WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A MAN WITHIN
Written & Directed by Yony Leyser
Produced by Carmine Cervi, Ilko Davidov & Leyser
Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories
USA. 74 min. Not Rated
 

I can’t imagine it’s all that tough to find interview subjects for a William S. Burroughs doc. Regardless, Yoni Leyser has assembled an extensive and fascinating ensemble that appears to love nothing more than to expound on the writer’s extensive and fascinating life. The glib yet informative Peter Weller—who starred in the 1991 film adaptation of Burroughs’s novel Naked Lunch—is interviewed and narrates, anchoring the large collection of friends, colleagues, and admirers. Weller and the rest respect the man enormously and, almost like schoolchildren describing a favorite comic hero, list a plethora of trivia and insights. Even various criticisms are delivered with reverence.

These eclectic personalities that surrounded Burroughs throughout his long life not only include artists and historians, but weapons specialists and snake handlers alike. His career was wild, in the true sense of the word. The consensus is that he was a rebel even among the 1950s counterculture—a gay man who loved at least one woman (his wife), shot heroin, loved handguns, and could write eloquently about all of it. Much of the historical footage here, including off-the-cuff home movies and interviews with Burroughs himself, supports the claim.

Classifying such an outsider figure is a difficult task, and even describing him presents its own challenges. For this reason, the film works best in anecdote. Anyone vaguely familiar with Burroughs’s life could probably form some kind of diagnosis of the guy—and many of the film’s subjects do—but the descriptions seem to pertain more to the greater cultural phenomena of which he was a part. Burroughs epitomized a lot of what was going on around him, yet he consistently remained hipper than his surroundings. He helped to create the counterculture, yet defied its classifications. The Harvard-educated son of a wealthy Midwest businessman, he sought to elude the control that mainstream society imposed, falling instead, famously, into the controlling hands of his addictions—sex, heroin, alcohol, and target practice.

The tragic events of his life include the 1951 shooting death of his wife, Joan Vollmer, the death of his only son, Billy, due to complications from alcoholism, and his own nearly debilitating junk addiction, but Burroughs somehow lived until he was 83. Fans of Burroughs will jump at the chance to revisit the many unbelievable points of his career, while anyone sketchy on his bio are in for perhaps an even bigger treat in the revelations. None of the great mysteries surrounding Burroughs’s life will be solved in this comprehensive, anecdotal doc, but considering his near iconic legacy, perhaps that’s for the best. Michael Lee
November 17, 2010