Naked Lunch Page #7

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


- It's all I've ever written.

- No.

No.

Oh,Joan.

We have to see Fadela.

Take me to Fadela.

Lee, you're here.

Oh, thank God. Thank God.

You see, my misdemeanor

has borne sweet fruit.

Now you are with us.

I was right to approach you so brazenly.

And now Dr. Benway will have no choice -

- Benway.

- Benway.

No choice but to send me back-

- You'll see.

- Benway.

Where I belong.

Well, well.

If it isn't William Lee.

I got to say I'm proud of you, sir.

It took you a while,

but you got us red-handed.

Full marks, boy.

Full marks.

I expected to see an operation

all out for the black meat here.

What's with all the Mugwump jism?

The black meat concession

turns out to have...

some unfortunate

political strings attached.

We'vejust cut those strings.

From now on,

Interzone is strictly Mugwump territory.

As you can see, we've made

a flying start here with our modest dispensary.

I can feel the heat

closing in on you, Fadela.

Feel them out there

making their moves,you dig?

Oh, really?

Fadela. Huh.

Huh.

You mean this old thing.

- Benway!

- Benway!

Benway!

We met once before, remember? Stateside.

You don't remember.

You had that look, boy.

The look of a...

sheep-killing dog.

Decided to recruit you

right on the spot.

I'm afraid I was forced

by the tenor of the times...

to prescribe that wretched

black meat powder to start you off on...

but the hole-in-the-wall operation,

limited resources -

you understand the problems.

But I understand from Cloquet

that, uh, you're on to our good stuff now.

Mugwump jism can't be beat.

And as you can see,

we've got ourselves a few more friends now.

And a few more dollars, too.

Oh.

This little, uh, Fadela number

is something I developed...

during my tenure as chief physician

to the prime minister of Annexia.

"El Primo" liked to walk the streets

amongst his people in drag, and, well -

Well...

one thing led to another.

It is an elegant way to strike terror

into the hearts of the enemy...

wouldn't you say?

Old Fadela must be on the rag.

She's been acting subversive lately.

Speaking of new uses

for old technology...

I think the new order could find

a place for a man of your caliber.

A .3 2, wasn't it?

That is what you're here for, isn't it?

Hell...

I could use a reliable man

to send to Annexia.

We're expanding, boy.

I need a... spearhead.

Just tell me what you want.

I want her.

Her?

That purulent little c*nt?

What for?

I can't write without her.

Bill, I feel confident...

that you and I can

work something out.

Papers, please.

What is the purpose of your visit...

and what is your profession?

I write reports. I'm a writer...

and I intend to write reports on life

in Annexia for the citizens of the U.S.A.

Do you have any proof of what you say?

How do we know

you are really a writer?

Well, I have a writing device.

That's not good enough.

Show us.

- Show you.

- Write something.

- Write something.

- Yes.

Write something.

Joan.

Joan.

What is it, Bill?

Are we there yet?

Almost, Joan.

But I guess it's about time

for our William Tell routine.

Sure, Bill.

Welcome... to Annexia.

Yes. Welcome to Annexia.

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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…

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