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Stars:
Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, and Roy Scheider
Writer:
David Cronenberg
Based
On The Book By: William S. Burroughs
Director:
David Cronenberg
Feature
length: 115 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director David Cronenberg and Actor Peter Weller, “Naked
Making Lunch” Documentary, Special Effects Gallery With Essay, Film Still
Gallery, Archival Still Gallery Of William S. Burroughs, Featurette, B-Roll
Material, Trailer, TV Spots
Languages:
English Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Two-Disc Alpha Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 23
Sound:
Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1991/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
Home
Video Distributor: Home Vision Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
I
suppose it had to happen sometime, but “Naked Lunch” defies me from placing
it into any one genre or another. It is not a horror film, sci-fi picture, or
dark fantasy though one might argue that the film if anything just might be a
bit of a dark fantasy. My mentor Jack Gelber was a beat generation Obie Award
winning playwright whose stage play “The Connection” was one of the first
works of its type to handle the then taboo subject of drug addiction and junkies
in a staged dramatic art form. Performed at The Living Theater in New York City,
the play actually had the actors in character interacting with the audience even
during the intermission to break down the fourth wall between viewer and
participant. I mention Jack Gelber because although the works are quite
different, I have noticed that there seems to be a running theme of drug
addiction and alienation throughout much of the Beat era artists. Coincidentally
Beat Generation Poet Allen Ginsberg taught poetry classes on the graduate level
in my program though I was not a student of poetry and aside from seeing him in
the halls here and there from time to time I cannot say I ever even spoke to the
guy. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac were friends of Burroughs if not disciples
and are represented in the film by two characters who do not look too unlike
their real life counterparts as seen in one of the still galleries that is
included in this two-disc set.
When
I first saw Cronenberg’s film adaptation of “Naked Lunch” I found myself
thoroughly revolted at times while still compelled to watch. The first time I
saw it back when it was first released on VHS I can honestly say without the
shadow of a doubt that I didn’t like the film and certainly didn’t
understand what the hell was going on. Then a few years later I borrowed it from
the local public library and watched it again and found I got a better handle on
the material perhaps because I was a bit older however I know I did not
understand every moment in the film because I found myself learning more about
the film than I ever knew before from screening Home Vision Entertainment’s
recent entry into the vaulted Criterion Collection of films on DVD. This noted I
could say that when I watched the film on DVD again I was not nearly as grossed
out, as I was the previous times I saw it. Hell I ate three Sicilian slices of
pizza for lunch while watching it and if you can imagine the image of a gooey
and stringy cheese and sauce covered square being devoured while images of
biomechanical insects with talking assholes and semen spewing alien
“Mugwumps” are illustrated on the screen then I think you will agree that I
definitely had gotten over Cronenberg’s rather gross extrapolations inspired
by, but not necessarily found in “Naked Lunch” and that I must have a strong
stomach or just a veracious appetite for pizza.
“Naked
Lunch” the movie is about Burroughs writing the manuscript for “The Naked
Lunch” and is only loosely based on the book. Cronenberg states on the feature
length audio commentary included on the first disc that he wrote the screenplay
with Burroughs blessing while working on Clive Barker’s “Nightbreed” and
he mixed and matched elements from Burroughs’ life as well as other stories
the author wrote as he felt they related to his screenplay and evoked a certain
narrative. So we have a dramatization of our protagonist Bill Lee (Peter Weller)
shooting his wife in the head, which was based on a real life accident that
occurred in Burroughs personal life and this in part serves as a gateway for the
Lee character to journey to “Interzone,” a port for expatriate writers in
Tangiers where he subsequently finds himself working as a double agent for his
talking and at times self typing insect/typewriter operative Clark Nova. He soon
encounters various strange beings, not all of them are quite human, as he writes
his reports, which are supposed to be the pages of “The Naked Lunch” and
subsequently the strange pseudo espionage drama becomes a metaphor for Lee’s
opening up of his soul and finally becoming a “writer” by quite literally
blasting away at his past again in a scene that I have to state that if I did
not here Cronenberg’s commentary, I still would not have known what the heck
was going on. One can see that not all the action is real as windows that should
reveal the exterior of Interzone instead show Central Park and bits of Lee’s
New York apartment literally begin to appear around the shell of his Interzone
flat.
The
film is at times also quite witty and makes interesting points involving the
nature of drug addiction and the business that feeds off of drug addicts like a
pyramid scheme. A similar point was made in both the original British miniseries
“Traffik” as well as Steven Soderbergh’s feature film adaptation
“Traffic.” There are elements involving the paranoia that comes from using
certain narcotics complete with hallucinations that slowly begin the blur the
line between what can be conceived as reality and fantasy that can be found in
other writer’s works like the great science fiction writer Philip K. Dick and
while the films are as different as night and day, I did find myself drawing
some parallels between David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” and Terry
Gilliam’s “Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.” Would Hunter S. Thompson agree
with the phrase “Exterminate All Rational Thought?” The lounge lizards in
the Vegas hotels might was well be Mugwumps while the narcotic bug powder could
be the fictional “adrenochrome” Raul Duke (Johnny Depp) takes in “Fear And
Loathing In Las Vegas.” In many ways both films are an illusionary examination
of a writer’s experience and conception of the world around him and both offer
some interesting food for thought too. To note that Home Vision
Entertainment’s Criterion Collection editions of “Fear And Loathing In Las
Vegas” and “Naked Lunch” would make for an interesting double feature one
movie night would be an understatement.
Twentieth
Century Fox certainly made the right choice by licensing “Naked Lunch” to
Home Vision Entertainment as a Criterion Collection DVD release because if there
is anything I know both Home Vision Entertainment and The Criterion Collection
excels at is in presenting and marketing hard to categorize films like “Naked
Lunch.” For this DVD release “Naked Lunch” is presented in the aspect
ratio of (1.78:1) with anamorphic enhancement. The new high definition digital
transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive and was
approved by David Cronenberg. The soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the
original LT/RT print masters, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce
clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The
results are in my opinion quite extraordinary. With the exception of a few
select scenes where I noticed a slight bit of background shimmering, the picture
was amazingly clear with solid colors and tones. On a 16 by 9 monitor or a
television that features 16 by 9 enhanced viewing mode, the picture resolution
looks dramatically sharper and one as result can appreciate the digital transfer
even more. The English Dolby Surround Soundtrack is quite good with a nice
volume level and ambient feel. English Captions for the hearing impaired are
encoded onto the first DVD as an option too.
As
mentioned above, Director David Cronenberg and Actor Peter Weller participate in
a feature length audio commentary that was recorded this year especially for the
Criterion Collection DVD set release. Cronenberg’s and Weller’s commentaries
were recorded separately and mixed together for the DVD. As one can expect if
they have heard previous commentary tracks by David Cronenberg, he gives a soft
spoken, but intelligent and articulate feature length audio commentary that is a
bit more retrospective than it is screen specific. He discusses the difference
between the film and the book and working with Burroughs, who gave input and
approval during the development and production of the film. Weller’s comments
are less interesting, but definitely not dry. It is interesting to note how
Cronenberg managed to slip in his own eccentricities that are a running theme
throughout much of his films, which is to some extent the manipulation of
biological life forms through technology. Whether the aberrations are real or
just metaphors as is the case in “Naked Lunch” one can see this subtext in
many of his films like his remake of “The Fly” as well as his films “eXistenZ,”
“Video Drome,” and “Crash.”
The
remaining extra features are on the second disc and they include the British
television documentary “Naked Making Lunch” (48:49), which features lots of
filmed behind the scenes production footage along with cast and crew interviews
and even features Burroughs making comments about the film and reading select
excerpts from the book. There are 8 chapter stops for this documentary as well.
Next is an illustrated onscreen essay about the special effects in “Naked
Lunch” by Jody Duncan, Editor of Cinefex magazine as well as a still
photo gallery of production shots from the film and a gallery of black and white
stills of William Burroughs from the Allen Ginsberg Trust. Within the two-disc
Alpha DVD keep case is a 32-page booklet containing essays by Janet Maslin, Gary
Indiana, and Chris Rodley. There is also an essay written by William S.
Burroughs regarding David Cronenberg’s filmed adaptation of “Naked Lunch,”
which is a reprint from the introduction he wrote for the book “Everything Is
Permitted: The Making Of Naked Lunch.” The usual details regarding how the
transfer was achieved as I have detailed above and the scene selection list,
cast and filmmaker production credits as well as DVD production credits are
included within the book too.
There
are also 9 excerpts of Burroughs reading from “The Naked Lunch” taken from
the 1995 audio book edition. The selections can be listened to individually or
as a whole (63:01).
The
(1.33:1) theatrical trailer (1:38), two TV spots that run at 31 and 32 seconds
respectively as well as an EPK featurette (6:11) and some B-roll behind the
scenes videotaped footage (3:05) wrap up the extra features within this two-disc
set.
The
interactive menus are well rendered complete with jittery roaches moving about
and are easy to navigate. “Naked Lunch: Special Edition Double-Disc Set: The
Criterion Collection #220” is an admirable homage to the late William S.
Burroughs as well as an exploration into the making of the film. If you are
expecting the film to be like the book, be warned that both Cronenberg and
Burroughs are very clear in the various interviews clips found within the
features in this DVD set that that was never the intention of both the author or
filmmaker. “Naked Lunch” is also a like it or hate it kind of film so if you
are unsure, it is definitely wise to rent it first before buying it. Otherwise
you can purchase “Naked Lunch: Special Edition Double-Disc Set: The Criterion
Collection #220” on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline from Home Vision
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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