The Charles Bukowski Tapes

Infobox Film
name = The Charles Bukowski Tapes


caption =
director = Barbet Schroeder
producer = Barbet Schroeder
writer = Barbet Schroeder
starring = Charles Bukowski
music = Jean Louis Vallero
cinematography = Steven Hirsh, Elliot Enzig Porter, Paul Challacombe
editing = Barbet Schroeder, Paul Challacombe
distributor =
released =
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country = France
awards =
language = English
budget =
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The Charles Bukowski Tapes are a collection of short-interviews with the US-American writer Charles Bukowski, filmed and assembled by Barbet Schroeder and first published in 1987 in the USA. Today, the video documentary is considered a cult classic.

ynopsis

The Charles Bukowski Tapes are an altogether more than four hours long collection of 52 short-interviews with the US-American cult author Charles Bukowski, sorted by topic and each between one and ten minutes long. Director Barbet Schroeder "(Single White Female)" interviews Bukowski about such themes as alcohol, violence, and women, and Bukowski answers willingly, losing himself in sometimes minute-long monologues. Amongst other things, Bukowski leads the small camera team through his parents’s house and his former neighbourhood, but the largest part of the interviews takes place in Bukowski’s flat or backyard. The documentary includes a scene in which Bukowski reacts violently toward his wife Linda Lee.

History of origin

The documentary was assembled from about 64 hours of film footage, which accrued during the three-year lead time for Schroeder’s motion picture "Barfly", for which Bukowski wrote the autobiographical script.

Critics