Hollywood by Charles Bukowski
"Hollywood" by Charles Bukowski is a roman à clef that explores the tumultuous journey of writing and producing the film "Barfly," for which Bukowski was the screenwriter. The novel is set primarily in the glamorous yet gritty locales of Beverly Hills and Hollywood, diverging from the more sordid settings of his earlier works. Bukowski crafts a narrative filled with recognizable figures, albeit under altered names, revealing the often chaotic and profit-driven nature of the film industry. Central to the story is the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, who embodies the archetype of a barfly, navigating his own alcoholism while interacting with a cast of similarly flawed characters.
The plot revolves around the challenges of securing funding for the film, highlighting a pervasive theme of greed that Bukowski associates with Hollywood. The comedic elements of the novel stem from its layered structure; it is both a tale of screenplay writing and a reflection on the life of a barfly. Through Chinaski’s eyes, readers encounter a world where alcohol consumption is rampant, shaping the experiences of both the characters and the story itself. Ultimately, as the narrative concludes, Chinaski hints at his next creative endeavor—a novel that will delve into the process of making "Hollywood," further intertwining his life with his art.
Hollywood by Charles Bukowski
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1989
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Hollywood is Bukowski’s version of a subgenre of the novel called a roman à clef or a “novel with a key or secret meaning.” The key will be immediately apparent to anyone who has seen the film Barfly, as the content of the novel Hollywood concerns the difficulties in writing and producing that film, for which Bukowski wrote the screenplay.
Though Bukowski has altered the proper names in the novel, many of them are easily recognizable if the reader uses some imagination. The film Barfly is called The Dance of Jim Beam, and certain well-known foreign directors appear from time to time with names such as Jon-Luc Modard and Wenner Zergog. The major difference between Bukowski’s four previous novels and Hollywood is that most of the action takes place in Beverly Hills and Hollywood rather than the usual sordid neighborhoods of urban Los Angeles. Some of the sleazier film scenes, however, are actually shot in several of Bukowski’s favorite gin mills, which have now become “sets” for the film. The French director Jon Pinchot, in his quest for authenticity, also decided to use the real inhabitants of these places, the barflies themselves, instead of Hollywood actors. Chinaski himself is regularly called in to demonstrate to the actor portraying him exactly how he conducted himself during his habitual barroom brawls.
The plot consists of the endless ups and downs of acquiring funds for producing the film. Bukowski also reveals that greed, and greed alone, constitutes the primary motivation for filmmaking and that producers and backers will do anything to increase profits. He finds that Hollywood has nothing to do with art, truth, or beauty in any form.
The comic aspects of Hollywood work on a number of complex levels because the content of the novel is also its form: It is a novel about writing a screenplay, but it is also a novel written by a barfly trying to write a screenplay about the life of a barfly. Not only is the barfly, Henry Chinaski, drinking to excess and trying to recover long enough to produce some acceptable scenes, but also one of Chinaski’s major complaints is that everyone else involved in the direction, production, and promotion of the film is also debilitated by their alcoholic drinking. Indeed, when Chinaski is first asked what the screenplay is about, he states unequivocally: “A drunk. Lots of drunks.” Later, he adds: “But the whole movie is about drinking.” During an interview just before the preview of the finished film, he summarizes quite clearly his attitude toward drinking:
“Isn’t drinking a disease?”
“Breathing is a disease.”
“Don’t you find drunks obnoxious?”
“Yes, most of them are. So are most teetotalers.”
Finally, Henry honestly admits to himself as he watches his film, The Dance of Jim Beam, in his local theater: “I only wanted to show what strange and desperate lives some drunks live and I was the one drunk I knew best.”
Although Henry Chinaski’s financial situation has improved by the conclusion of the novel, he and his companion, Sarah, still enjoy going to films together, coming home to the five cats, and watching Johnny Carson on television. Sarah asks Henry what he intends to do now that the film is completed, and he responds that he will now write a novel about “writing the screenplay and making the movie.” When asked what he might call the novel, he answers that it will be titled Hollywood.
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