A man within sheds a lot of light sometimes fractured lighton the life of the influential yet enigmatic beat poet william. A man within is a probing yet loving portrait of the man who shattered the boundaries of. Director yony leyser interviewed on this disc as one of the many extras explains how his fascination with burroughs and his work led to his pursuit of telling the. His novel, naked lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the u. With fred aldrich, laurie anderson, amiri baraka, jello biafra. A man within is an intimate documentary that breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time.
A man withinis the first and only posthumous documentary about this legendary figure. A man within on rotten tomatoes, then check our tomatometer to find out what the critics say. An exploration of burroughs life story, as told by burroughs himself along with many of his contemporaries, including allen ginsberg, brion gysin, francis bacon, herbert huncke, patti smith, terry southern, and william burroughs jr. The outstanding new documentary william s burroughs. Burroughs was a beat generation writer known for his startling, nontraditional accounts of drug culture, most famously in the book naked lunch. A man within is a probing yet loving portrait of the man. Instead of the crusty old queer, or the unrepentant junkie, or black sheep of a wealthy family, this picture presents a better sense of the author within the milieu. This extremely personal documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. A man within won the van gogh award for best biography, amsterdam international film festival, the netherlands, along with the gold kahuna award, honolulu international film festival, hawaii. Though some of the films most striking moments come from readings in which burroughs recites his own work in his dry, craggy monotone, leyser has placed his focus on the man behind the work.
Nov 05, 2010 enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing william s. A man within is a sort of genealogy of hip that connects william s. Its ok to admit you really didnt care for early cronenberg, or crash or existence. This compilation of interviews, candid video and news footage proves only the futility in any attempt to penetrate the armour of a man who spent his entire life under the scrutinising eye of the art world. Burroughs with many currents of america s outlaw cultural tradition. A man within andris i like burroughs work and he certainly was an interesting character but i thought this documentary was kind of boring especially because most of the interviewees were just bad. The man within confronts the romanticization of william s. A man within knows when and how to use its subject s distinctive voice. Born the heir of the burroughs adding machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. Nov 17, 2010 a man within is a sort of genealogy of hip that connects william s.
Featuring neverbeforeseen archival footage of burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including john waters. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. And as the movie shows us, his influences ranged from beatniks to punks, from rockers. A later edition published in the 1980s changed the formatting of the title to blade runner, a movie. A man within, explores the personal life of the celebrated and controversial beat author of naked lunch. For good or ill, burroughs was a fascinating man who lived a wild life, and filmmaker yony leyser had the raw material for a truly fascinating story at his disposal for his first feature film, the. Burroughs, one of the three seminal writers of the beat generation the other two being his friends jack kerouac and allen ginsberg, was born in st. A man within investigates the life of the legendary beat author and american icon. Made up of intimate, revelatory footage of the singular author and poet filmed over the course of five years, howard brookner s 1983 documentary about william s. Burroughs, yony leyser manages only to find his shell. Burroughs, a man considered as cold as an iceberg on a winter night. The film, narrated by peter weller, combines neverbeforeseen footage of burroughs and interviews with a wide variety of figures familiar with the writer and his work. It s a shame that leyser doesnt deal with burroughs work as well as he deals with his life, but william s.
A man within, which features some pretty cool people, like peter weller, john waters, and david cronenberg also note. Burroughs even as it romanticizes him, admittedly hard not to do given the author s status as a cbgbera rock stargenius. A man within was great and included a wonderful chosen cast of burroughs friends, lovers, and admirers of his work, but it lacks the same intimacy and depth that brookner was able to capture with his documentary. Jan 11, 2018 william seward burroughs ii was an american writer and artist. A man within expressed some powerful ideas about his life and work. A man within proves that peter weller has starred in other movies except for robocop, namely naked lunch which is based on the works and life of william. A man within is a 2010 english film stars peter weller, yony leyser, yony leyser, william s. Burroughs, featuring previously unreleased footage and interviews with his friends and colleagues. Burroughs treatment is set in the early 21st century and. In a collaboration between burroughs and director howard brookner the film explores burroughs life story along with many of his contemporaries including allen ginsberg, brion gysin, francis bacon, herbert huncke, patti smith, terry southern, and. Burroughs, with an intimacy never before seen and never repeated. Louis, missouri, on february 5, 1914, to the son of the founder of the burroughs adding machine co. Enter city, state or zip code go fandango fanalert.
A man within yony leyser, 2010 addeddate 20121217 04. The movie explores the life and times of controversial naked lunch author william s. Dead fingers talk, first published in 1963, was the fifth novel published by beat generation author william s. Burroughs a man within explores the controversial writer and junkie, who infamously shot and killed his own wife and wrote about his debauched lifestyle as a narcotics fiend, travelling the globe inhabiting and haunting cities like a phantom. Jun 14, 2010 however, his friends were left wondering, did william ever find happiness. The intimate documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and. The film was named as one of 2010s top 10 movies by sight and sound magazine. Sep 16, 2009 there have been films made about william s. A man within sheds a lot of lightsometimes fractured lighton the life of the influential yet enigmatic beat poet william s. A man within touches only briefly on naked lunch and its impact, and most of his 17 other novels arent even mentioned in the film. Burroughs before, but it looks like the revolutionary, experimental scribe may finally get a treatment worth watching all the way through.
Burroughs, john waters, iggy pop, jello biafra, patti smith, laurie anderson, david cronenberg, gus van sant, andy warhol, carmine cervi, scott crary, ilko davidov, yony leyser, john bellow, devin mcnulty, thurston moore, lee. Featuring neverbeforeseen archival footage of burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including john waters, patti smith, ig. A tender, vibrant portrait of a beat generation icon, william s burroughs. Leyser is clearly a burroughs acolyte, and he taps into the man s sensibility. A man within movie trailers, exclusive videos, interviews from the cast, movie clips and more at. Whilst the film cannot completely penetrate the full life, philosophy and art of this visually unusual man, it does produce an idea of him. Feb 04, 2011 the man within confronts the romanticization of william s. The novella began as a story treatment for a proposed film adaptation of alan e. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. This extremely personal documentary pierces the surface of the troubled and. The movie is the first and only documentary to be made about and with the full participation of writer william s.
Burroughs was one of the first writers to break the boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s. His thoughts were clouded yet always concise and his work as a writer, traveler and consumer of controlled substances revealed profound ideas on human sexuality, humanity, u. Mostly, a man within is a breezily stylized, very enjoyable trot through the writers life, theme by theme, era by era. A man within explores the brilliant and troubled world of one of our greatest authors.
Burroughs was a primary figure of the beat generation and a major postmodernist author whose influence is considered to have affected. Featuring archival footage of burroughs, as well as interviews with confidants such as john waters, patti smith and iggy pop, the film, set to a soundtrack by patti smith and sonic youth, shows how burroughs spawned a countercultural. The film charts the development of burroughs unique literary style and his wildly unconventional life, including his travels. A man within is a 2010 independent american documentary film directed by yony leyser about william s. A man within offers a concise summary of burroughs life and works. Though some of the film s most striking moments come from readings in which burroughs recites his own work in his dry, craggy monotone, leyser has placed his focus on the man behind the work. A vibrant portrait of a beat generation icon, william s burroughs. Friends, colleagues, collaborators, lovers, and neighbors all are represented in this gentle biopic of william s. The intimate documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest. A man within strives to be a penetrating portrait of the controversial beat generation icon, only to come off more as a. A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer william s. The inclusion of new interviews with friends and colleagues does bring to the film a more emotional edge. A man within investigates the life of the legendary beat.
Burroughs even as it romanticizes him, admittedly hard not to do given the authors status as a cbgbera rock stargenius. Burroughs, john waters, iggy pop, jello biafra, patti smith, laurie anderson, david cronenberg, gus van sant, andy warhol, carmine cervi, scott crary, ilko davidov, yony leyser, john bellow, devin mcnulty, thurston moore, lee ranaldo, ilko davidov, yony leyser, directed by yony. If you ever thought there was no more mileage to be gained from wsb and expository films about him. A man within 2010 including budget, domestic and international box office gross, dvd and bluray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. Mostly, a man within is a breezily stylized, very enjoyable trot through the writer s life, theme by theme, era by era. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing william s. Burroughs with many currents of americas outlaw cultural tradition. A man within docu does real justice to the beat writer, gun nut and literary icon.
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