Conte de la folie ordinaire

Tales of Ordinary Madness is the first film to be based on a book by Charles Bukowski and focuses on the story of one man as he descends into a life of loose women and alcohol. I have not read the book that this is based on so I don't know how it compares to the source material; but as a movie, it's very good and I was surprised to find that the writer himself did not approve of the film. The plot is fairly straight forward in the way that it focuses on just a single character; but the film changes often and this odyssey is a long way from a commercial movie and thus is not for all tastes. Our central character is Charles Serking; a writer who also happens to be an alcoholic. He goes out looking for booze and women and finds both inside a seedy Hollywood. The story really starts when Charles meets a prostitute with a penchant for cutting herself named Cass. He brings her home to meet his ex-wife and have sex; but it's not long before he begins on a downward spiral of depression and turns to the drink for comfort.

This film presents a completely downtrodden view of the world and director Marco Ferreri completely succeeds in creating a dirty and sleazy atmosphere for everything to take place in. There's plenty of full frontal nudity and sex in the film and it's all portrayed as being very dirty and thus is not erotic at all. The style of the film is excellently matched by a stunning performance from Ben Gazzara in the lead role. The actor fits into this role amazingly well and always convinces as the central character. The film doesn't hold back when it comes to showing things such as nudity either, although it's all done in such a 'matter of fact' way that sometimes the film is not even shocking. The female lead is taken by the stunning Ornella Muti, who is a real beauty and convinces alongside Gazzara. The film feels too smart to not have a point, and while the substance comes from the central character and his plight; there's not really a defining point to the film. Overall, Tales of Ordinary Madness is a film that is well worth seeking for the cult fanatic and I can recommend it.

Just about everybody seems to hate 'Tales Of Ordinary Madness' even Charles Bukowski himself. I can't see why. For me it's an extraordinary movie just as good, if not better than, 'Barfly'. Director Marco Ferreri also made the unforgettable 'Blow-Out' ('La Grande Bouffe') another overlooked gem. Both movies are disturbing, poetic and very beautiful. Cassavetes fave Ben Gazzara is the perfect choice to play Bukowski substitute Charles Serking. He gives an utterly brilliant performance, his best along with 'The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie', another love-it-or-hate-it movie. Ornella Muti plays Cass, a self-destructive prostitute he falls in love with. Now Muti is just about the most beautiful actress I've ever seen in my life so I can see why someone would have a problem with her being cast in such a role. It may be unrealistic but she's convincing in a difficult part, and she's just mesmerizing to look at! An added bonus is cult fave Susan Tyrrell ('Fat City', 'Bad', 'Flesh & Blood', 'Cry-Baby',etc.) in the supporting cast playing a typically bent character for her. 'Tales Of Madness' is slow and meandering and anecdotal so people who prefer straightforward, simplistic Hollywood movies will hate it. But if you enjoy Bukowski's work or Hubert Selby Jr's check this movie out as I'm sure you'll be impressed.

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.

Only very rarely are two artists as in sync as Charles Bukowski and Marco Ferreri. Both men devoted their careers to exploring the beauty and bleakness of society's underbelly and the disillusioned souls who call it home. It should come as no surprise then that Ferreri's adaptation of Bukowski's "Erections, Ejaculation, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness" is every bit as unflinching and honest as its source material.

Tales Of Ordinary Madness begins with Charles (played by Ben Gazzara) reading a poem to a group of disinterested students. After stumbling off stage in a drunken stupor, Charles meets a 12 year old girl and promptly fondles her breasts. This is the first in a long line of disturbing sexual encounters that take place during the film. Other examples include Charles' brief obsession with Vera, a woman who asks to be beaten with a belt and claims to "love being raped". Charles also sleeps with Vera's obese next door neighbour and in one of the film's most confronting scenes, pushes his head between the woman's legs in a literal attempt to return to the womb. The film reaches a turning point when Charles meets Cass (Ornella Muti), a prostitute as self-destructive as she is beautiful, and slowly begins to fall in love with her.

Ferreri has crafted a beautifully poetic film about desperate and damaged people. Tales Of Ordinary Madness is never easy to watch but it is always enthralling. Much of the credit for this goes to the Bukowski's riveting source material and Ferreri's obvious affection for it. Marco Ferreri's distinctive use of unusual camera angles and surreal imagery are mostly missing from this film. In fact, Ferreri's direction is expertly restrained in an obvious attempt to recreate Bukowski's minimalist prose cinematically.

This sense of restraint is shared by Ferreri's impressive cast. Ben Gazzara is striking as Charles. His brave performance captures both the torment and underlying humanity that shapes Charles' journey. Ornella Muti had some of her most memorable roles in Ferreri films and she gives another impressive performance here as Cass. The scene where she puts a safety pin through her cheek is simply unforgettable. My only qualm with her casting is that she is perhaps too beautiful to be realistic as a low class prostitute. Susan Tyrrell also shines as trashy Vera. This was just one of a string of eccentric roles that made Susan a cult favourite in the early 80s.

Tales Of Ordinary Madness has been made with skill, care and deep empathy for its characters. This film does not quite match the brilliance of Ferreri's "La Derniere Femme" but it comes very close. This is highly recommended to both Bukowski and Ferreri fans.

Neither Bukowski nor Marco Ferreri's film will shock the audience any more. This is a grim tale, but told in an exciting way with the enigmatic Gazarra and the superb Ornella Muti in front of the camera, backed by legendary Italians, like production designer Dante Ferretti (who worked, among others, with Fellini and Pasolini, and recently bedazzled movie-goers with 'Titus') and D.O.P. Tonino Delli Colli ('The Good, the Bad and The Ugly'; 'Histoires Extraordinaires') A great film, some years ahead of its time, so now truly not to be missed.