Burroughs: The Movie

"Burroughs" is a documentary about the man any fan is bound to find fascinating. For starters, he is involved from start to finish, and the movie also features Allen Ginsberg in conversation with the writer. His son, Billy Burroughs, who killed himself during the making of the movie also shows up, as well as Burroughs brother Mortimer.

The movie tells the story of Burroughs' life, but more interesting to me were some of the digressions, for example Burroughs, in the suit and tie he is always wearing, reading his transgressive opus Naked Lunch in a night club in front of a crowd of young people, and most bizarrely, Burroughs showing off his weapon collection: a blow gun, air pistol, combat knife, blackjack... he slashes the knife at the camera, explaining that with this blade you could cut someone's throat before they even knew what hit them.

But he doesn't like violence, he explains.

There is also an explanation of the night when his wife Joan was killed in an accident: Ginsberg believes it was suicidal ideation on Joan's part that made her encourage Burroughs to try to shoot a wineglass off her head. Burroughs, on the other hand, calls it an "ugly spirit" he has always lived with that made him take the shot and miss.

All up, "Burroughs" is a must see for fans of the man, who still remains an enigma to me after having seen it. He resists description just as his work resists categorization.