the stage to read such poems as: "Law," "Style," and "The Last Days of the Suicide Kid." Interspersed with his readings, Bukowski touches on such topics as: why liquor is a "symphony" to him, and how he uses alcohol to improve his life; why he isn't a troubadour; being a "gambling man" and the various diseases and ailments he has; and the morning after a raging party at which Bukowski tried to prevent a bully from picking on a homosexual (with fellow writer Harold Norse listening to Bukowski's account of the donnybrook.) Afterward, Williams discusses sharing Bukowski with King, as well as Bukowski's ambitions. Bukowski details telling Williams not to love him. King talks about how, after their fight in San Francisco, Bukowski briefly went back to Williams. She discusses how they are now together again. Bukowski details his troubles with women and how his writings make relationships tough. Next, Bukowski visits the horse racing track as an audio clip plays of him reading "A Day at the Oak Tree Meet." Bukowski talks about how, at age fifty-two, he's never grown up and his ideas have remained stable. He also talks about his tough life as a youth with a brutal father. Ultimately, Bukowski details how "the gods" have been good to him.
Details
- NETWORK: KCET-TV (Los Angeles, CA) / PBS
- DATE: November 25, 1973
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:55
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:19958
- GENRE: Arts documentaries; Specials
- SUBJECT HEADING: Poetry
- SERIES RUN: KCET (Los Angeles, CA) - TV, 1974
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alan Baker … Executive Producer
- Taylor Hackford … Producer, Created by
- Richard Davies … Director
- Thomas Buffum … Music by
- Charles Bukowski
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- Linda King
- Joe Kryziak
- Harold Norse
- Liza Williams