Naked Lunch Page #6

Synopsis: Not an adaptation of beat writer William S. Burrough's novel but a mix of biography and an interpretation of his drug- induced writing processes combined with elements of his work in this paranoid fantasy about Bill Lee, a writer who accidentally shoots his wife, whose typewriter transforms into a cockroach and who becomes involved in a mysterious plot in North African port called Interzone. Wonderfully bizarre, not unlike Burrough's books.
Genre: Drama
Director(s): David Cronenberg
Production: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
  13 wins & 13 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Metacritic:
67
Rotten Tomatoes:
69%
R
Year:
1991
115 min
1,865 Views


Yves with the wonderful car.

He has a wonderful car?

The most wonderful car.

Enjoying the ride?

I'm wild about it, yes.

Thank you.

It's good to be wild sometimes.

You know, I have often thought of

that funny story you told me...

the first time we met on the beach.

The one about the Duc de Ventre.

At first I didn't know how to take it.

I thought you were

making a pass at me.

Did I ever tell you about the man

who taught his a**hole to talk?

His whole abdomen would move up and

down, you dig, farting out the words.

It was unlike anything I ever heard.

Bubbly, thick, stagnant sound.

A sound you could smell.

This man worked for the carnival,you dig?

And to start with it was

like a novelty ventriloquist act.

After a while,

the ass started talking on its own.

He would go in

without anything prepared...

and his ass would ad-lib

and toss the gags back at him every time.

Then it developed sort of teethlike...

little raspy incurving hooks

and started eating.

He thought this was cute at first

and built an act around it...

but the a**hole would eat its way through

his pants and start talking on the street...

shouting out it wanted equal rights.

It would get drunk, too, and have crying jags.

Nobody loved it.

And it wanted to be kissed,

same as any other mouth.

Finally, it talked all the time,

day and night.

You could hear him for blocks,

screaming at it to shut up...

beating at it with his fists...

and sticking candles up it, but...

nothing did any good,

and the a**hole said to him...

"It is you who will shut up

in the end, not me...

"because we don't need you

around here anymore.

I can talk and eat and sh*t."

After that, he began waking up

in the morning with transparentjelly...

like a tadpole's tail

all over his mouth.

He would tear it off his mouth

and the pieces would stick to his hands...

like burning gasoline jelly

and grow there.

So, finally, his mouth sealed over...

and the whole head...

would have amputated spontaneously

except for the eyes, you dig?

That's the one thing

that the a**hole couldn't do was see.

It needed the eyes.

Nerve connections were blocked...

and infiltrated and atrophied.

So, the brain couldn't

give orders anymore.

It was trapped inside the skull...

sealed off.

For a while, you could see...

the silent, helpless suffering

of the brain behind the eyes.

And then finally

the brain must have died...

because the eyes went out...

and there was no more feeling in them

than a crab's eye at the end of a stalk.

You seem to like my little friend.

I'm so glad.

I'm writing a business piece

on corporate life in North Africa.

Oh, my, my.

We are fragile today, aren't we?

He has to get to know you first.

Oh, does he?

Well, let's see what we can do, then.

Kiki, will you come

and see the parrots with me?

There are cages in the master bedroom.

I, um, don't think I can, Mr. Cloquet.

That is, I don't really want to.

I'd particularly like to interview

a certain Dr. Benway.

Kiki doesn't seem to find my parrots

attractive anymore. Isn't that sad?

Kiki would love to play

with your parrots, Yves...

but Kiki is as anxious to contact

this Benway character as I am.

Fadela, the witch

who works for the Frosts...

she and Benway are...

intimates.

You didn't hear it from me.

Kiki?

Go see the f***ing parrots,

will you, Kiki? I gotta take a piss.

Then I'll come and get you,

and we'll go home.

Pissoir's at the end of the great hall.

Kiki.

Kiki.

Kiki.

Hello, Bill. What's up?

Something the matter?

You seem distracted.

I wish you'd say something.

I don't like this mood, Bill.

- Are we going out?

- You're going out.

Why don't you just write something

and calm yourself down?

You're obviously not

in a professional state of mind.

Maybe I should write about

your little double cross.

You expected me to end up in that

parrot cage with Cloquet, didn't you?

Bill, are you thinking

of getting rid of me?

I think an exchange of hostages

is the only viable scenario.

No, really, Bill,

if you get rid of me...

you sever ties with reality.

For instance, take the case of-

Oh! Careful!

Of the female agent who forgot

her real identity and merged with her cover story.

She is still a fricoteuse in Annexia.

And incidentally,you can make a square,

heterosex citizen queer...

with this angle using drugs-

Tom...

I've brought you a new typewriter...

which conveniently dispenses

two types of intoxicating fluids...

when it likes what you've written.

Are you proposing to trade back

for your Clark Nova?

Thinking of it.

Has it written

anything good for you lately?

No. It's too damned

all-American for my taste.

Guess I've gone foreign or something.

Well, my Mugwriter here

is so foreign, it's almost alien.

You're gonna do

your best work on her. Guaranteed.

Hafid, bring the machine

in question for Bill, will you?

And how are you enjoying

your affair with Joan?

Literate, complex and neurotic,

I would imagine.

I haven't seen her for weeks.

She ran off with Fadela and her coven.

Oh, that's too bad.

Yes, she does that

when she feels attracted to a man.

Don't give up though.

It's-It's a good sign.

With Joanie...

the courtship period can involve

years of passionate ambivalence.

Tom, I think we should

take a close look at his machine first...

test it thoroughly.

Don't you, Tom?

You both have different writing styles.

Bill Lee has always been a man

of powerful instinct, Hafid.

If he says I'll do

my best work on his machine...

well, I'm sure that's prophecy.

Take the gun, too, Bill.

No American should find himself

in a foreign land without a pistol.

You wouldn't be trying to set me up again,

now, would you, Tom?

Well, you've set yourself up already, Bill.

I'm just trying to give you

a fighting chance. That's all.

Clark Nova.

Clark Nova, it's me.

It's - It's Bill Lee.

Clark Nova, speak to me.

You're safe with me now.

They tortured me...

did unspeakable things to me.

I'm on my last legs.

The bastards.

Clark Nova, where is Joan?

Where's Joan?

Hans's old drug factory in the medina.

Fadela is there.

Fadela is your point of penetration

into Interzone, Inc.

Fadela.

Uh, what do I -

what do I do when I find her?

You'll know what to do

when the time comes.

Just remember this -

all agents defect...

and all resisters sell out.

That's the sad truth, Bill.

And a writer-

a writer lives the sad truth like anyone else.

The only difference is -

he files a report on it.

Leave me now...

before it's too late.

But wait. What aboutJoan?

What aboutJoan?

Go now!

Vaya con dios.

Clark Nova. Clark Nova -

Hurry. Hurry.

Come on.

Your notes must be much more

carefully detailed to be of any use to us.

You must write very clearly.

The effects of the drugs

must be cataloged...

with painstaking accuracy.

-Joan.

- Hmm?

-Joan.

- Bill.

Oh, Bill.

No.

No.

What is that?

What are you writing?

I'm writing...

"All is lost...

...all is lost."

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

William S. Burroughs

William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. Burroughs was a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author whose influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays. Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films. He was also briefly known by the pen name William Lee. Burroughs created and exhibited thousands of paintings and other visual art works, including his celebrated 'Gunshot Paintings'. He was born into a wealthy family in St. Louis, Missouri, grandson of the inventor and founder of the Burroughs Corporation, William Seward Burroughs I, and nephew of public relations manager Ivy Lee. Burroughs began writing essays and journals in early adolescence, but did not begin publicizing his writing until his thirties. He left home in 1932 to attend Harvard University, studied English, and anthropology as a postgraduate, and later attended medical school in Vienna. In 1942 Burroughs enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve during World War II, but was turned down by the Office of Strategic Services and Navy, after which he picked up the drug addiction that affected him for the rest of his life, while working a variety of jobs. In 1943, while living in New York City, he befriended Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, and out of their mutual influence grew the foundation of the Beat Generation, which was later a defining influence on the 1960s counterculture. Much of Burroughs' work is semiautobiographical, primarily drawn from his experiences as a heroin addict, as he lived throughout Mexico City, London, Paris and Tangier in Morocco, as well as from his travels in the South American Amazon. His work also features frequent mystical, occult or otherwise magical themes – a constant preoccupation for Burroughs, both in fiction and in real life.Burroughs accidentally killed his second wife, Joan Vollmer, in 1951 in Mexico City with a pistol during a drunken "William Tell" game; he was consequently convicted of manslaughter. Burroughs found success with his confessional first novel, Junkie (1953), but he is perhaps best known for his third novel Naked Lunch (1959), a highly controversial work that was the subject of a court case after it was challenged as being in violation of the U.S. sodomy laws. With Brion Gysin, he also popularized the literary cut-up technique in works such as The Nova Trilogy (1961–1964). In 1983, Burroughs was elected to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and in 1984 he was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. Jack Kerouac called Burroughs the "greatest satirical writer since Jonathan Swift", a reputation he owes to his "lifelong subversion" of the moral, political, and economic systems of modern American society, articulated in often darkly humorous sardonicism. J. G. Ballard considered Burroughs to be "the most important writer to emerge since the Second World War", while Norman Mailer declared him "the only American writer who may be conceivably possessed by genius".Burroughs created visual art throughout his lifetime, but never exhibited it until 1987, after the death of his friend and collaborator Brion Gysin. For the next and last 10 years of his life, he presented his paintings and drawings at museums and galleries worldwide. Burroughs had one child, William S. Burroughs Jr. (1947–1981), with his second wife Joan Vollmer. William Burroughs died at his home in Lawrence, Kansas, after suffering a heart attack in 1997. more…

All William S. Burroughs scripts | William S. Burroughs Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Naked Lunch" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/naked_lunch_14458>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Naked Lunch

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    Which film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2019?
    A Roma
    B BlacKkKlansman
    C The Favourite
    D Green Book