Conte de la folie ordinaire

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.

After the lecture of a poem to a group of bored students, the alcoholic and sex addicted poet Charles Serking (Ben Gazzara) meets a young girl in the backstage and caresses her breasts. Then he travels to Los Angeles, and has kinky sex with bizarre women. When Charles meets the gorgeous self-destructive prostitute Cass (Ornella Muti) in a bar, he finds his soul mate and falls in love for her.

Marco Ferreri is one of the weirdest directors that I know, and this "Storie di Ordinaria Follia" gives a perfect theme for him to make a good movie about of two self-destructive souls. I do not know the work of the underground poet Charles Bukowski, and actually I just know a little about his biography based on the movie "Factotum" that I hated. But in "Storie di Ordinaria Follia", Ornella Muti is on the top of her awesome beauty and her performance in the role of a tormented character is impressive. Ben Gazzara has also a stunning performance in the role of Charles Serking, a man near to madness that survives drinking booze and having dirty sex. However, this movie is only recommended for very specific audiences. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Crônicas de um Amor Louco" ("Chronicles of a Crazy Love")

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.

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.

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.