Product Description

When Barbet Schroeder (More, General Idi Amin Dada, Single White Female) began work on the movie Barfly, he had no idea that it would be such a struggle. During the seven years it took him to complete the film, he turned his cameras on its screenwriter, poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.

"I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to share the extraordinary evenings we spent together," said Schroeder. "I finally brought in a small crew, friends of mine, with a high quality video set up. Whoever was the least drunk took control of the camera."

Bukowski, legendary for his drunken excess and frank observations on life, love, and survival, took no exception with Schroeder.

Barbet Schroeder recalls, "I had no idea of what I might do with the material, but I didn’t want those evenings to be lost. As I don’t like formal interviews, I tried to get him started on a topic and then keep from interrupting him. The result was often a monologue of three minutes or longer."

Schroeder eventually completed The Charles Bukowski Tapes, a four-hour long study of the man and the music of his words. "The ideal way to show this material was in short video-clips—a new style of film. Once I had screened it this way, it seemed twice as powerful."

Available for the first time in the world on DVD, Barrel Entertainment is proud to present this exceptional portrait of one of America’s most vital voices.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22953 in DVD
• Brand: Ryko Distribution
• Released on: 2006-08-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 240 minutes

Amazon.com
Fifty-two clips of Charles Bukowski ranting and musing comprise Barbet Shroeder’s Charles Bukowski Tapes. It was, until now, a rarity that circulated amongst die-hard Bukowski fans, since the release of Shroeder’s Bukowski-scripted feature, Barfly. This collection of monologues, ranging in topic from Bukowski’s beef with God, to biographical tales of his life as an abused child, to his views on writing as a disciplinary craft, cover the gamut of Bukowski-typical topics, which can also be glimpsed in other Bukowski documentaries, such as Born Into This. But The Charles Bukowski Tapes are set apart by their sheer volume of candid author footage, in which Bukowski has drunkenly abandoned all camera-shyness to reveal, and revel in, his damage. In one chilling segment, Hank and Linda Lee sit on the couch and seriously discuss divorce, leaving the viewer feeling as if they’ve eavesdropped on a therapy session. In another, Hank takes us to his childhood home, to show us the bathroom, nicknamed "The Torture Chamber," where he was repeatedly whipped. The rawness of the tapes is refreshing but painful. This DVD package includes several segments in which Bukowski recites poems, as well as a booklet containing writing by Shroeder, an essay by Bukowski biographer, Neeli Cherkovsky, and a 1987 interview with Hank about the making of Barfly that is, of course, hilariously bitter. The Charles Bukowski Tapes allow for intimacy, making them charmed and disturbing. --Trinie Dalton

Customer Reviews

essential for the Bukowski fan in your life!
2006 seems to be the year for Bukowski on dvd and it's about time! between this and BORN INTO THIS, fans of Buk have a reason to rejoice, and pray there's more stuff in the vaults.I won't go into any production details about THE CHARLES BUKOWSKI TAPES because it's all in the product description, but I will say that it's a four-hour tour into the mind and thoughts of CB broken down into 52 short chapters. if you're a non-fan, it probably won't win you over, but anyone curious as to the thought process of this author who arguably changed the face of modern lit and poetry will be sucked in. for those who think this two-disc set is just the ramblings of an old drunk are wrong: CB is very cogent and thoughtful. some might say Bukowski was pathetic, I say PROPHETIC, and his works will stand the test of time. P.S. for optimum viewing, add a few ADULT beverages and get the kids out of the room.

Bukowski: the myth behind the man
I didn't have time to watch the whole DVD, but so far the tapes are exactly what I expected: raw, funny and sometimes, sad.
Bukowski was a character of himself and that role playing was a form to sustain his dignity in the quite hostile environment he was in almost all his life: bad parents, bad jobs, bad women, cheap booze, lack of money. So that's why he tried - and in the tapes this is apparent sometimes - to build a myth of his past, and amused doing that.
But it doen't mean that he is not true or authetic (his bad skin and bad teeth expose everything about his past). It only means that, from time to time, Bukowski looks TOO MUCH Bukowski than one would expect.
Overall, the DVD is a great document about one of the great 20th century american writers and gives to his readers a live and deep insight to some of his thoughts and poems.

Into Charles we go...
Into Bukowski I went, and unlike any other Bukowski footage, I was able to leer into the person, the man, the human being beyond the author. I was able to see Bukowski in a light where I could call him "Charles" and feel a personable aura this documentary captured unlike most others.

Charles Bukowski is often associated with an eccentrically-driven tough-guy kind of image, and he's tough, yeah, but he's tough in a complex way unbeknownst to most of the public.

In this recording, Charles is "Charles" before he is singularly a world-famous author, "Bukowski," and we are treated to an intimacy otherwise shelved away. Especially take note of the seen where he visits his old childhood home, recounting the abuse his father gave him; it's here that you see his sensitivity and humanity best: "Let's forget it, okay," he says to the journalist, as he recounts his beatings in the old bathroom.

Okay, maybe...but we won't forget you, Charles. Thank you for the gift of your literature.