Barfly

by Charles Bukowski, Barbet Schroeder (Director and Producer)

The screenplay of the 1987 movie, as written by Charles Bukowski.

From the title page: "An Original Screenplay By Charles Bukowski For A Film By Barbet Schroeder"

Genres: Fiction, Plays, Poetry, Film, Classics, American, Novels

176 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2002

About the author

Henry Charles Bukowski (born as Heinrich Karl Bukowski) was a German-born American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles.It is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books

Charles Bukowski was the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, then left school and moved to New York City to become a writer. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to give up writing in 1946 and spurred a ten-year stint of heavy drinking. After he developed a bleeding ulcer, he decided to take up writing again. He worked a wide range of jobs to support his writing, including dishwasher, truck driver and loader, mail carrier, guard, gas station attendant, stock boy, warehouse worker, shipping clerk, post office clerk, parking lot attendant, Red Cross orderly, and elevator operator. He also worked in a dog biscuit factory, a slaughterhouse, a cake and cookie factory, and he hung posters in New York City subways.

Bukowski published his first story when he was twenty-four and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. His first book of poetry was published in 1959; he went on to publish more than forty-five books of poetry and prose, including Pulp (1994), Screams from the Balcony (1993), and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992).

He died of leukemia in San Pedro on March 9, 1994.

Reviews

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The movie The Barfly peeked my interest in Charles Bukowski and since seeing it I have purchased almost all his books. He is hilarious, dirty, dingy, a drunk, a womanizer, a gambler, and best of all he knows it and does not care. Oh, and he is brilliant. He lived and played in the southern California area of San Pedro, frequenting Hollywood Park Race Track. I grew up in that area and found it easy to imagine that scraggly old man walking down the streets. Maybe I even saw him? His books of fiction, poems, etc. are not for the prudish...

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good screenplay by Buk in spite of his later complaints about the film. The dialogue is funny and contains condensed versions of some of his short stories and poems. Contains lot of cool pics of Bukowski cutting up on set with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, of whom he once remarked, "I never saw a woman that beautiful in a dive bar". He's the expert!

[Blake Xenos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This script is a rare life experience of people from a society who have thrown away the glamorous but dull mask of city life. Those who present a frightening and at the same time comical image of man. People whose god is wine and their worship is drinking. Henry Chinaski, the anti-hero of the book, drinks and fights heroically and painfully to prove his existence. He is a witty psychopath who describes his inner self with serious insight by writing on paper. Perhaps he can be described as an experimental street philosopher. He has no claims or wishes. He represents a different image of the failure of modern man. If Beckett once created Godot to show the futility of life after the post-war, here the character of Henry, although he owes Beckett's absurdity, shows the dark comic face of modern life in a place that was supposed to be a utopia for everyone, that is, America. If Henry is drunk most of the time, but sometimes he has an intuition like a romantic poet and creates a literature of his own kind, a literature that he does not want to owe to anyone but his own conscience. The screenplay's view on the issue of women may be a bit misogynistic because we are faced with all kinds of women who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the not-so-attractive man of the book. Perhaps the anti-feminist understanding of the relationship between men and women in this book is wrong, because although these people are a minority, their morals and self-awareness are specific to their peers, which means they are dependent on each other in this life, or more precisely, a parasitic life. The literature that Bukowski represented was "dirty literature". Literature in which characters and places all serve the problem of "failed man." Although Beckett's characters fell into hysterical stupor in the face of absurdity, but Henry, careless and unconcerned about the coming hours of life, only gets drunk so that he does not even value his literary taste, at least like other people From his own class. It can be said that Henry is a comic version of Albert Camus' creation, Meursault. Both live in the present without past or future. both of them, sudden unfortunate and good events do not matter to them, and both of them do not take love seriously. In the end, it should be said that Henry Chinaski is the crystallization and absolute embodiment of the sentence engraved on Bukowski's grave and may be a new slogan for the absurdists: "don't try".

[Surrealist Abdul · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 1st read for charles Bukowski and will not be the last , I prefer short stories & novels instead of long ones, especially if it involves a deep reflections as this one .like all the charecters , especially Henry ,(the Barfly) who believes that life is free and yours to live like you see fit, and if that in some cases involves copious amounts of whiskey then so be it. but in front all of this He speaks like a philosopher and have an independent vision for the life and society. and Sometimes in the middle of this he finds the time to jot down a few lines of poetry or a short story ,thats the bright side of Henry character, and not anyone can noticed his creativity . Great story highly recommended.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a unique little book, and definitely worth reading – especially if you’re a Bukowski fan. In fact, I enjoyed it more than the movie, and the movie was pretty good. This, though, is the original screenplay, which Bukowski wrote based loosely upon his own life, as he did with the rest of his work. It stars Hank Chinaski, a barfly, and Wanda Wilcox, his woman.

The action pretty much just follows the interactions between the two of them, and so that alone should be enough for you to get a good idea of what to expect here. Especially if you’ve read Bukowski before! And hey – watch the movie afterwards, too.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the script to the movie Barfly. It was a bit awkward me for to read something in script form. Its full of all the Bukowski cliches and there are a few laughs. Not that this is bad but I'd recomend Bukowski's Hollywood which is his account of the making of the Barfly movie, and even watching the film before I would reading the script. Really this is probably only worth your trouble if your a Bukowski completist.

[Ned Stenger White · Rating 5 out of 5]

"HENRY
Sometimes I get so tired thinking about all the things I don't want to be, of all the things I don't want to do - like go to India, get my teeth cleaned, save the whale. All that. I don't understand it.

JIM
You're not supposed to think about it. I think the whole trick is not to think about it."

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Who's that one? She looks like some sort of stress goddess."
"That's Wanda. She's crazy."
"Ooooh."

A good read but the movie is a classic.

[Nicholas Koster · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Iceman Cometh with a happy ending.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I would read this as I watched the film. It is purported to be the actual script as shot with omissions from the original screenplay in brackets. It is kinda hard to spot the slight brackets with the inclusions in the exact same font, etc. but it still seems like their are a few parts not in the DVD version that I have. Maybe a longer cut is out there? Regardless, the best parts here are the character biographies and the narration-like explanations of scenes.

Part of me wanted to see Rourke's performance again. For some reasons, I thought I had heard he had gone all method and irritated everyone else with his deep, method commitment to the role. That must have been something else as I felt he just hammed it up and came across as inauthentic and not even committed. Indeed from Mickey Rourke- Wrestling With Demons (Monetti Sandro):

Mickey had never heard of Bukowski before filming, but read a couple of his books, met the writer as preparation, and got to like him – as did his brother Joey who became a drinking partner of the writer. Bukowski was a real character on set, drinking beer from early in the morning and trying to persuade Mickey to have one. But even though he was playing an alcoholic, Mickey stuck to ginseng, vitamins, and protein shakes during filming of the movie.

Charles Bukowski himself had mixed reactions about the lead performance by Mickey Rourke. In an interview in the documentary film Born into This, Bukowski says, "[Rourke] didn't get it right... He had it all kind of exaggerated, untrue. A little bit show-off about him. So, no, it was kind of mis-done". Although in a letter written apropos the film, titled "A Letter from a Fan", the writer states

"[...] Part of my luck was the actor who played Henry Chinaski. Mickey Rourke stayed with the dialogue to the word and the sound intended. What surprised me was that he added another dimension to the character, in spirit. Mickey appeared to really love his role, and yet without exaggeration he added his own flavor, his zest, his madness, his gamble to Henry Chinaski without destroying the intent or the meaning of the character. To add spirit to spirit can be dangerous..."

Still, Rourke apparent ad-libbed some cool stuff as I can tell from reading along, including what may be my favorite or at least one of my favorite lines in the film. Chinaski despises bartender Big Ed (Frank Stallone), saying: “He symbolizes everything that disgusts me. Obviousness. Unoriginal macho energy. Ladies man…” I love that "obviousness" and wonder if it is from Rourke, or was fed him by Bukowski, or one of the "barflies".

[Strawberry Witch · Rating 4 out of 5]

So apparently Bukowski was coerced or encouraged to write a screenplay; this wasn’t his idea. I think it would have worked better as a play, maybe?

It’s good, of course, it’s just…kind of weirdly self inflated. Which is weird to say about a screenplay about a guy who just drinks all the time, but he’s like, better than everybody normal bc he’s a brilliant writer. Which is true and all but there’s a scene with Wanda where she tells him he looks like some kind of royalty, and then there’s that whole useless subplot with Tully where he makes little speeches about how nice furniture and roach free houses just aren’t his bag, baby.

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Yeah, they say I’m good with dialogue,I’ve lived a while to hear enough fucking conversations, I oughtta be”-Charles Bukowski

In the Charles Bukowski’s screenplay “Barfly” gives his best work in terms of dialogue. This was his shot in Hollywood but even the man himself hates movies. Nonetheless this script is Bukowski at his finest yet somehow tends to go nowhere with it. Is it poetic? Or is it just a ride with Bukowski behind the wheel leading you astray?

Either way might as well enjoy the ride! I’ll drink to that 🥃

[Scott Holstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I love most everything Hank wrote, but I've been trying for decades to dig this one -- both film and screenplay -- and I just have never been able to reach that point. And I feel guilty about that! The sad fact is, I've always thought this was one of his less impressive works. So, recommended for Bukowski fans, but if you're curious about him but haven't read him -- READ anything BUT this first or you may decide to no longer be interested afterwards and that would be a real shame.

[Emilio Galnares · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaya joya, me he picado. La belleza está en la simpleza de las cosas. Que buen rato me ha dado.

‪Bueno, ya sabes lo que dijo Tolstoi:‬
‪”Valora la compañía de la mujer como una necesidad desagradable de la vida, y evítala tanto como te sea posible.”‬

[Donnie Darko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendo...

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Divertente e spassoso, da leggere in compagnia!

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gotta read some Bukowski, the champion of John Fante' - I owe it to the guy for that alone.

[Gaetano · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Raj Keriwala · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bukowski’s finest work

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desperately nihilistic story where hope and kindness mean nothing next to the prospect of a drink.

[Sara Alberti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biblioteca dei nonni. Lo leggevo solo quando andavo lì e me ne ricordavo

[J Lawler · Rating 5 out of 5]

To All My Friends!

[Matthew Konkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone looking for the way screen stories should and need to be told, should look to Barfly. I’ve never seen the movie, (waiting for it to come to DVD), but the screenplay by Hank is just the kind of tale that’s lacking in Hollywood. (Actually, with the advent of digtal, I see a trend toward this kind of cinema, but done independently of course.)No car chases, bullet catches, special effects or bullshit, and frankly no beginning and no ending either. Just a glimpse into a real character’s life. A toast to you, CB.

[HillbillyWizard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the last piece by Bukowski I'll ever be able to read. Sure I can break my lifelong record of never reading poetry but I doubt I ever will. I just don't get or like poetry. I can't believe there's no more Bukowski or tales of Chinaski left for me to read. I'm so sad. At least Irvine Welsh is still alive. Okay mayhap I will try one last time with this poetry business. I mean if it's Bukowski. How bad can it be?

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when I was becoming aware on how the world ticks and my hormonal years were drawing to a close, I fell in love with being drunk and depressed over a 'broad', go figure. Then came along my absent father, my ass kicking mother fucker, my personified conscience, my truth, my being okay with being a pervert.

[Azaghedi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chinaski works better as a character in a novel than in a film. There isn't enough development, either of him or the people around him, to make this a compelling screenplay. That's the problem with writing for a format that just gives you a couple of hours to work with; I don't think it's the proper format for a Chinaski.

[Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Screenplay reads like a book of poetry

[Allen Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly for the devoted Bukowski fan. No one else will probably like it.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not too impressed, but don't read too many screenplays. Interesting how there doesn't seem like much to this screen play, but it really comes to life in the movie. Recommended if you like Bukowski.

[Rachel Lesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his work, this was no exception...