Factotum (2005)

Many reviewers say they didn't "get" the movie or that it wasn't about anything. I felt the same way until I realized maybe that's the point. This film addresses the question, What is success? Is success only what our society defines success as? Or can success really be something else altogether? Something of our own making.

If I had known it was about Charles Bukowski when I was watching it, I might have appreciated it a little more. I'm a fan of his blunt way of writing. Bukowski was primarily a poet and he had a terrible childhood, which obviously affected his entire life and worldview.

Definitely not a film for the suicidal or depressed or alcoholic. By the end I needed a stiff drink and a bottle of sleeping pills.

Fmovies: I saw the earlier Kitchen Stories by director Bent Hamer in a cinema in Berlin in 2004, which was an absolute delight. When I heard he was going to direct an adaptation of Bukowsky's work, I was surprised, given the very different material he handled in the rural Nordic settings in Scandinavia. So it seemed an odd choice to direct a movie like this, but it turns out to be a very refreshing and welcome take at "The Bukowsky Case".

Essentially, this film is about the despairs of alcoholism, frighteningly brought to life by an array of simply stunning performances. Matt Dillon as Henry Chinasky is literally sweating alcohol. His face is red and swollen, he looks absolutely horrible. Once handsome but now an absolute has-been, who's sole interests are booze, gambling, sex and writing. People don't interest him at all, including the women, sex is all that interests him, if only mildly. Lily Taylor is a perfect match as his female interest and fellow barfly. But the real kudos are for Marisa Tomei in a relatively minor role but she really burns off the screen, alcohol set on fire. A real treat.

It might not be a typical Bukowski-movie, in the sense of his sometimes brash, aggressive, perhaps even typical direct American style, so fans of his work might judge this movie very differently and perhaps argue this is not the real spirit of Bukowsky put to the screen. But director Hamer handles it with such warmth, humor, sly wit and at times very sharp observations that you really shouldn't care about this. Judge it on its own merits.

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

Anytime that a picture promises to depict a myriad of social decay: sex, alcoholism, misogyny, masochism, vagrancy—I am at once attracted. In Factotum, director Bent Hamer sprinkles the screen with such squalor, yet done with such adroitness and comedic care, that the film achieves what any film of this genre should ever set out to do: turn the downtrodden, the brackish, the man caged in penury, into a hero.

Like Frederick Exley's character in A Fan's Notes, Bukowski's Henry Chianski, ice delivery man, cum pickle sorter, cum statue sweeper, cum writer, is dependent on alcohol, which oxymoronically, is necessary for his survival. As the title of the film connotes, Chinaski, played deftly by Matt Dillon, can't hold down a job longer than it takes to take a slug of whiskey, which undoubtedly is his first love, followed closely by long-legged women with taut genitalia—his words, not mine.

Chinaski finds his reflection in Jan, played by Lili Taylor, who complements his transient, lush lifestyle. One of the most telling scenes is one where Chinaski is seen retching over a toilet one morning after excessive drinking, which is subsequently followed a moment later by Jan copying Chinaski's keck.

Ultimately, Factotum is not a parable that preaches: it's clearly not that, if anything it glamorizes a sordid lifestyle. What it does achieve is to show that greatness comes in many forms and that once the outer core of despair is broken down, then only is truth found. That truth: Chinaski had a clear voice and, as any quasi-philosopher tries to do, he had his own vision of virtue and the reasoning we use to get there.

Whether or not Bukowski's Chinaski or Exley's Exley was the bigger hero is debatable. And while both drank big, they too wrote big and were apathetic toward public condemnation. While their actions may not have been virtuous, their disregard for virtue was.

Factotum fmovies. Deliciously acerbic, wickedly funny, fast paced, expertly crafted dark comedy. Based on an autobiographical novel by the misanthropic Charles Bukowski, The Norwegian co-writer-director Bent Hamer, who made the droll 2003 comedy, "Kitchen Stories," has created a nearly perfect film here. Factotum, we are told in the opening credits, is a word that means "a person who performs many jobs." Indeed, the story is more-or-less organized around the myriad jobs sought and botched by the protagonist, unsuccessful short story writer and all around lowlife Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon). The other principal organizing focus in Chinaski's life is the women he squeezes and drinks with, primarily slutty Jan (Lili Taylor) and, more passingly, the somewhat classier Laura (Marisa Tomei). Rounding out the cast are Henry's horse race handicapping buddy Manny (Fisher Stevens) and Pierre, a wealthy Frenchman who composes operas and surrounds himself with prostitutes (Didier Flamand).

If one were to posit a film genre called comedy noir - dark, devilish American comedies set in lowlife surrounds like taverns and sleazy apartments, when possible dimly lit and narrated by the anti-hero protagonist, intoning in flat, world-weary, matter-of-fact voiceovers, as in a Raymond Chandler detective story - then "Factotum" would be the defining film for this genre. What other films to include? Among recent ones, "Hustle & Flow" comes quickly to mind. "The Big Lebowski," and maybe some other films by the Coens. Quite a lot of Jim Jarmusch's oeuvre, but "Down By Law" for sure. Steve Buscemi's "Trees Lounge." "Pulp Fiction," of course. This film is steeped in richly cynical dialogue, well written (in collaboration with Jim Stark, who also co-wrote "Cold Fever"), well photographed (by John Christian Rosenlund), and well edited (alas, no credit is given for this achievement on either the IMDb or the film's own website). Dillon and Taylor give superb turns. My grade: 10/10 (A)

It would seem that Henry Chinaski takes Polonius' advice to heart. This adaptation shows a character who is always true to himself, no matter the consequences. Matt Dillon's portrayal of Chinaski is solid; his self-effacing style makes him way more likable than might be otherwise. Lili Taylor does a lovely job as his sometime girlfriend Jan. Their scenes together are always interesting (with or without bandages), with the characters being constantly developed.

The dialog has lots of pop. Somewhat a film noir, somewhat a comic book, the film has a nice feel with the first person narration of Chinaski taking us on his tour. It could have been in black and white but is nicely filmed in color. One of those slightly rare movies as at home at a film festival (Cleveland's, in this case) or at your local theater.

Hamer is a wonderful director and is well suited to adapt a life so besoffened as Henry Chinaski's is, with its peculiar humour. That said, the full potential of Bukowski is not realized and probably would never be outside of the books. Its still close though. Some sequences, like for instance, the pickle factory is very funny in true spirit of Buk's work.

What may scare most fans away from this though, is pretty face Matt Dillon. He does not have the personality, understanding or the looks to match Chinaski. This is the main hindrance of this movie. Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei comes better off, giving solid performances.

If you're a fan of Buk, go check it out. If you're a fan of good cinema, check it out as well. Bent Hamer is a man of vision.