Let's celebrate February 14th in a slightly offbeat way, with a classic screwball comedy by George Cukor and a tormented ride through Charles Bukowski's youth by Barbet Schroeder. In the former, an infernal trio (Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and James Stewart) try to untangle their feelings, while in the latter, a pair of magnificent losers (Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway) are consumed in the City of Angels. In both, love and alcohol compete to turn heads.
In competition for the Palme d'Or at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival
Barfly was scripted by Charles Bukowski at the request of Barbet Schroeder. In this semi-autobiographical story, Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's fictional alter ego, is an alcoholic writer-poet with little ambition. He meets Wanda, whose life is as chaotic as his own, and their worlds collide, between affection, intoxication and brutality.
Barbet Schroeder
Barbet Schroeder is a French-Swiss director and producer who began his career in the 1960s working with filmmakers of the French New Wave such as Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, and Éric Rohmer. He worked with Rohmer as an assistant and co-founded Les Films du Losange with him in 1962. He transitioned into directing films with More (1969) and La Vallée (1972), both featuring a musical soundtrack composed and performed by Pink Floyd. The success of Barfly (1987) earned him recognition, leading him to direct Reversal of Fortune (1990), which gained attention at the Oscars. He went on to direct several films in the United States, including Single White Female (1992).
_cropped.jpg){kind=link}