Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Knight at the Movies: William S. Burroughs: A Man Within; The Company Men
by Richard Knight, Jr.
2011-01-19

This article shared 3390 times since Wed Jan 19, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, which opens Jan. 21 at the Music Box, 3733 N. Southport, is the first feature documentary on the late writer since his death in 1997. It's also the first that gets beyond the cynical posturing that was Burroughs' famous trademark. Burroughs, whose books The Naked Lunch, Queer and other works are classics in the canon of queer and outsider literature, was famously contrarian—a man who seemed to sneer at anything to do with the mainstream. He was also idolized by a generation of musicians, writers, artists, filmmakers, poets, etc., many of them spawned by the punk movement: Patti Smith, John Waters, Jello Biafra, Laurie Anderson, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, David Cronenberg, Anne Waldman, Genesis P-Orridge, etc.

All of these famously creative folks and more offer telling reminiscences adhering to the acerbic public status of Burroughs in this debut feature from Chicago filmmaker Yony Leyser. Leyser's movie is a fully realized portrait that gets beneath the surface—perhaps for the first time—of Burroughs' seemingly unbreakable façade. Leyser finds a lonely man haunted by demons who desperately yearned for love and affection but rejected both in equal measure.

In interviews for the project the 25-year-old Leyser—who produced, wrote and directed the film for more than four years—has repeatedly described his fascination with outsiders, outsider culture and, in particular, a longtime predisposition toward the mythic, decidedly "you say tomay-toe, I say tomah-toe" character that Burroughs presented to the world at large. For a period Leyser moved to Lawrence, Kansas, the place where Burroughs spent his final years along with his onetime lover, friend, editor and eventual executor of his estate, James Grauerholz. Recognizing Leyser's enthusiasm and perhaps sensing a talent for digging beneath the surface, Grauerholz gave his blessing to the young filmmaker's ideas, which eventually wrought this full length documentary biography of Burroughs' life.

The portrait that emerges, which includes a lot of exclusive, never-before- seen footage and audio recordings, is of a man of extreme contradictions—someone who basked in his outsider status, a man who eschewed intimacy and "softness" yet seemed to have felt most comfortable kicking back with friends and supplicants. "He was famous for things that were supposed to be forbidden," John Waters comments, noting the hallmarks of Burroughs dyspeptic character—the basis for his original fame in the mid 1950s that carried him through to his death in 1997. He was gay, a junkie, a man who had no truck with traditional values; a man who shot and killed his common-law wife under circumstances that are still subject to debate; and someone who ignored an only son ( who followed in his addictive footsteps and died in his early 30s ) . These are the traits of an asshole, a literary Scrooge whose brilliance would seem best left to the page.

Certainly there's enough footage to support that view of Burroughs in the film. We see and hear the poker-faced dandy, dressed in his signature, plain three-piece suits, speaking in that acid-dripped monotone, reading his own work ( and in one startling moment, a section of Maria Riva's biography of her mother Marlene Dietrich ) , sharing drinks with his fellow queer icon Andy Warhol, reveling in his gun collection ( "I want to shoot something!" he gleefully cries ) and swatting away questions from fans like so many flies. The brilliance of his autobiographical novels Naked Lunch, Junky and Queer, and his lasting effect on arts and culture ( both are vast ) are noted and rehashed.

Not surprisingly, it's the intimate revelations by former lovers like Grauerholz and Marcus Ewert that help build a counterprofile of a guy who desperately loved his six cats, was deeply anguished over the loss of his son, suffered mightily from paranoia and chose dalliances with hustlers over long-term relationships. Several of Leyser's interview subjects surmise that Burroughs suffered most from unrequited love, beginning with a high school boy and continuing through fellow Beat writer Allen Ginsberg and beyond—a running theme through his life that he shielded with his famously difficult public persona.

Fascinating and illuminating, William S. Burroughs: A Man Within adds a very human dimension to an intractable and gifted artist whose obsessions and professional mask obscured that from public view.

Of related interest: Allen Ginsberg, as noted, was Burroughs' fellow queer Beat generation writer and author of the seminal queer-themed classic poem "Howl." Both were the subject of one of last year's most interesting, artsy films, Howl. The film is an attempt by out documentarians Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein ( making their feature debut ) to make a conjoined biography of the poem; its lasting effect on literature; and Ginsberg's burgeoning life as a gay man and ostensible spokesman for a generation of outsiders, queer and otherwise. Oscilloscope Laboratories are now releasing the movie in a handsome, eco-friendly package ( typical for Oscilloscope ) that includes both the Blu-Ray and DVD versions along with a myriad of extras.

***Win the Howl DVD with special bonuses PLUS a copy of Allen Ginsberg's book!

Special edition DVDs of Oscilloscope Laboartories' latest film, HOWL, feature a plethora of extra features that help bring Allen Ginsberg's controversial poem to life. Accompanying them is a paperback copy of the poet's classic work—the City Lights Books' Pocket Poet Series featured in film and boundary-changing obscenity trial that surrounded it.

To enter to win one DVD and one book, e-mail click2win@windycitymediagroup.com by Feb. 7, with "HOWL" in the memo line.

TV writer/director John Wells makes his feature film debut with The Company Men, which follows three top executives ( Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper ) for a year after each finds himself unexpectedly downsized out of his corporate position. Affleck, the youngest of the three, faces perhaps the greatest comeuppance—arrogant and cocky, his marriage in trouble, it takes a long time for reality to set in ( i.e., the big ticket items—the foreign sports car, the McMansion—all must go on the block ) . All three face ageism and other woes that will be familiar to millions of upwardly mobile Americans.

Wells has chosen an interesting, topical subject that doesn't get much dramatic attention ( or sympathy ) and, for quite a while, the movie holds for that reason alone ( and the top-notch casting—which includes Maria Bello, Kevin Costner, Craig T. Nelson, Rosemarie DeWitt and Patricia Kalember—certainly helps ) . But Wells comes up with neat solutions, both short- and long-term, for the men ( one has a brother who conveniently puts him to work in his construction business, for example ) and throws in some over-the-top plots. Both of these elements toss the movie back toward his television episode-writing roots and strain credibility. The first half is insightful, though.

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter website.


This article shared 3390 times since Wed Jan 19, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29
Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...


Gay News

WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29
- Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...


Gay News

JP Karliak morphs into non-binary character for Disney+'s X-Men '97 2024-03-22
- series X-Men '97, a revival of the popular X-men: The Animated Series that's both continuing the ongoing mutant storyline and breaking new ground along the way. The character of Morph now looks more like the comic ...


Gay News

WORLD Uganda items, HIV report, Mandela, Liechtenstein, foreign minister weds 2024-03-21
- It turned out that U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam traveled to Uganda on Feb. 19-27, per The Washington Blade. He visited the capital of Kampala and the nearby city of ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

Dorian Film Awards: 'All of Us Strangers' takes top prizes 2024-02-27
- February 26, 2024 - Los Angeles, Ca. - For its 15th Dorian Film Awards, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics fully embraced All of Us Strangers, writer-director Andrew Haigh's fantastical and tear-inducing tale of two ...


Gay News

SAG Awards honor Streisand, few LGBTQ+ actors 2024-02-25
- Queer entertainers made their mark—although not a major one—at the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles. The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time. Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor ...


Gay News

WORLD Caribbean ruling, Pussy Riot, Russian raid, Canadian warning, anti-trans bar 2024-02-23
- The top court in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines dismissed a challenge to colonial-era anti-gay laws, Reuters reported. Javin Johnson and Sean Macleish—two gay men who had pushed to decriminalize ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kristen Stewart, Rock Hudson, Talia Keys, 'True Detective,' Marvel comic 2024-02-23
- At the Berlin Film Festival, Kristen Stewart defended her photo shoot for a Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social-media platforms, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The existence of a female body ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree 2024-02-16
- In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller 2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

GALECA announces nominees for the Dorian Film Awards 2024-02-07
--From a press release - Feb. 5, 2024 - GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, consisting of over 500 entertainment critics, journalists and media icons, today announced the group's democratically chosen nominees for its 15th Dorian Film Awards. All of ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.