Naked Lunch

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Naked Lunch ★★★ 1991 (R)

Whacked-out movie based on William S. Burroughs's autobiographical account of drug abuse, homosexuality, violence, and weirdness set in the drug-inspired land called Interzone. Hallucinogenic images are carried to the extreme: typewriters metamorphose into beetles, bloblike creatures with sex organs scurry about, and characters mainline insecticide. Some of the characters are clearly based on writers of the Beat generation, including Jane and Paul Bowles, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac. 117m/C VHS, DVD . CA GB Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider, Monique Mercure, Nicholas (Nick) Campbell, Michael Zelniker, Robert A. Silverman, Joseph Scorsiani; D: David Cronenberg; W: David Cronenberg; C: Peter Suschitzky; M: Howard Shore. Genie ‘92: Adapt. Screenplay, Art Dir./Set Dec., Cinematog., Director (Cronenberg), Film, Sound, Support. Actress (Mercure); N.Y. Film Critics ‘91: Screenplay, Support. Actress (Davis); Natl. Soc. Film Critics ‘91: Director (Cronenberg), Screenplay.