Burroughs: The Movie (1983)
Directed by Howard Brookner

Film Review

Burroughs: the Movie is an American documentary film first released in 1983. It was directed by Howard Brookner in close collaboration with the writer William S. Burroughs.  It also includes contributions from William S. Burroughs Jr, Mortimer Burroughs, Jackie Curtis and James Grauerholz.  It is a Citifilmworks production, produced by Howard Brookner (his first feature) and distributed by Citifilmworks.

Our rating for Burroughs: the Movie is: excellent - an unmissable portrait of a great artist crafted with sensitivity, skill and daring. It is an auspicious start to Brookner's career, which would sadly be cut short by his death in 1989.

Film Synopsis

William S. Burroughs was arguably the most influential and original writer of the 20th century. One of the defining figures of the Beat Generation, he became an emblem of America's counterculture movement of the 1960s.  In making this in-depth documentary, which began as a university thesis, first-time director Howard Brookner had unprecedented access to Burroughs for five years, during which time the two men developed a close and lasting friendship.  Brookner's film is more than just a compelling profile of a great author, it also offers some incredibly revealing insights into American society and culture across several decades.  The film was completed with financial support from the BBC, which first screened it on television in the UK as part of their Arena series in 1983.  Having been all-but forgotten, the film has recently been restored after a fund-raising campaign organised by Brookner's nephew Aaron.  It was re-released to great acclaim, on the hundredth anniversary of Burroughs' birth, in 2014.