William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within

Curator: Kristy Matheson
Rating: R18+

Running Time: 90 mins
Synopsis: Looking beyond the urban myths that surrounded American writer and cultural icon William S. Burroughs during his life, this extremely personal documentary breaks through the surface of his brilliant and troubled world to create a touching portrait of one of the greatest authors of all time.

Born in St Louis in 1914 and the heir of the Burroughs' adding machine estate, William S. Burroughs struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems and relationships. As filmmaker John Waters says in the film "He was the first person who was famous for things you were supposed to hide - he was gay, he was a junkie, he didn't look handsome, he shot his wife, he wrote poetry about assholes and heroin. He was not easy to like."

Burroughs was one of the first to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and write about his experiences. His most famous novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government, until the courts eventually overturned their decision in 1966, ruling that the book had important social value. It remains one of the most recognised literary works of the 20th century and launched Burrough's literary star in 1959.

Eventually he was hailed the godfather of "the Beats" and influenced artists for generations to come. Burroughs was also adopted as an icon of the burgeoning punk scene in the late 1970s.

Burroughs died at the age of 83 in August of 1997 from complications after a heart attack (amazingly only four months after lifelong friend Allen Ginsberg passed away) and was buried in the same place as his birth, St. Louis, U.S.A..

Wiliam S. Burroughs: A Man Within is a true labour of love for Leyser who traveled around America on and off for several years, grabbing interviews on a shoestring budget. Over four years, with help from Burroughs editor and executor James Grauerholz, Leyser has interviewed more than 100 friends, associates, and admirers of the writer, including Patti Smith, John Waters, Gus Van Sant, Iggy Pop, Laurie Anderson, Jello Biafra, Amiri Baraka, and even a poisonous snake collector named Dean Ripa, as well as many others. Through these interviews we see Burroughs as they saw him -the person underneath the junky, the outlaw and the hardman.

The film also features never before seen footage and photos of Burroughs and narration by actor Peter Weller who played the Burrough surrogate William Lee in David Cronenberg's film of Naked Lunch (1991).

Film Programmer, Kristy Matheson says, "There are countless films about Burroughs but rarely are they as insightful and well researched as this. Fresh, stylistically creative and truly indebted to its subject, Wiliam S. Burroughs: A Man Within proves that there is still more to know about this legendary figurehead of counterculture and literary rebellion."

Leyser is a 25 year-old filmmaker, photographer and writer from Chicago, Illinois, who started making films when he was 16. After moving to Lawrence, Kansas, he began his passionate film on Burroughs after being kicked out of film school. His previous work has documented a utopian transgender commune in Tennessee, an anarchist village in Copenhagen, and Europe's largest squat. Director Yony Leyser will also be present to introduce each session of the film.

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Location: The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), Federation Square, Melbourne.
Dates: Thursday 2 September - Sunday 5 September, 2010
Website: www.acmi.net.au

Interview with Kristy Matheson the Film Curator

Can you talk about what is involved in your job for the program First Look?

Kristy Matheson: The particular program is called First Look and the curatorial thinking behind the program is that every month we screen two films. One of them is a new release film that is not bought for distribution within Australia, so it will not be shown in regular cinemas. Generally the first film is currently on the international Film Festival circuit or is a new film that has been released.

The other film we screen, in the same program, is a new restored or what we would call a repertory title; a film that is not necessarily being re-released but is a classic film that has been restored.

Basically the aim of the program is to allow Melbourne audiences to see a brand new film and a brand new restoration. The restoration service is a way for people who may have already seen the film, many years ago, to come and see the film, again.

We try and pair the films so that they match each other in a way or offer a bit of context to each other. It's about finding films that are new and interesting as well as finding films that we think will fit into a broader film discussion that is happening here in Melbourne.

Melbourne is lucky, as a city, in that we have a really rich film culture and we have a very strong weekly cinema tech that runs. We also have a really strong film festival and we have a lot of cinema screens, here in Melbourne. In terms of the actual dialogue of cinema that is happening, between audiences, there is a lot of opportunity for people to see a lot of interesting films.


How do you choose the films for First Look?

Kristy Matheson: In terms of the films I am choosing for this program there is obviously a lot of personal taste involved and there are a lot of things that appeal to me personally, but as a programmer that is a very dangerous trap to fall into. I try and screen films that obviously I personally like and I will also screen films that I may not personally like but I know that they are something that may appeal to audiences or is a film that is an important addition to the bigger cultural debate.


What inspired you to choose to screen William S. Burroughs: A Man Within?

Kristy Matheson: This is a film that I was lucky enough to see earlier this year and I think that William S. Burroughs is constantly fascinating for people. The other films that are screening, in that particular month, are two films that deal with the French New Wave and when I was looking at those films I was looking at the youth cultural revolt, in the 1950's. In France the French New Wave was emerging and there was a lot of political and culture taboo smashing, that was going on there. If you look across the Atlantic, in America, at the same time, there is this very interesting group of writers who are writing about things that no one has talked about before, specifically drug taking and homosexuality; these are incredibly contentious things. It is more about the nice synergy to look at two months worth of film that are looking at a similar period in history but what is interesting and connects them is the fact that it was young people, making art and through making art they really did have quite a massive effect on society both politically and culturally.

I think it is quite interesting that these two movements that are both very different were both happening around a similar period of time.


Who will enjoy William S. Burroughs: A Man Within?

Kristy Matheson: On its base level it is a literary movement but the people who have been inspired and affected by this particular cultural movement is huge and I think that is what is really great about the film that we are screening. Obviously there have been a lot of films about Burroughs but what's really great about this film is that it is made by a new American director and he, himself, is quite young, which I think is probably the key to why the film really works.

On some level the director embodies this spirit or being a young male American artist who is passionate about something. The calibrate of people that he gets to interview is really quite staggering, he has people like Iggy Pop and Patti Smith and that is just the tip of the impressive interviewee list iceberg. To think this guy is 25 years old and when he was making the film and starting out organising interviews he would have probably been in his early 20's. If that was me, how would I even start to say to Patti Smith "I really love Burroughs and I think he was really important and you really loved him too…"?

All of these people have spoken about Burroughs before but there is something really youthful and energetic about the way this director has constructed the film; he touches on aspects on Burroughs life that are new to audiences. I think people will be surprised at the things they will learn.

I'm not saying it's just the director's age, I think there is something quite unique, that as a filmmaker he totally gets the sensibility of the people he is talking too and the kind of spirit these people were doing. In terms of the influences, that the beats had, it runs through everything; through films, music to performance, theatre and dance.

Burroughs was one of America's greatest literary talents but I think that the influence of what his work has done has so far surpassed literature that you don't even need to have read The Naked Lunch to have been personally affected by Burroughs output, which is what, is enduring about this movie.

You may never have read The Naked Lunch but there is a sense that it is still tied to counter-culture and tied not just too teen rebellion but to social rebellion. I don't believe these ideas ever lose their currency because there is always another generation coming up and hopefully they want to rattle the society that they live in.


What interested you about the William S. Burroughs film?

Kristy Matheson: It's not structured in a way that makes you feel as if you need to know a lot to get the most out of it. I don't think it is a basic entry into Burroughs, as well. It straddles the nice line of being about to really satisfy the fans and be a really intriguing look into not just Burroughs but all the people that he influenced in such a major way. It is a really interesting slice of American culture that has really permeated far and wide.

The movie is really beautifully made and it has a lot of really inventive use of animation. As a film it is crafted quite beautifully and it would be inspiring for young filmmakers to see as well it will satisfy the real fan audience as well.


Interview by Brooke Hunter