Chamblee54

I found a copy of Factotum a movie based on Factotum, by Charles Bukowski. The F-book details the life of Henry Chinaski, who bears a striking resemblance to Herr Bukowski. I finally learned how to pronounce Chinaski. I always thought it was China ski, but it turns out to be more like Chuck nasty. Which is a good way to describe what’s his name.
Hank is working is working with a jackhammer when the movie starts. The boss tells him to go make some deliveries. Hank drives off with the truck plugged into the electric power outlet, and drags the wire along. First stop he makes is a bar. The boss finds him there, and fires him. I don’t remember this scene in the in the book. It’s kind of far-fetched, because operating a jackhammer is a semi-skilled profession. Other than drinking and smoking and f******, Hank does not have any skills.
A few minutes later, Hank is at a desk writing. The movie Hank writes left handed. I asked google about this, and got this answer in a forum: “So maybe, Bukowski was going to be left handed, but ended up becoming right handed. He certainly signed autographs with his right, as seen in the footage from the Hamburg reading in 1978.” This contradicts Ham on Rye:“My spoon was bent so that if I wanted to eat I had to pick the spoon up with my right hand. If I picked it up with my left hand, the spoon bent away from my mouth. I wanted to pick the spoon up with my left hand.”
“During my lunch period one day I noticed an intense and intelligent looking Chicano boy reading that day’s entries in the newspaper. “ This is one of the more uplifting parts of the book. Of course, the actor playing Manny in the movie is anything but Chicano … unless it is Chicano, Alabama. So they drive like crazy to the track, and park in a handicapped spot. The book is set in 1945.
Manny and Hank have a terrific bit of dialog: “You married, Manny?” “No way.” “Women?” “Sometimes. But it never lasts.” “What’s the problem?” “A woman is a full-time job. You have to choose your profession.” “I suppose there is an emotional drain.” “Physical too. They want to fuck night and day.” “Get one you like to fuck.” “Yes, but if you drink or gamble they think it’s a put-down of their love.” “Get one who likes to drink, gamble and fuck.” “Who wants a woman like that?”
It is obvious that the movie is not set in 1945. The bar advertises miller lite. … I am pausing it at 48 minutes, with 44 to go. … Hank has met a lady in a bar. She is living off the cantankerous old rich man drunk named either Wilbur or Pierre. “There’s one guy been bothering the girls, he picks them up, then takes them to his place, strips them down and cuts crossword puzzles into their bodies with a pen knife.” “I’m not him.” “Then there are guys who fuck you and then chop you up into little pieces. They find part of your asshole stuffed up a drainpipe in Playa Del Rey and your left tit in a trashcan down at Oceanside…” “I stopped doing that years ago. Lift your skirt higher.”
Hank is always smoking a cigarette, and yet you never see him light one. Maybe he’s just has these magic movie cigarettes, that just always just appear on command. Or they have a person on the set whose job it was to always keep a cigarette lit. The cigarette always seems to be a certain length, and a certain amount of ash. Maybe it is a continuity thing, or an artificial ciggie. … I was wrong about lighting the cigarettes. Hank lights one on Wilbur’s yacht, and then when he is having breakfast with his father. The thing with dad happened at the start of the book. The movie is not going in sequence. It’s just sort of impressionistic. That’s how a drunk’s memory works.
We get to the part where shackjob Jan gives Hank the crabs. There is a shot of Matt Dillon’s butt as he walks away from the camera. (Matt Dillon plays Hank) His tush looks pretty good, not at all like what you would think Hank would look like, even at 25, when the story is set. Matt was 40 when this movie was made. It is doubtful that the well preserved 40 yo can convincingly play a 25 yo degenerate. Maybe it is Matt Dillon’s legendary penis that makes the difference.
This is obviously a 2005 set, with modern phones and SUVs on the road. However, in 2005, smoking was an outdoor activity only. These people light up whenever and wherever, like people did in 1945. It is as if the story is 1945 people set in the middle of 2005 California. Hank’s working holidays in New Orleans and Miami are not mentioned. The movie was set in Minnesota, which is not California.
So the movie ends, as Hank philosophizes about life while watching a pole dancer. The post mortem spirit of Hank drives a twitter account praising rotten roast beef. @nihilist_arbys “Make no mistake, no one cares about you and when you’re down in a ditch covered in six varietals of diseased piss and need friends the most, that’s when they’ll prove your ultimate truth: the world is dark and you are alone and you’ll die as you lived: alone and scared Eat arbys”
Goodreads has some tasteful one-star reviews of the book. Make your own entertainment. … Wilbur – August 1, 2019 _ “If I could bring back someone from the dead, I would bring back Bukowski just to send him to hell again. This is the worst book I’ve ever read written by the most overrated, crass, disgusting excuse of a human and author and I want my time back. negative infinity stars” … Karen – September 14, 2017 _ “Very male. White guy gets drunk all the time, all hot women want him, he’s bored with all his jobs. What a hard life. #sorrynosympathy”
Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a 74% rating. … Mar 26, 2012 _ “I miss the whole point of this movie, and rather then watch it a second time, I rather have pins stuck in my eyeballs, The best part of the movie was the line about the wine nats on the unemployment office. Could Matt Dilon fall any lower.” … Jun 6, 2012 _ “po knjizi od bukowskog, neznan kako mi je ovo promaklo.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Bath Suit Fashion Parade Seal Beach CA, July 14, 1918, photographed by M.F. Weaver.