Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981)

Spectacularly sleazy, beautiful, boisterous and sexy, this is the real Bukowski deal, a booze-fueled erotic odyssey by the adventurous Ferreri with the perfectly cast Ben Gazzara as Charles Serking (Bukowski).Ornella Muti, as Serking's sexual muse, is Venus incarnate and turns in a powerhouse performance as Cass, an emotionally damaged whore with a penchant for pain. The scenes of Gazzara swaggering in and out of LA's fleapit bars, apartments and hotel rooms convey a filthy, delirious ambiance that is vividly captured by Tonino Delli Colli's superb cinematography and Dante Ferretti's exquisitely oily production design. This is such an amazing looking film with a thick, steamy, anything-goes atmosphere of lust-ridden anarchy.Much grittier than the accomplished "Barfly" and more watchable than "Love Is A Dog From Hell", the entire affair has an emotional, raw resonance that slavishly captures the Bukowski sensibility and remains consistently perverse in its singular vision of a man enslaved by alcoholic and sexual gluttony.Phillipe Sarde's score is moody and rich, as is Gazzara's breathy voice-over.A masterpiece.

I love Bukowski's work, if I hadn't why would I search out this film? Ben Gazzara did a pretty good job, but, his renditions of poetry were lifeless compared to the real Bukowski, and this took me out of the movie. Also, the film barely scratches the surface of the book that it's based on. Marco Ferreri seems to be a competent enough director, but he doesn't infuse the film with any spark, any charisma. Frankly, I enjoyed "Barfly" much more. True fans of Charles Bukowski would see-thru this film, and would best look elsewhere, or better yet just re-read one of his books.My Grade:D Eye Candy: The beautiful Katya Berger bares all on the beach, Ornela Muti shows her incredible backside, also Tanya Lopert and Susan Tyrell show various amounts of skin

Although not done by David, it would do him proud! Who would have thought the land of oranges and sunshine could produce such an interesting parade of weird and pathetic characters. The juxtaposition of these "lost angels" lives with the pristine, sunlight beaches just makes us all the more sympathetic. All is not well in the land of dreams and this film puts its glaring spotlight on it. This film could have easily have been five ordinary films. Ornella Muti perfectly does Ingrid Bergman and Isabella Rosilini as the object of desire on the outside and the bucket of worms on the inside. There is no real "supporting" cast: They are the movie!

Charles Bukowski is one of the most important men to have ever lived. His work is of the ages and I would put thousands of his passages up against the work of all those writers generally considered great. What all that has to do with this movie is not very much. As a film it falls short of the mark as it wanders like a drunk through the streets trying to give us a snapshot of sorts, a month in the life of the great Charles Bukowski. As for reality, I am sure that the Buk was pretty much drunk all the time and wasted lots of time with dirty women but that was his business. I am just glad that he put in some heavy time at the typewriter. I am also grateful for this film as it provides another document, a bit of proof that Charles Bukowski was real. Ben Gazarra does a nice job painting this particular picture of Chuck but it is not a performance that would alone make this a rental for the upcoming acting students. For a more realistic approach check our Mickey Rourke in Barfly. There is a very beautiful Italian actress (Ornella Muti) in this picture who plays the main love interest. She is worth the price of rental or even a bloated DVD purchase. I doubt that Bukowski ever had a girl this beautiful but that's the movies for ya.