Barfly (film)

Barfly
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBarbet Schroeder
Written byCharles Bukowski
Produced byTom Luddy
Fred Roos
Barbet Schroeder
Starring
CinematographyRobby Müller
Edited byÉva Gárdos
Music byJack Baran
Production
company
Distributed byThe Cannon Group, Inc.
Release date
  • October 16, 1987 (1987-10-16)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[1]
Box office$3.2 million[2]

Barfly is a 1987 American black comedy film directed by Barbet Schroeder and starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway. The film is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles, and it presents Bukowski's alter ego Henry Chinaski. The screenplay, written by Bukowski, was commissioned by the Iranian-born Swiss film director Barbet Schroeder, and it was published (with illustrations by the author) in 1984, when film production was still pending.[3]

The Kino Flo light, now a ubiquitous tool in the film industry, was specially created by Robby Müller's electrical crew for the bathroom scene with Henry and Wanda, which would have been difficult to light using the conventional lampheads available at the time.

The film was "presented by" Francis Ford Coppola and features a cameo by Bukowski. It was entered into the 1987 Cannes Film Festival,[4] where it competed for the Palme d'Or.

  1. ^ "Barfly". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Barfly". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  3. ^ Bukowski, Charles (1984). Barfly: The Continuing Saga of Henry Chinaski (1st ed.). The Pagnet Press. ISBN 978-0920348444.
  4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Barfly". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2009.