The Charles Bukowski Tapes are an altogether more than four hours long collection of 52 short-interviews with the American cult author Charles Bukowski, sorted by topic and each between one and ten minutes long. Director Barbet Schroeder interviews Bukowski about such themes as alcohol, violence, and women, and Bukowski answers willingly, losing himself in sometimes minute-long monologues.
Michael Wilmington calls this "an outrageously stimulating and unnerving all-night drinking session with a gutter eloquent barroom philosopher. One of the most intimate, revealing and unsparing glimpses any film or video has ever given us of a writer's life and personality." I must confess I knew the name Bukowski but ha no idea who he was. Honestly, I still don't really know, though I have now seen the man, his wisdom, his alcoholism and his abuse up close. He is a cross between Hunter Thompson and William Burroughs, perhaps? I can understand how this became a cult film, because it is simply mesmerizing... like listening to your drunk uncle, if you uncle was a genius. (Maybe he is.) Shockingly, despite the cult following, it does not seem to be easily found.
