''Burroughs'' is a 1983 documentary film directed by

Howard Brookner Howard Brookner (April 30, 1954 – April 27, 1989) was an American film director. He produced and directed the documentary ''Burroughs: the Movie'' about William S. Burroughs (1983), ''Robert Wilson and the Civil Wars'' on theatre director Robe ...

about the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

writer William S. Burroughs.

Synopsis

''Burroughs'' is the first and only documentary to be made about and with the full participation of writer William S. Burroughs. In a collaboration between Burroughs and director

the film explores Burroughs’ life story along with many of his contemporaries including

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

, Herbert Huncke, Patti Smith, Terry Southern, and

Lauren Hutton Lauren Hutton (born Mary Laurence Hutton; November 17, 1943) is an American model and actress. Born and raised in the southern United States, Hutton relocated to New York City in her early adulthood to begin a modeling career. Though she was ini ...

. Brookner managed to obtain 5 years of unparalleled access and enthusiastic participation from William S Burroughs. As a result, Burroughs: The Movie documents Burroughs’ long, controversial and productive life in great detail. The film travels from the American Midwest to North Africa, through defining moments of his wildly unconventional life, including several personal tragedies, ultimately charting the development of Burroughs’ unique literary style.

Production

Howard Brookner began shooting the film in 1978 as his senior thesis at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

; with Burroughs’ cooperation it subsequently expanded into a feature completed 5 years later in 1983. The film was shot by

Tom DiCillo Thomas A. DiCillo (born August 14, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Early life He was born in Camp Le Jeune, North Carolina. His father was Italian and his mother was from New England. He studied creative wri ...

and Richard L. Camp. The sound was recorded by

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...

. DiCillo and Jarmusch were fellow NYU classmates and both very close friends of Brookner's. Towards the end of shooting

BBC Arena ''Arena'' is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC since 1 October 1975. Voted by TV executives in ''Broadcast'' magazine as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has produced over six hu ...

approached Brookner and provided funds to complete the film. As a result, the film was screened as part of the BBC Arena television series. In the process of making the film Brookner became close friends with Burroughs. Their friendship would endure for many years more and Burroughs would go on to play a cameo role in Brookner's final film '' Bloodhounds of Broadway''.

Cast

* William S. Burroughs * William S. Burroughs Jr * Mortimer Burroughs *

James Grauerholz James Grauerholz (born December 14, 1953) is a writer and editor. He is the bibliographer and literary executor of the estate of William S. Burroughs. Life and career Grauerholz was born in Coffeyville, Kansas and attended the University of Kans ...

* Patti Smith * Terry Southern *

Jackie Curtis Jackie Curtis (February 19, 1947 – May 15, 1985) was an American actress, writer, singer, and Warhol superstar. Early life and career Jackie Curtis was born in New York City to John Holder and Jenevive Uglialoro. She had one sibling, half-br ...

John Giorno John Giorno (December 4, 1936 – October 11, 2019) was an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, inc ...

* Herbert Huncke

Release

The film premiered at the 1983 New York Film Festival. In Britain the film was released as part of the

television series. It screened in both 1983 and was repeated following Burroughs’ death in 1997.

Reception

''Burroughs: The Movie'' was released to generally positive reviews and was reviewed by some of the most influential film critics in the United States.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''The New York Times'' said of the film: "The quality of discovery about ''Burroughs'' was very much the director’s doing, and Mr. Brookner demonstrates an unusual degree of liveliness and curiosity in exploring his subject."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

wrote "''Burroughs'' is a documentary portrait of a man who was willing to try everything, and who has so far survived everything. The one thing you miss in the film is the sound of laughter."

Restoration

In 2012 Howard Brookner's archive was discovered in a number of locations in both the United States and Europe. The collection included 16mm film, reel to reel and mag sound, cassette tapes, 8mm film, VHS, video 8, and personal documents including letters, photos and writings. Some of the material contained never before seen out-takes of ''Burroughs: The Movie'', including those with

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, Patti Smith, Brian Jones and

. On November 28, 2012, Howard Brookner's nephew

Aaron Brookner Aaron Brookner (born December 22, 1981) is an American film director and scriptwriter. His debut feature film wa''The Silver Goat''(2011), the first feature film made for iPad exhibition. He produced the restoration of cult classic '' Burroughs: ...

launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign with company

Pinball London Pinball London is a film production company based in London, England. The company works with auteur filmmakers including Emir Kusturica, Sally Potter, Guillermo Arriaga and Jim Jarmusch. Pinball was founded by producer Paula Vaccaro in 2009 an ...

to finance digital restoration of ''Burroughs: The Movie''. The campaign was successful, gaining $21,360 from 283 backers, beating the initial goal of $20,000. Originally, the Kickstart had planned on premiering the film in NYC. Deciding to coincide with the Burroughs Century, however, the film was instead premiered for the first time in its restored condition at the

Indiana University Cinema The Indiana University Cinema is an art film cinema located in Bloomington, Indiana, USA, on the Indiana University campus. Opened in January 2011 under the direction of Jon Vickers, the cinema occupies the former University Theatre building, which ...

in Bloomington, Indiana on February 6, a day after William S. Burroughs' birthday. Aaron Brookner had a Q & A panel after the movie, and was also filming for his upcoming documentary entitled ''

Uncle Howard ''Uncle Howard'' is a 2016 documentary film about filmmaker Howard Brookner directed by Aaron Brookner. Synopsis Director Howard Brookner died of AIDS in NYC in 1989 while in post-production on his breakthrough Hollywood movie. His body of work ha ...

''. The re-release of ''Burroughs: The Movie'' coincided with celebrations of William S. Burroughs’ one-hundredth birthday in 2014.

References

External links

Official Website
*
''Burroughs: The Movie''
a
Mubi''Burroughs, That Proud American Name''
an essay by

Lucy Sante Lucy Sante (formerly Luc Sante; born May 25, 1954) is a Belgium-born American writer, critic, and artist. She is a frequent contributor to ''The New York Review of Books''. Her books include '' Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York'' (1991) ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

{{William S. Burroughs American documentary films 1983 films William S. Burroughs 1983 documentary films Documentary films about writers Films about the Beat Generation 1980s English-language films 1980s American films