DVDs:

	The Charles Bukowski Tapes Charles Bukowski Barrel, 2006 average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"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.

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Bukowski: the myth behind the man

I didn't had 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.

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If you saw Born Into This, you are going to want to watch this DVD

Although a bit "Euro" in its presentation (cheesy French piano in between sections), the substance of these two DVDs is solid. Nothing beats an interview with Charles Bukowski. His looks are as honest and peculiar as what comes out of his mouth. But, don't just watch the DVDs... his written poetry is just as captivating. He takes you back to scenes in the 70s and 80s that are long gone now. In his writing though, they are right there... present tense.


If you've only read him, you must see this ...

Being an avid reader of Buk's stuff for the past 20 years or so; it occurred to me that I had never seen him on film or for that matter even heard the man speak. After considering the volumes of his verse I had consumed prior to viewing this film I was still not prepared for what I was about to see. Just watch this and you'll feel closer to the writer, closer to yourself and ultimately - closer to truth.

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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.

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Much deeper insight into Bukowski than the 'Born Into This' documentary

Schroeder made an interesting choice in conducting this interview. Very little formal questioning was posed, he in fact very rarely interjects any commentary.
Bukowski seems to be a little disarmed by the format. Sometimes he seems closed off and embarrassed. Sometimes he seems too drunk to make a coherent point. However sometimes the format creates a level of openness and magic happens when Bukowski talks.
Its these moments that one watches the Bukowski tapes for, to me they were quite profound. Bukowski allows you in, past the drunkeness, past the angry shell.

You actually get something out of these tapes, unlike the terrible documentary 'Born Into This'.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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