Charles Bukowski's influence on popular culture

Charles Bukowski's work has influenced popular culture many times over in many forms and his work has been referenced in film, television, music and theatre.

Film

Several films have been made about Bukowski’s life most involving Bukowski’s literary alter ego, Henry Chinaski. Barfly, which is probably the best known Bukowski auto-biographic film, starring Mickey Rourke as Chinaski, centered on Bukowski’s time in Los Angeles while drinking and writing.^[1] While early on in the filming, Bukowski (who also wrote the screenplay) spoke approvingly of Rourke's portrayal^[2] he would later go on to say that he felt the actor overplayed the character.^[3]

Bukowski's film incarnations have stretched to even foreign lands outside of The United States. In 1981 Italian director Marco Ferrari created "Tales of Ordinary Madness" which was based on several of Charles Bukowski's short stories including "The most beautiful women in town".^[4] In 1987, a small Belgian film named "Crazy Love" was released. The script was co-written by Charles Bukowski and is now considered one of the best films in world cinema dating back to the 1980s^[5]

In 1995 actor Sean Penn (a good friend of Bukowski's) directed his second feature film; an independent piece named The Crossing Guard starring Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, and David Morse. The closing credits of the film contain a dedication to Charles Bukowski^[6]

In 2005, a cinematic adaption of his novel Factotum, directed by Bent Hamer and starring Matt Dillon as Henry Chinaski, was released^[7] to largely favourable reviews, scoring a 75% "Fresh Rating" on the film review site Rotten Tomatoes.^[8]

Music

Charles Bukowski has left an impression on many musicians throughout the years through his work. Bono, lead singer of the commercially and critically loved Irish rock band U2, credits Bukowski with a part in his love for American literature saying "Here was a guy who was like 'Look, I have no time for metaphors. Can we just get straight down to the bone..the marrow of the bone' ".^[9] U2 would later go on to pay tribute to Bukowski in Dirty Day, the ninth track off their widely successful album Zooropa.^[10]

American singer-songwriter, Tom Waits, considers Charles Bukowski a huge influence as well. He cites Bukowski's work as "very musical" in nature and calls Bukowski "one of the most colourful and important writers of modern fiction, poetry, prose, in contemporary literature....". He also cites a Bukowski poem as the inspiration for the song "Frank's Wild Years" off his 1983 album "Swordfishtrombones".^[11] Even their subject matter is similar in structure and content as both Waits and Bukowski write about, dark places, sadness, drifter and loneliness.^[12] The opening line of Waits's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography also puts the two at similar platforms, reading "Tom Waits is a gruff-voiced, big-hearted singer/pianist who is to songwriting what Charles Bukowski is to poetry".^[13]

A number of bands have named dropped Charles Bukowski and his work over the years. Modest Mouse has made two songs that references the writer; one plainly titled "Bukowski" and another off of their album titled The Lonesome Crowded West, titled "Long Distance Drunk". The Good Life have track called "Album of the year", from their album also titled Album of the Year, which name drops Charles Bukowski. The Red Hot Chili Peppers mention Bukowski in their song "Mellowship Slinky in B Major" off their album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The Boo Radleys had a song called "Charles Bukowski is dead".The Dogs D'Amour, a rock band from London, England, reference Charles Bukowski and his misadventures in a track called "Bullet Proof Poet" off of their third studio album A Graveyard Full of Empty Bottles. Dave Alvin has a song named "Burning in Water Drowning in Flame" off of his 1993 album "Museum of the Heart" that also references the writer. The Florida band Hot Water Music takes their name from one of Bukowskis short story collections.

Television

Charles Bukowski has been depicted on television as well, namely on the Showtime series Californication. The shows main character Hank Moody, played by actor David Duchovny, is an author, based in Los Angeles who subscribes to the same kind of lifestyle that Bukowski became known for. The show depicts alcoholism, sex, use of drugs and many critics have acquitted the show to a television adaption of Bukowski's third novel Women.^[14] In the ninth episode of the first season, Moody's girlfriend can be seen reading one of Charles Bukowski's books; Sifting Through the Madness For The World, The Line, The Way: New Poems.^[15]

Theatre

Charles Bukowski's work and life has also translated into a few plays and theatre pieces as well. Barflies was created by Scottish specific theatre group Grid Iron and it centres on Bukowski's literary alter-ego and main protagonist, Henry Chinanski. It is said to be based on three short stories, two poems and about a dozen other extracts from Bukowski's work and explores the alcoholism and women in Bukowski's life.^[16] Paul Peditto created a play entitled Buk: The Life and Times of Charles Bukowski. The play involves the life and times of a younger and older version of Bukowski's alter ego, Chinanski, sometimes finding the two interacting with each other. During the writing of the play Peditto wrote many letters to Bukowski as well and both the playwright and author continued their exchange until Bukowski's death. For the Live Bait Theater-Prop Theatre co-production of the play, the letters where hung in the lobby outside the theatre for the audience to read before and after the show.^[17] B.S.: Bukowski.Sondheim, an ongoing production created by Joanne Gordon, the artistic director of the California Repertory Company, is set to be released November 2 through December 8, 2012 at the Queen Mary's theatre in Long Beach. The work will take the poetry of Bukowski and the music and lyrics of U.S. composer Stephen Sondheim and fuse them together. Both Sondeheim and the Bukowski estate have provided their consent for the making of production and the use of their respective works.^[18]

References