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Dying in 1997, William Burroughs left behind a memorable body of work that was fuelled in part by the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol that he was famous for ingesting. How else would anyone have come up with novels like Naked Lunch? Fortunately, amid the haze of substance highs and lows, his insights remained sharp as the transgressive artist broke free of the constraints molding the work of the rest of his generation. Cities of the Red Night, based on a crazy idea about a virus, was published in 1981 when AIDS was being given a name, while City of Dead Roads brought to life the first gay western.
Subtitled William Burroughs on the Road, this great documentary gives a fascinating insight into the experimental novelist who had a huge influence on writers and thinkers in the second half of the twentieth century. The documentary reveals that this ‘grandpa from hell’ was also a talented visual artist, filmmaker and performer. Beautifully shot, the documentary makers interview friends and scholars and utilise footage of Burroughs reading his works in the latter part of his life to a new generation of admirers.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Burroughs fan or not, because you certainly will be after seeing Words of Advice – just one of many interesting documentaries (and films) coming to Perth for the Revelation Film Festival. Screening at the Astor Cinema July 3-13, you can check out www.revelationfilmfest.org for times and to see what other exciting films are on offer.
Directed by Lars Movin & Steen Rasmussen. Not yet rated.
