Naked Lunch

This is a stunning old Cronenberg film that is incredibly disgusting, yet visually magnificent. Such beautiful tricks simply cannot be seen in many other movies. However, then there is Burroughs' source material, which is simply so weird that it spoiled my impression of the film. Perhaps it was not worth thinking about what was what, just enjoy the images, but I had to think about it, which slightly ruined the experience for me. (02/22/2016)

David Cronenberg had been considering an adaptation of the famous William S. Burroughs novel for a long time, but he didn't know how to make it and with what resources. Despite the diametrical differences in the environments that shaped them and the differences in their personalities, both creators are united by a high level of creativity and a refusal to be bound by conventions and prejudices. Given his and the writer's reputation and the scandalous content of the work, he understandably could not secure the support of major studios. The adventures surrounding the making of the film could be the subject of another movie. Because Naked Lunch is essentially a surrealist affair that can only be literally filmed as an animated film or an extremely expensive digitally created blockbuster without a chance of box office success, Cronenberg wrote a screenplay that used the literary source material only as a starting point. It's a film about how writer William Lee, aka Burroughs, writes Naked Lunch, the creative struggles he experiences, and how he's plagued by demons of drug addiction and sexual fantasies. Dream visions and drug hallucinations often appear. This provocative, hard-to-digest film, which is definitely not for everyone, received enthusiastic acclaim from critics and won several professional awards, but logically failed commercially. The central theme of Cronenberg's film is loneliness and the resulting frustration of a highly talented individual surrounded and threatened by a conventional environment. Overall impression: 95%. Acting-wise, Peter Weller and Judy Davis had great performances. (06/13/2006)

I found no fondness for it, no emotional moment. It's very cold and distant. Drugs, paranoia, writing, homosexuality... Hallucination. Naked Lunch is a hallucination of an author somewhere on the edge between life and fiction. On the edge of what is lived and what is written. But I don't see the problem in that; the problem is that the whole magic of the film is only in the shocking and inexplicable scenes that mask the only fact – that it's all about one long (and very devastating) trip that doesn't tell me anything personally from the audience's point of view. Cronenberg did good craftsmanship work, as did the actors, and Howard Shore in particular with his soundtrack. However, this does not change the fact that the whole of Naked Lunch seems to me to be total exhibitionism and an outpouring of a diseased mind. And that's not enough for a good film... I may be evaluating the way I am because I don't like this literary genre. So if you like bugs having sex, bugs in the form of typewriters, bugs in the form of aliens and bugs in the form of bugs... you'll probably hum with enthusiasm. I got tired of the endless yawning. (03/25/2004)

I have to say that in the end I’m very pleasantly surprised, because films of the "reality, dream – what the hell" type usually leave me with garbage and I am forced to endure my exotic review for a film that has an overall rating of 80%. Fortunately, Naked Lunch is eminently watchable, but that's not really a credit to the story, which is too wacky for my taste, but a credit to Cronenberg and his little touches of slime addiction, repulsive monsters and bizarre imagery that aren't just for decoration, but effectively move the plot forward. Actors such as Weller and Holm are also a joy to watch, even when in the most savage and salacious scenes. Moreover, Cronenberg has the great advantage of knowing what he wants to do, unlike David Lynch, for example, who sometimes has no idea. It's still not my cup of tea, but I just can't include the negatives this time. 65% (08/20/2013)