Naked Lunch forms a neat diptych with Cronenberg’s previous film Dead Ringers as an analysis of misogyny, and like the previous film it was accused of being misogynistic.

Thomas had recently produced an adaptation of Paul’s novel The Sheltering Sky, but he still allowed Cronenberg to treat these characters as harshly as the plot required. The biggest advantage the Criterion release has is the substantially better compression, which has eliminated the edge shimmer present on the Italian release. Booklet - illustrated booklet featuring reprinted pieces by films critic Janet Maslin, director Chris Rodley, critic and novelist Gary Indiana, and William S. He speakes to actual relationships between Burroughs and authors Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Paul Bowles and how these inspired him for the film.

There’s also a booklet with new writing from Sargeant and Vanessa Morgan, plus archive writing from Chris Rodley and Cronenberg himself; enough to feed anyone’s addiction to facts about this strange, unique film. Digitally there are no compression issues, and the original source is clean and bright, with a light filmic grain that give life to the image which is simply wonderful.

While it would be futile to deny that drugs are a central theme of Burroughs’s work, Cronenberg’s film looks fresher for avoiding the cliches of heroin chic. It is a companion piece more than it is an adaptation, and a Cronenberg film at least as much as a Burroughs one. This review by film critic Janet Maslin originally appeared in the December 27, 1991, edition of the New York Times, and appears by permission of the author. The novel still had enough outlaw cool for the film adaptation to be a more commercial proposition than it might seem. It was inspired by a book which many believed was unfilmable because it is essentially a bizarre summation of drug-induced hallucinations and fantasies.flushed red-orange appearance that the Criterion version has, and which Arrow's 1080 presentation tends not to emphasize quite as much. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring reprinted pieces by films critic Janet Maslin, director Chris Rodley, critic and novelist Gary Indiana, and William S. Cronenberg’s film reduces Benway to a memorable extended cameo but the message still comes through loud and clear, particularly in Weller’s haunted, obsessive performance. In the case of the Arrow disc, it means using a 4K restoration and two discs’ worth of mostly new bonus features to take you back to a time which, while more recent, seems even more distant: a time when something as weird as Naked Lunch could be an event movie.

It’s easy to see how Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch baffled so many in 1991, but now that initially confused viewers can immediately find detailed information about what the hell they’ve just watched it’s more likely that the film will connect, especially with those sufficiently intrigued to commit to multiple viewings. Cronenberg’s adaptation of Burroughs’ novel, Naked Lunch, was criminally undervalued by the studio resulting in a box-office bomb when it was released, however, it has garnered a cult following because of its unusual subject matter, weird structure, incoherence, score, performances and overall inscrutability. The time is absolutely right, then, for a comprehensive special edition of the film and Arrow Films have obliged with this terrific two disc release which gives viewers all the necessary information to get the most out of the film and then some.This intrigue needs to be massaged, like yellow powder into a beetle bum, until it grows like a mugwump’s cranial appendage.

encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. Cronenberg, for his part, also praises the use of practical effects over CGI, even while being humble about some of the results. But when he and his wife Joan (Judy Davis, Barton Fink) discover the hallucinatory properties of the powder he uses to kill bugs, they become hooked, and their world is changed forever. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item.

The picture is well detailed with sublime colouring, really intensifying the heat, with a gorgeous black level and strong highlights in the white scale. Naked Lunch was shot on 35mm film using Panavision cameras and for this release has had a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative overseen by director of photography Peter Suschitzky and approved by director David Cronenberg, from which this UHD is sourced. Instead of trying to get her off the powder, Bill decides to experiment with it and see if it is as good as Joan claims. Many people will come off the back of a viewing of Naked Lunch with a tiny hint of intrigue flickering below their assaulted senses. For those not familiar with Burroughs’ life or his body work, both he and Weller go into great detail about how the film is a pastiche of prose and real life incidents.