For Cronenberg, Burroughs’ Naked Lunch served as starting point. The director also uses bits from Burroughs other books throughout, particularly Junky and Exterminator!, all of which are peppered with real events from Burroughs’ life. Burroughs really did accidentally fatally shoot his wife,
It’s 1953, and William “Bill” Lee (Peter Weller) is an exterminator living in New York City. His wife, Joan (Judy Davis) is severely addicted to the powder he uses for asphyxiating cockroaches; preferring to inject it into her breast. Early on, she blows on an unwanted cockroach which soon dies from a whiff of her poisoned breath. It’s not long before Bill gives the powder a try, and he and Joan spend their evenings shooting up. When they run out of the drug, Bill visits Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider), who introduces him to a new kind of high: “Dark Meat,” made from the flesh of the gigantic, aquatic Brazilian centipede.
While the “bug dust” induces a nice high, it brings Bill to the edge of madness; with each hit, Bill wants more. Under the influence, Bill believes he sees large beetles and alien figures that voice strange demands to him. He listens, but doesn’t always agree with these ideas, and when a beetle tells Bill to doubt his wife, he smashes it to bits. High on “Dark Meat,” Bill and Joan decide to play a game of William Tell. By the end of the game, Joan lay slumped on the floor with a hole in her head.
Joan’s death finds Bill on the run from the police; forcing him to travel to the “Interzone,” a Mediterranean-type village. Burroughs always said that his wife’s death was a major turning point in his career. Cronenberg uses her death as the event that catapults Bill into a full-fledged addict and writer. Following the instructions of a greenish reptile called a Mugwump, Bill starts filing filing reports from Interzone on his Clark Nova, a portable typewriter that regularly transforms itself into a talking bug while Bill is working. In truth, there is no such place: it and the Mugwumps are just a product of Lee’s drug-fueled imagination. The dispatches he files in these hallucinatory states are actually the writings that would become Naked Lunch.
Naked Lunch is a difficult movie to categorize. It’s unlikely that two people will see the film in exactly the same way. For me, the movie is a parable for William S. Burroughs’ life. Given the constant hallucinations, the eclectic characters, and the nonstop changes in plot, it’s nearly impossible to truly understand what’s happening onscreen. Perhaps that was precisely the point Cronenberg was making: this isn’t a story, as much as it is a brain, juggling thoughts against fervent invaders. Right or wrong, much of the fun Naked Lunch has to offer is in developing your own interpretation of it all.
Framed in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Criterion’s 1080p transfer is absolutely wonderful. Supervised by Cronenberg himself, the level of detail is nothing short of superb. Colors look natural throughout, and vivid when called upon. The overall quality of the transfer is top shelf, with no digital anomalies to speak of. There is a light grain that gives the proceedings a real filmic quality.
The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio sound mix included here serves the film nicely. Dialogue comes through clean and clear. The film’s sometimes strange effects come across the front and surround speakers with accuracy. Howard Shore’s eerie score has been incorporated nicely.
English SDH subtitles are included.
The following special features are available:
- Audio Commentary with Director David Cronenberg and actor Peter Weller: Recorded in Toronto and Los Angeles in 2003, this screen specific commentary is the same one done for Criterion’s DVD release.
- Naked Making Lunch (SD, 48:55) This 1992 documentary, directed by Chris Rodley looks at the production history of Naked Lunch. Featuring interviews with David Cronenberg and William S. Burroughs, actors Judy Davis (Joan Frost/Joan Lee) and Peter Weller (Bill Lee), producer Jeremy Thomas, and special effects supervisor Jim Isaac, amongst others, this is a must-see for fans of the film.
- Special Effects Gallery (HD) The gallery showcases a collection of photographs and artwork detailing the special effects by Chris Walas, Inc., for Naked Lunch. The images are accompanied by an essay by film writer Jody Duncan, which originally appeared in longer form in Cinefex magazine.
- Film Still and Design Sketch Gallery (HD) A gallery of production stills, by set photographer Attila Dory, of the cast and crew at work on the set of Naked Lunch. Also included are design sketches for some of the sets, drawn by art director James McAteer under the supervision of production designer Carol Spider.
- Marketing Materials (9:35, SD) A collection of original marketing materials (Trailer, B-Roll, Featurette, TV Spots)
- William S. Burroughs Reads Naked Lunch (103:05, 1080p) Produced in 1995 for an audio book recording, William S. Burroughs reads from his novel, Naked Lunch. Features music by Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, and Eyvind Kang.
- Photographs of William S. Burroughs by Allen Ginsberg (1080p) Burroughs is shown in New York and Tangiers during the years that he wrote Naked Lunch. Ginsberg himself appears in some of the photos, as do writers Jack Kerouac and Paul Bowles, among others. Ginsberg handwrote captions on some of the photographs, which are transcribed here, unedited.
- Booklet: The 32-page booklet features reprinted pieces by film critic Janet Maslin, critic and novelist Gary Indiana, filmmaker and writer Chris Rodley, and William S.Burroughs
