An old friend of mine used to regail me with stories of Charles Bukowski, the great everyman poet who wasn't afraid to tell it like it his, who didn't care at all about formalism or what had come before him...he just wanted to put his essence on the page (no matter how crudely he might fashion it).
BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS is a great show into the life of this man. It meanders at points, and tries a bit too hard to exemplify this guy, but you can't argue with some of the majestic footage different folks got. A scene shot in 1986 shows a drunk Bukowski yelling at his wife and then literally trying to kick her off the couch...footage that silenced the auditorium and solidified the idea of Bukowski as a drunken belligerent. But at another point, we see Bukowski cry while reading a poem of his about a woman he lost...completely different from the mythical man. Other stories of his rudeness are shadowed by stories of his covert kindness.
There is nothing incredibly special about how this is shot...but for any Bukowski fan, this is a must-see...the most in-depth look into the life of the man so far shown in America. Too bad that one of the greatest American poets ever is more famous abroad than at home.