Halle Butler, 'Jillian' (2015), Part II

Halle Butler, Jillian. Chicago: Curbside Splendor, 2015.

Most often, we see things from the perspective of Jillian and Megan, but we also catch fleeting glimpses of consciousness from other characters, mostly people but also a dog (Crispy), raccoons, trees and a bird. I love this!  Also, it reminds me of Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), in which we briefly see things from the perspective of an alligator and an iguana and hear separate musings about the dreams of a pet fish.

Jillian: Characters central and peripheral. Jillian Bradley, her son Adam and dog Crispy. Elena, Susie, Carol -- church ladies. Julie, Tessa, Emma -- Adam's childhood frenemies at day care. Barb - day care teacher. 

Emily (dog seller). 

Dr. Billings, Dr. Schraeder -- at the gastroenterologist office where Jillian works with Megan. 

Randy - Megan's live-in paramour, often thinking privately about breaking up with her. 

Unnamed cop -- pulls Jillian over and orders her car impounded, inspiring Jillian to concoct a story about hitting a deer, requiring imaginary auto repairs and real pain killers. 

Mike Johnson -- County Clerk's office.

Drug representative with dolly cart -- Jillian and Megan's office.

Carrie, Janet, Jessica, Steve, Bill, Annie, Amanda, David, Will, James, Sarah, Albert, Kelly, Anthea -- various and sundry acquaintances and frenemies, objects of jealousy and competition. 

Loud Jim and unnamed guy on bus -- provide outside perspectives. 

Raccoons, trees, unnamed bird -- provide outside perspectives, sort of Zen, sort of Shinto. 

Not to worry: no deer is injured in the novel. Jillian does acquire TYLENOL® T3 with Codeine for her "accident," though. 

Megan immediately responds to Jillian's not showing up at work: "Her absence was intriguing." (page 102). This is exactly the same way I respond when someone doesn't show up at work, so I can't help but laugh every time I read this -- as with so much else in the novel.

Off the charts: a section on "Memory Palaces" and, earlier, Megan going to a fancy grocery: "That day she thought, 'F**k it,' and went to the smaller grocery store. The store was for rich people, but f**k it, right? There were delights there." 

(page [109]. "F**k" is spelled out in the original, but as I'm not sure what the censorship policies are for blog posts, here I've added asterisks to protect the eyes of delicate readers and keep Puritans at bay).

Jillian's snack choices (and her life choices in general) also inspire knowing laughs -- read and weep!

I'm truly looking forward to Halle Butler's The New Me: A Novel (Penguin Books, 2019) and wish I could read it immediately: "because life just keeps grinding on, right?" (Jillian, page [109]).

Today's Rune: Initiation. 

Evald Schorm: 'Návrat ztraceného syna' / 'Return of the Prodigal Son' (1967)

Evald Schorm's Návrat ztraceného syna / Return of the Prodigal Son (1967). Stars Jana Brejchová (who played Princess Bianca in Karel Zeman's Baron Prášil / The Fabulous Baron Munchausen / The Outrageous Baron Munchausen, 1962) and Jan Kacer.

Jan, a sensitive engineer (and architect?), has tried to commit suicide. The film explores the aftermath of his suicide attempt and its impact at his psychiatric facility and on hearth and home. All of the main characters are restless. Jan's wife Jana retains Jiří (Jiří Menzel, director of Academy Award-winning Closely Watched Trains / Ostře sledované vlaky, 1966) as a paramour in plain sight, while the therapist's wife has a sweet tooth for Jan. 

"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy." ~ Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942). 

Still from Evald Schorm's Návrat ztraceného syna / Return of the Prodigal Son (1967)

A case of mistaken identity forces Jan to run for his life. This scene reminds me of ones taking place when the tables have been turned, and the oppressors are hunted down by the formerly oppressed. However, Jan is mostly depressed, and now he's come alive -- if only out of a primal response to being pursued by several women with pitchforks. 

The Good Doctor and the Good Wife -- more or less. Kafka meets Jaroslav Hašek. Prague Spring is just around the corner, to be followed by a violent crackdown. 

RIP, Kate Spade (December 24, 1962-June 5, 2018) and Anthony Bourdain (June 25, 1956-June 8, 2018). 

Today's Rune: Breakthrough. 

Mary Harron: 'I Shot Andy Warhol' (1996)

I Shot Andy Warhol  (1996), director Mary Harron's (b. 1953) first film, centers on Valerie Solanas and her fringe relationship with Warhol. Harron's prior experience as a punk rock journalist probably gave her an insider's perspective -- certainly she recreates the Factory milieu with precision of detail. She orginally envisioned a documentary on Solanas and her infamous works, The SCUM Manifesto, Up Your Ass , and her attempted assassination of French publisher Maurice Girodias (she tried to shoot him at the Hotel Chelsea, but he was out) and Andy Warhol, but after discovering that there wasn't enough archival Solanas footage and few who would speak for her, opted for a dramatic account.

Lili Taylor portrays Solanas as a damaged soul. She's been abused and neglected growing up, and is on her own in the world for the most part, street hustling. But she's smart, and very frustrated. A lesbian turning tricks with men, she is drawn into the Warhol crowd through meeting transvestite Candy Darling (played sympathetically by Stephen Dorff), and tries to interest Andy in her writing. His open door policy lets all sorts of weird people into an already weird Factory scene -- open until she later shoots him, which changes everything.

I Shot Andy Warhol  is an interesting exploration of how commercially successful artists and aspiring artists interrelate. Solanas' feminism plays an important role, too -- her SCUM Manifesto cries foul at men and men's power. A la James Brown's 1966 song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," Solanas believes it, and thinks the world needs a reverse shakeup. Ideally to her, all men should die. 

Though demented in many ways, Solanas has a point. Why are there so few high profile women equivalents of Andy Warhol? Indeed, even by 2018, why have there been no women presidents in the USA? Why is such a crude and brutish man the current American president, beloved (and also hated) by millions? 

Harron herself, as a woman filmmaker and writer, is rare -- only something like seven percent of directors are women.

The actors put in good performances. Taylor (HBO stalwart on Six Feet Under  and The Notorious Betty Page ) is edgy, scary, mouthy and believable. Jared Harris (Mad Men, &c.) plays Warhol with appropriate cool and nervousness. Donovan Leitch (son of the singer) is fun as Gerard Malanga, and Michael Imperioli serves up Warhol's sidekick Ondine with bitchy camp -- and strong hints of his Sopranos' character, Christopher. Mark the scruffy Revolutionary is played by Justin Theroux in his first movie (Joe from Six Feet Under; Mulholland Drive ): it's his Beretta that Solanas uses to shoot Andy.

After I Shot Andy Warhol, Harron went on to write the screenplay for American Psycho (2000), which she also directed. She also worked on HBO's Six Feet Under  ("The Rainbow of Her Reasons," 2005) and made The Notorious Betty Page (2005). She did The Anna Nicole Story (2013), too. There is continuity in all of her work so far -- exploration of gender issues, fame and notoriety. All interesting stuff. And unsettling. Some of it's funny, some of it's gravely serious, not unlike Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, with whom she clearly feels an affinity for women and mystery.

Today's Rune: Gateway. 

Jill Sprecher's Clockwatchers: Take Two

Jill Sprecher's Clockwatchers (1997, 1998) digs well into the world of temp workers, letting the key actors go at their characters with gusto. Parker Posey (Party Girl, Broken English) has the fun role of extroverted prankster rebel. Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine, United States of Tara) gets the lead, introverted but coming to wisdom. Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback) and Alanna Ubach (Meet the Fockers) are saddled with sadly self-deluded characters, which they portray perfectly. I've met them all, their archetypes, somewhere along the way. Temping is no bowl of cherries.  

Today's Rune: Defense.

Factotum Notes: Reagan Years

Notes from the 1980s, excerpted from a notebook I bought in 1984 for $1.39. It's lined, with a spiral at the top of each page instead of the left corner. There are no transitions and little context is provided, but I believe this entire section was scrawled out during a "required" Statistics class.   

How many temp jobs have there been? A lot. Did you learn something at each job? Yes.

Job moving trucks last two days. You drive from the dealer to the exhibition hall, five miles, then take a shuttle back and do it again. A taste of what it must be like to be a cab, bus or shuttle driver.

Radio ads. Toyota has sold 19,955 trucks!
Celebrate your right to sleep comfortably!

I wish I could believe in communism. There is lucid insight in Marxian analysis of Capitalism, but in practical response, the communist solution seems as absurd as anything else people can come up with.

I'm taking a Statistics class surrounded by Reagan youth. The teacher is peculiar. His voice is timid, he's easy, but no one can hear him. So far there's been no homework, no reading, nothing. A slack class, whereas in Art History I have a lot of reading and analysis to do.

Root Boy Slim [either at the Cat's Cradle or Rhythm Alley within that past week or so]. Step back into foolishness, Cheech and Chong clones, every third man with a moustache and Hawaiian shirt . . . The music is a a sort of jazz fusion that quickly grows tiresome, but the Big Chill people love it. See them move and groove to the confused band. No, the band's not confused at all. They've got this routine down to the last crude detail. Root Boy himself, a bug-eyed slob. I never heard that song about WWIII before. "Inflatable Doll" was trite and most of the show just gross. Interesting to observe. [I've since learned that Root Boy Slim died in 1994, age 47. Obviously I thought he was horrible at the time].

Saturday I worked all day at Durham County Stadium with Clifford, J.C., Billy U.G., Old Joe, Slick and Whimpy Bob (who'd been to Ecuador for seven months). That was for the Chattanooga Tent Co. and a lot of banging pipes. However, after a lot of work we got up the big tents for a festival [an English Cultural Festival, I think]. 

This guy, whose name turns out to be Greg Samsa and not Batavian the Armenian, has an unnerving capacity for inaudible speech. His volume is so low that most words are indistinguishable. Thus it is a ludicrous charade.

Conservatism is so flagrant and rampant. Chapel Hill feels dead. It's an effort to even get worked up about it anymore. I sent away for The Guardian today. . . . [The year was 1984].

Today's Rune: Flow.  
  

Little Big Man

Arthur Penn's Little Big Man (1970), based on Thomas Berger's 1964 novel of the same title, delivers a memorably consciousness raising story of the American West as recounted by a 121-year old man played by Dustin Hoffman. It plays to the charisma of Chief Dan George, who is also a hoot in Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).

In making Little Big Man, Arthur Penn was creating fully within the spirit of the times -- compare this film with his equally impressive Bonnie and Clyde (1967). When Little Big Man came out, Marvin Gaye was nearly ready to release "What's Going On?," environmentally-minded people had celebrated the first Earth Day and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM, formed in 1968) had occupied the Mayflower II -- on Thanksgiving Day 1970, after painting Plymouth Rock red. The US-Vietnam War was another ongoing concern, and the grisly facts of the My Lai Massacre of 1968 were coming under closer global scrutiny. Little Big Man reflects these times well.  

Also floating around in the Zeitgeist of the 1960s were songs dealing with the Little Big Horn. Here are snippets from two of them:

Please Mr. Custer, I don't wanna go . . .

-- "Mr. Custer" -- Larry Vern,  #1 American hit single in 1960.

Now I will tell you buster that I ain't a fan of Custer
And the General he don't ride well anymore
To some he was a hero but to me his score was zero
And the General he don't ride well anymore . . .

-- "Custer" -- Johnny Cash (and Peter La Farge), Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian (1964)

Today's Rune: Fertility.

Charles Bukowski: Factotum (Reprise)

Factotum (2005), based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Los Angeles-based writer Charles "Buk" Bukowski and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer, began limited release in the USA on Friday, August 18, 2006.

Charles Bukowski (8/16/1920-3/9/1994) devoted most of his adult life to writing, women, drinking, smoking, gambling, and avoiding conventional jobs or responsibilities as much as possible. Before he died, he published forty-five books, mostly novels and poetry, and became a cult figure. Barfly (1987) and Crazy Love (1987) are earlier films based on Bukowski's work. There's also a documentary that came out two years ago, Bukowski: Born Into This, that is packed with good footage.

In Factotum, Matt Dillon plays Bukowski's fictional alter-ego, Hank Chinaski (played by Mickey Rourke in Barfly). Given that the real Bukowski was vaguely hideous in appearance, this is a merciful choice. The main women in the film are inspired choices, too: Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei, among others. The film was actually shot in Minnesota, not L.A.

Bukowski was quite a character. He retained a strong belief in his writing abilities and has inspired many in his wake. He has also inspired a number of people, mostly men, to think they can laze or roam aimlessly about and somehow become cult figures themselves, without having to actually write much or make any effort on their own. In that sense, Bukowski's life is also a cautionary tale.

Bukowski's titles alone are usually worth the price of admission. Five examples: Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window (1968), Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills (1969), Love is a Dog from Hell (1977), Ham on Rye (1982), and If You Let Them Kill You They Will (1989).

Today's Rune: Flow.  [Originally posted on August 10, 2006, slightly tweaked].

Lindsay Anderson: O Lucky Man! (Part 2)

O Lucky Man! keeps swirling in my head. Some further observations are in order on techniques. Above: "old-fashioned" Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) and insouciant Patricia Burgess (Helen Mirren) in London.

I. Action scenes alternate with interludes, some of them pastoral and some musical, the latter featuring Alan Price and his band delivering songs that comment on or prefigure what else is going on in the film. Anyone who has heard The Animals' version of "House of the Rising Son" (1964) will be familiar with Price on some level (that's him playing a Vox Continental organ on the track). Here, Price's assembled group sounds a lot like early 1970s Kinks, at least to me. On the title track, Price sings (this is only a snippet):

If you have a friend on whom you think you can rely
You are a lucky man!
If you've found the reason to live on and not to die
You are a lucky man!

From the satiric "Poor People:"

Poor people stay poor people
And they never get to see
Someone's got to win in the human race
If it isn't you, then it has to be me.

Finally -- from "Justice:"

All life from beginning to end
You pay your monthly installments.
Next to health is wealth
And only wealth will buy you justice.

II. Throughout O Lucky Man!, people in positions of power rarely act for the common good; quite the opposite -- there is much abuse of power at all levels, from cops on the beat to the corporate top. Intimidation and torture or, as Dick Cheney and gang defined such tactics during their conducting of the "War on Terror" -- enhanced interrogation techniques -- are used to exact a phony confession from Mick Travis, for instance. On the other hand, as in Voltaire's Candide, there are sources of compassion, including various benevolent people depicted in this film (providing needed uplift, for sure). One of my favorite sections follows Mick as he escapes from a military-industrial accident on a secret facility through a wildly dangerous apocalyptic zone until he crosses a stream, hears birds singing and church bells in the distance, and eventually finds respite in a pastoral church setting.













III. Like a John Dos Passos novel, O Lucky Man! utilizes a variety of techniques to drive home the narrative and make comments on the greater world. In addition to the Alan Price and company performances, silent film style is occasionally used for emphasis, as is graffiti (still shot example: REVOLUTION IS THE OPIUM OF THE INTELLECTUALS, plus peace sign), little bits of radio news heard in the background, scrolling news headlines (exactly as we are now used to now via cable news) on a building in London;  and quotations from books, including lines of philosophy and poetry.  Let's  not forget advertising slogans and various social clichés worthy of Are You Being Served?

IV. There is more -- for  a later post.



Today's Rune: Journey.

HBO's Detroit Show: Cult Status Guaranteed

HBO's new show Hung, set in Metro Detroit, is wonderful. For those squeamish about the name, no worries. If you've enjoyed any HBO series, you'll probably like Hung.

The main characters are Ray (Thomas Jane) and Tanya (Jane Adams). Ray's a middle-aged former athlete who teaches high school history and coaches a losing high school basketball team. His wife (played by Anne Heche) left him for her dermatologist, his house (which was his parents' house) undergoes an accidental fire, and he has teen aged twins to care for. He needs money, and he needs an existential boost, which can also be said of his poet friend Tanya, who works as a long term temp downtown. If it sounds like a cross between an old blues song -- maybe John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie" -- and David Allen Coe's "Take This Job and Shove It," it pretty much plays out that way, too.

Not only is the situation quintessential Detroit, but Ray and Tanya stand in for the "little guy, little gal" everywhere around the globe. Hung is funny, yes, but in a sweet and caring way. It's satirical but good-hearted. Watch Ray and Tanya pursue their "side hustle" despite obstacles and entropy. Supporting actors are great, too: Rebecca Creskoff (Mad Men) and Steve Hytner (Seinfeld) in particular, through episode 3.

Creators Dmitry Lipkin, Colette Burson and Alexander Payne have got a real live wire here. Even the theme song is inspired -- not the White Stripes, but the Black Keys' "I'll Be Your Man." Michigan locations are perfect, including exterior shots of Harpos at 14238 Harper Avenue ("North America's #1 Concert Theatre," according to its website.) Like Freaks and Geeks, cult status guaranteed.

Today's Rune: Separation (Reversed).

Factotums and Odd Jobs

I've worked a lot of odd jobs over the years, usually in between or in addition to the "regular" ones. Worked at a Burger King, for instance; one of the assistant managers there was a doctoral student in Zoology at Duke. I briefly dated the primary manager's daughter -- she worked there, too. It was a circus.

Worked for a week at a carnival. A Gypsy-eyed woman (she was not a Gypsy, but she could have played one in a movie, with her piercing eyes, glittery spangles and long black hair) grabbed me and convinced me to give it a shot. This job was also a circus, figuratively, collecting dollar bills for bottle tosses and stuffed animal contests.

Worked for Manpower doing various temp jobs, putting up giant tents for a British-American festival, and for an Eno River festival; driving small trucks between dealers; moving filing cabinets; moving people's stuff into U-Haul trucks. Mostly grunt work.

Worked for Kelly Services. Supervisors would send our time sheets directly from North Carolina or Pennsylvania to 999 West Big Beaver Road, Troy, Michigan 48084 on Wednesdays or Thursdays and we'd be paid on Fridays. I was always amazed how fast they processed paychecks. Between Kelly and Bettinger, I worked as an office assistant at Family Health International in the Research Triangle for several months, and for the National Park Service in Old Town Philadelphia; for ELF/ATOCHEM; for Pennsylvania Blue Shield; for Wheels, Inc.; for Lippincott (now Lippincott Williams & Wilkins); and for the Curtis Publishing Company.


I've also done very brief gigs like watching a game store that was normally run by Mely Hodges in Durham, North Carolina (above are her detailed instructions -- obviously she was worried I'd bungle it. Ha! And that was before we went on a comical date . . .). Incidentally, Betty Hodges, Mely's mother, was the literary/book editor for The Durham Morning Herald over a period of several decades.

There was temporary coverage for Nga Mai's Café Diva in Center City, Philadelphia (I lived in a small apartment across the street, 12th & Spruce Street, to be exact). The hardest thing was to serve homeless people, balancing compassion with wit.

Of all temp jobs, my favorite was interviewing an Armenian couple and transcribing the resultant tape for one of their sons and the rest of their family. It was through them that I learned a ton about the Armenian Genocide and all sorts of other things, too.

In any case, in today's economy, odd jobs are becoming much more the norm, no question. It's factotum time, maybe from here on out. No worries -- I'm ready for just about anything. How about you?

Finally, how could I forget working for Bob Sheldon at Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill, or delivering pizzas for Pizza Transit Authority?

Today's Rune: Growth.

Erik Skjoldbjærg: Prozac Nation

Erik Skjoldbjaerg directed Prozac Nation (2001), a respectable film adaption of Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America (1994) that was finally released on DVD in the summer of 2006.

Prozac Nation had unfortunate timing and bad luck -- its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2001 came three days before that day; given the gloominess of the subject matter (depression and narcissism) and the acquisition of distribution rights by Disney's Miramax Films, theatrical release was stalled for years. In fact, it never had a proper run in the USA and was first aired on cable TV in 2005.

In the movie (as in the book), we follow Elizabeth Wurtzel (b. 7/31/1967 in New York City) to Harvard, where she won the Rolling Stone College Journalism Award in 1986. Coming from a tiny broken family, Wurtzel (played deftly and hypnotically by Christina Ricci) is obssessed with writing and cyclically "isolates," descending into depression. Once the viewer sees how she relates to her stressed, super-involved mother (nicely acted by Jessica Lange) and flaky, absent father (believebly rendered by Nick Campbell), all the rest seems clear -- fear of too much intimacy, fear of abandonment, need for perfection, etc. Anne Heche's (Dr. Sterling) character helps explore these issues, especially after Wurtzel manages to alienate her friends (and everyone else), including Noah (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Ruby (Michelle Williams), and Rafe (Jason Biggs), and in one particularly awful (and darkly funny) scene, her grandparents.

I like this movie. Christina Ricci is always visually fun to watch -- her eyes and expressions especially. Some might find the pace of Prozac Nation depressing, but that's partly the point, isn't it? I'd compare Erik Skjoldbjaerg's approach to his fellow Norwegian Bent Hamer's in Factotum (2005). They are thoughftul and unrushed, quietly humorous, and empathetic to all their characters. There is no clear black and white line to laze into. In that sense, they also remind of Wim Wenders with a little less poetry.

Ricci gets to deliver a lot of funny deadpan lines like, "Poor Ruby. I killed her joy" and, trying to explain why she had sex with Ruby's boyfriend at a party: "It was sort of an accidental blow job." When her mother (Lange) bemoans, "I can't believe we're back to this," Ricci/Elizabeth says, all too understandably, "I can't live with other people." She's an evil thing, certainly, but Ricci manages to make her very likeable despite her cutting outburts. When her mother is recuperating from a mugging without the proffered Demerol, her daughter quips via narration: "She refuses pain killing drugs? Can we possibly be related?" When she meets the kindly Rafe on a first date, the voice in her head mutters, "Do not show him how creepy you are." Not long afterwards she asks him, "What am I?" "Scary." And later still: "Oh my God: I've become the ultimate nightmare girlfriend." Indeed she has. Along the way, there are references to -- and images of -- Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground (Lou has a small role as himself), Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." All nicely worked in, along with subtle depressive color schemes modeled on Edvard Munch's alienated paintings.

In real life, Elizabeth Wurtzel has a reputation for being "difficult" and is known to mouth off. After Prozac Nation, she finished Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Woman (1998), which is funny in a wicked kind of way, plus a dashed-off sequel to Prozac Nation. Which reminds me of another line quipped by Ricci/Wurtzel: "You know, if you're going to suggest therapy, don't. I'm living proof it doesn't work."

(If you really want to see an excruciatingly slow paced film, try Luchino Visconti's Morte a Venezia / A Death in Venice, 1971, starring the great Dirk Bogarde. It is guaranteed to drive you to despairing thoughts and great discomfort, wondering when will this movie ever end? If you want to drive someone to near madness, take them to see it in a theatre. It's a real treat! I saw it double-billed with The Damned).

Today's Rune: Joy.

Vi snakkes -- Ser deg senere!

Interior Space

What makes a good interior space? Take the Marisa Tomei character's place in Factotum. To me, Laura's apartment is sweet: intimate but not too crowded. Simple, with decorous touches. Nice couch, perfect tone and texture. Of course, Marisa Tomei's presence is helpful.

Interiors are important, especially if you spend a substantial amount of time living in them. Even Lebowski (the Jeff Bridges character) in The Big Lebowski understands the need for small details like a "rug to tie the room together." The Dude abides.

Interiors are important in writing, too. A minimalist like Raymond Carver sketched just enough interior detail to let the reader "see" the spaces in which his characters do things.

Interior spaces tend to change over time. If we don't want to feel trapped as in a museum space, we move things around, adding and subtracting objects. I once had rooms filled from floor to ceiling with bookshelves and books, but have long since streamlined my personal collection to about 500 at any one time. A feeling of space with plenty of breathing room is conducive to relaxation and creativity. Including the four elements of earth, wind, fire and water completes each space.

Everyone has a slightly different idea as to what makes for a good interior. I'm not a fan of knick knacks, but I do like small accessories strategically placed here and there. The entropic challenge is to prevent a sneaky buildup of clutter, especially during hectic teaching periods; although, admittedly, sometimes it's fun to let things go for a while -- just for the hell of it.

Today's Rune: Partnership.

Factotum and Its Discontents

Factotum still comes to mind even days after first seeing it. Films about artists, when they're good, are worthy of extra support. I also liked Capote (2005) and recently saw an older guy reading the screenplay in a hotel lobby, which is heartening. Running With Scissors, Factory Girl, and Fur (the Diane Arbus biopic) are all in the hopper, and let's not forget Ed Harris in Pollock (2000). I love these kinds of movies.

The three stars of Factotum are wonderful actors. Matt Dillon (b. 2/18/1964) emerged from the troubled youth milieu -- movies like The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983) -- to inhabit the land of troubled young adults, and then went on to a variety of new roles. I especially like his performances in Drug Store Cowboy (1989) along with William S. Burroughs and others; To Die For (1995), with Nicole Kidman; and Beautiful Girls (1996) alongside Uma Thurman and Mira Sorvino. And yes, he's great in Crash (2004), too.

Marisa Tomei (b. 12/4/1964), as Laura, has an episodic role in Factotum, and she does it well as a smart, dazed woman trying to make her way in the world; her bottom line: survival, enjoy life while you can. She's acted in many films by now, but my sentimental favorite is My Cousin Vinny (1992).

Lili Taylor (b. 2/20/1967) is another standout with a wide range of strong (and usually edgy) parts to her credit. Some of my favorite Lili Taylor performances are in Mystic Pizza (1988); Short Cuts (1993); I Shot Andy Warhol (1996); as Lisa in HBO's Six Feet Under (far funnier dead than alive); The Notorious Bettie Page, and now, Factotum. As for her acting choices, she once reportedly said, "As a woman, a lot of stories haven't been told and we've got a lot of catching up to do." Indeed.


Today's Rune: Fertility.

Beijus!

Factotum: Writing Without a Net

Bent Hamer has made a fine independent film in Factotum, starring Matt Dillon as Henry Chinaski and based on Charles Bukowski's 1975 Black Sparrow novel. Dillon is perfectly understated and thereby effective and funny in a deadpan kind of way. Lili Taylor is superb, as well, and Marisa Tomei fans will not be disappointed, either. I highly recommend this flick for its take on Chinaski/Bukowski and his traditional male writer's addictions: writing, drinking, smoking, women, and the need for at least a feeling of independence. Hamer sets Factotum loosely in the present, though there are few references to modern technology and no cellphones, which gives it the feel of any time between the 1950s and early 2000s, a sound decision made, one may suspect, at least in part because of a small budget. The story follows Chinaski through a series of episodic events, from one job or experience to another, always concerned with writing and living hard and by the cheap while paying close attention to the complexities of his relationship with occasional intimate companion Jan (Taylor), plus an interesting time with Laura (Tomei) and her "associates."

Chinaski always keeps his eyes on the prize, and is repeatedly seen not only writing, but also dropping manuscripts off in mailboxes (also a nod to Bukowski's tedious job with the U.S. Postal Service). All of this reminds me of Henry Miller and, to a lesser extent, the Beats. For any adult who loves writing/reading and doesn't mind a walk on the rough side, you might very well enjoy Factotum -- both the novel and the movie.

Today's Rune: Harvest.

Charles Bukowski: Factotum

Factotum (2005), based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Los Angeles-based writer Charles "Buk" Bukowski and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Bent Hamer, will begin limited USA release on Friday, August 18, 2006. It's been traveling around Europe since last year.

Charles Bukowski (8/16/1920-3/9/1994) devoted most of his adult life to writing, women, drinking, smoking, gambling, and avoiding conventional jobs or responsibilities as much as possible. Before he died, he published forty-five books, mostly novels and poetry, and became a cult figure. Barfly (1987) and Crazy Love (1987) are earlier films based on Bukowski's work. There's also a documentary that came out two years ago, Bukowski: Born Into This, that is packed with good footage.

In Factotum, Matt Dillon plays Bukowski's fictional alter-ego, Hank Chinaski (played by Mickey Rourke in Barfly). Given that the real Bukowski was vaguely hideous in appearance, this is a merciful choice. The main women in the film are inspired choices, too: Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei, among others. The film was actually shot in Minnesota, not L.A.

Bukowski was quite a character. He retained a strong belief in his writing abilities and has inspired many in his wake. He has also inspired a number of people, mostly men, to think they can laze or roam aimlessly about and somehow become cult figures themselves, without having to actually write much or make any effort on their own. In that sense, Bukowski's life is also a cautionary tale.

Bukoswki's titles alone are usually worth the price of admission. Five examples: Poems Written Before Jumping Out of an 8 Story Window (1968), Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills (1969), Love is a Dog from Hell (1977), Ham on Rye (1982), and If You Let Them Kill You They Will (1989).

Today's Rune: Fertility.

Ciao!