James Reviews Yony Leyser’s William S. Burroughs: A Man Within [DVD Review]

William S. Burroughs, the beat poet who took the literary world by storm with his novel Naked Lunch gets the documentary treatment with a candid and caring look at his life from not only the people who knew him and loved him most but also from the man himself, in varying times and places of his life, sometimes reciting lines from poems and waxing poetically.

Where does one begin when speaking about Burroughs? A Harvard educated man, who was the heir to an adding machine business which then lost its fortune, he instead got into writing. We get a multitude of talking heads throughout the film, detailing stuff most of us know (how Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Burroughs started the ‘Beat Poetry’ movement) but we get a more intimate look at what made the man tick to the best of their abilities to describe it.

As John Waters says in the film, Burroughs became famous even though he was all the things you didn’t speak about in public. He was gay and a junkie and shot his wife (which is of course referenced in Naked Lunch). We get some wonderful dialogue from Peter Weller, who played a character based on Burroughs in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Naked Lunch, speaking about his interaction with the man on the set of the film. In a great moment, Burroughs says to him that any vice is ‘junk’, and this stuck with the actor since, which of course is Burroughs referencing his own drug addiction and his landmark book Junkie.

Interlaced throughout are great snippets of Burroughs’ own home movies and experimental films, especially when he was a young man (never truly looking young at any moment of his life, though). Some things are glossed over, like the shooting of his wife, which according to him, made him the writer he became. But that is old news. Yony Leyser is a Burroughs devotee, which is a good thing in this case. It’s a complimentary film, of course, but only as complimentary as Burroughs would ever allow people to be of him. A difficult man to understand, the public was always confused by what he would do next.

Patti Smith admits to having a crush on him, and in a sweet and tender moment, she sings a couple of songs she would sing to Burroughs, songs that he would ask for her to sing to him. You can see the love she had for the man. We get insight into a few of his loves, one for Allen Ginsberg, that most say was sadly never truly reciprocated. Also with surrealist artist Bryon Gysin, who showed Burroughs a new way to write, the Dadaist cut-out method which helped him create three books.

Throughout the film, we get amazing stop motion animation from Aimee Goguen and Dillon Markey, which are as abstract as the writer’s own words. Between interviews and archival footage, it’s a great way to segue into other parts of his life. With a subtle score mostly created by Sonic Youth, it keeps the film rolling and never stumbles.

Oscilloscope shows why, time and time again, they are the Criterion of documentary films. They are consistently putting out interesting films, such as Oscar hopeful Exit Through the Gift Shop and it doesn’t stop with documentaries. Howl and the soon to be released Rare Exports give us a bit of everything in the film world, and that’s an exciting film company in my opinion. The DVD they’re putting out is an amazing packed affair, with a Q&A with director Leyser at BFI London Film Festival in 2010, deleted scenes featuring Burroughs’ own art, home movies with Patti Smith, Steve Buscemi, Allen Ginsberg and others, Sonic Youth visiting Burroughs’ home in Lawrence, Kansas and so much more. And once again, they’ve made an amazing package for the DVD, with various pictures from his life and two pieces written for the film, one from Talking Head maestro David Byrne and the other from punk king Richard Hell.

Not to forget the other amazing contributors to the film, Gus Van Sant, Iggy Pop, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and many others show why this man was and will always be a natural treasure. Even though he would never want to be called one and would probably shoot you if you said so. Highly recommended, be it for Burroughs fans, people who are just curious about an interesting life or fans of well made documentaries.

9/10