Marketic
It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
mark.waltz
Perhaps too surrealistic for my provincial taste, this just left me cold and disgusted by its hideous use of revolting visuals to represent all sorts of symbolic repression. "Robo Cop" Peter Weller is a rather dour exterminator with writing ambitions whose wife finds herself addicted to his particular kind of bug spray. She takes him on a trip which results in his going on the run for her murder and facing psychological retribution for his latent and often poetic attempts to avoid his homosexuality. This brings him from gay old New York to exotic and perverted Morocco where the bug powder is overflowing and young boys seem available on every street corner...inside the Casbah.Disgusting but often fascinating visually, this was mesmerizing for its avant garde performances especially Weller, Judy Davis (in multiple roles), Roy Schneider and Ian Holm. A very pretty Julian Sands is enticing as one of Weller's possible liaisons. But every time I get drawn into the underlying themes, I find myself turning away every time a huge bug appears, especially one which appears to talk through its anus. The most revolting moment happens when Weller comes across Sands ravishing the sweet young street boy inside a cage, seemingly devouring him like a preying mantis. Whether an analogy of the dangers of drug use or perverted sexuality, this takes time to grab the average audience not expecting such an emotionally exhausting pseudo film noir. During my days working at a video store, I knew that David Cronenberg's movies would be a feast for the eyes yet psychologically challenging, and having avoided this one for years I prove myself to be right. It's ironic that living in New York I have no problem killing a bug even with my bare hand, but watching what goes on in this film just left me repulsed. Watching this while studying the work of the remarkable Judy Davis, I noticed how much even at this point in her career that she resembles Judy Garland when she was immortalized playing her in a brilliant television movie. But this is closer to her black comedy of the same time, "Barton Fink", and well I could get through that film with no issue, it took all the patience in the world for me to make it through the end of this. I did get a kick out of one strangle looking creature which reminded me of "The Tingler".
Xander Khudanich
I think Naked Lunch is one of the best movies I have ever seen (I've seen a lot of them). The film is based on the book "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs. For yet with books by this author I do not know, but I think in the future, be sure to read his work. Filming a movie based on the book of the eccentric writer, Canadian director David Cronenberg, prone in his work to the constant shocking, decided to mix with original work of reference to the rest of creation of the author, as well as elements of the biographyWilliam Burroughs. Get in the end surreal mixture is able to confuse anyone.
Jafar Iqbal
An exterminator becomes addicted to the substance that he uses to kill bugs, and accidentally ends up murdering his own wife. This leads to him becoming involved in a secret government plot in a port town in North Africa, seemingly orchestrated by giant bugs.William S. Burroughs is one of those three influential writers known collectively as the Beat Generation (the other two being Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac), and this film – and the book its adapted from – is one of the reasons why. Partly autobiographical, partly the absurdity of Burroughs imagination, 'Naked Lunch' is an excellent film.As you watch the film, it's difficult not to be taken aback by its sheer zaniness and surreal nature; however, it's fascinating to find out that, under those layers of fantasy, Burroughs is recounting stories from his own life. Drug addiction; the accidental murder of his wife; the need to escape from the glare of city life – these were all things that Burroughs endured himself and subsequently penned down. But in pure Burroughs fashion, the author adds some mutant bugs and a crazy plot to spice it up.And then you add Cronenberg to the equation, who himself is famed for his outrageous and sometimes ridiculous films. Cronenberg manages to bring Burroughs' vision to life in a very strong way, keeping the film moving at a frenetic pace and never really letting the viewer feel like they finally have a grasp of what is going on. At each turn, the film takes a new, unexpected twist, and we're all the better for it.But the best thing about the film is Paul Weller. Between typewriter-shaped cockroaches and insane hallucinogenic experiences, Weller somehow instils a level of gravitas. Maybe it's his everyman good looks, or his ability to seemingly move through every scene with a quiet presence, but Weller (as lead character Bill) makes you believe in the world. Through everything that he does, you stay on his side, and that gives this strange film it's emotional core.This is not Cronenberg's best film, I think, but 'Naked Lunch' definitely ranks up there as one of the better ones. The absurdity of it all had the potential to be off-putting; but bring together the intimacy of Burroughs' writing, the imaginative Cronenberg direction, and Weller's grounded performance, and you have a brilliantly made movie. Watch it.
KineticSeoul
Now this can be a difficult film to sit through for some and may even come off a bit slow. It's thought provoking and you really need to focus on the madness of this film in order to figure out what is going on when it comes to the story. I couldn't figure out entirely what was going on after watching it the first time and I was heavily paying attention. Now some people compare this to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" which is a more popular film that revolves around the side effects of drugs. And basically is the more popular film between the two since it has Johnny Depp, it's more easy to follow despite the craziness and it's just more of a entertaining film overall. But I am gonna have to appreciate "Naked Lunch" and the ballsy directions David Cronenberg went with this flick. It's a very bizarre and weird movie all the way through, even when it comes to the characters and not just the premise and background of the story. The difficult part might be to differentiate what is hallucination and just fantasy and what is real. Even if some parts may appear like hallucinations it can be really happening just not how the protagonist views it as. The weirdness may start off overwhelming and you don't really get exactly what is going on, but as it progressed I got used to it fairly early on. Even if it feels like it's all over the place a lot of times. Since it has a lot of plots and layers going on at once. This isn't a movie I would watch again, but it's a weird trip that I can see why some people might appreciate and enjoy and others wouldn't. I personally think I liked it but just not immensely or anything like that. And also found it slow despite the strange imagery that actually really does connect with the story. But a movie driven by expression system, this one does quite a good job while blending in with the madness. It actually made me want to read the book this movie is based on, since I heard the book is even stranger. And since this is movie is based on a personal novel by William Burroughs made it more interesting as well.7.3/10
