Tuesday 1 June 2010

Factotum - The Film

Henry Chinaski, Charles Bukowski's alter ego. I've read Ham and Rye and the Post Office by Bukowski. That was enough for me. So I never read Factotum.

Such a bleak film. The guy's action really don't seem justified at all, but the film has a nice overall feel to it. Guess it's that kind of depression Bukowski has. The guy almost seem to enjoy drinking himself to death and wallowing in his own shit.

The acting in this was alright, although the guy intentionally tried to sound just like Bukowski. Didn't really do a bad job either. Bukowski just sounds like a total drunk from what I've seen in interviews. I guess this guy half pulls it off. It didn't irritate me or anything.

What surprised me is how this guy constantly managed to get job after job. My experience is the total opposite.

It's a fairly short film. The only thing he seems to hold onto is his copious amount of drinking. He has a few gilms, and breaks up and keeps going back to one. That was a fairly understandable relationship. Or not. I guess, from what I've read of Bukowski, the guy just seemed to have relationships for the sake of it in the end.

This is why I stopped reading the guy. It's just way too depressing and wallowing in self pity. You start to relate to it, and then just think what a loser he was. Regardless of me hating Bukowski for all the right reasons - the fact that he's depicts the low life - this film is a pretty good portrayal of the guy. Makes me want to avoid the book and hate the guy even more, so I guess it's good.


Must be hard finding a guy to play Bukowski (albeit his alter ego) since he was so damn ugly. But here's something I've had lying around for a while. Bukowski was pretty good at name dropping authors from what I've read. It'll give you a small insight into what his writing can be like -- the more bearable side to it, anyway. 
(Click the picture for full size).

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