Barfly

Year: 1987 - Zeotrope Studios  Director: Barbet Schroeder  Screenplay: Charles Bukowski  Starring: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, J. C. Quinn, Frank Stallone, and Jack Nance  Cinematography: Robby Müller

The opening setting is the Golden Horn, a dark and seedy neighborhood bar in Los Angeles - the kind of place where a person can hide from the glaring light of the world. Henry frequents the bar because it is near where he lives, and because Jim, the daytime bartender (played by J. C. Quinn), likes him and gives him free drinks. The first look we get of Henry is in the alley behind The Golden Horn. He is fighting Eddie (Frank Stallone), the night bartender at the Golden Horn, and Henry is losing badly. Eddie has the clear support of the spectators, which consists of the bar's patrons; mostly old drunks and a couple of hookers. Even though Henry is bleeding badly and in obvious pain, he continues to goad Eddie on, until Eddie knocks Henry unconscious. As the patrons all file back into the tavern, congratulating Eddie on the way, Henry is left in the alley, uncared-for and friendless.  Henry fights Eddie because Eddie represents everything that Henry hates.  Eddie is well-built, handsome, macho; a man's man and a lady's man.  Henry, in contrast, walks slightly hunched over as if he were a man in his eighties and not as one in his late twenties. His clothes are ragged and dirty; his face unshaven and his hair is greasy. His knuckles are bruised and scabby from his fights with Eddie . Henry fights Eddie not out of personal animosity as much as from Henry's need to justify and validate his own existence.  A scene that wonderfully illustrates Henry's attitude is where we see Henry on his way to The Golden Horn to deliver some sandwiches to a couple of patrons. Along the way, Henry stops to admire a fiercely barking and snarling dog locked in a parked car.  "Beautiful!" Henry says to himself. That small scene reveals much about why Henry fights Eddie. In the bar, Henry steals half a sandwich from one of the patrons, a heavy-set businessman.  "Fuel!" Henry exclaims, convinced that a few good meals is all he needs to defeat Eddie. The fact that he is eating meat meant for a businessman is the psychological fuel Henry needs to beat the arrogant , posturing Eddie.

Henry lives in a run-down tenement. His apartment is sparsely and poorly furnished. Up until this point in the film, the audience knows little about Henry except that he is a dirty drunk and bum. We soon find that when Henry is not in the bar drinking, he is in his apartment writing while listening to classical music. We also find that a detective (Jack Nance) is stalking him. After eating some food stolen from a neighbor's refrigerator, Henry goes back to The Golden Arm and goads Eddie into another fight. This time, to the shock of everyone, Henry beats Eddie. This is a turning point in Henry's fortunes. Henry is given a few dollars by Jim, who was the only person to bet on Henry to win. After washing himself at a dripping fire hydrant, Henry goes to another bar to get a few drinks. There he meets Wanda. Wanda, portrayed by Faye Dunaway, is a woman in her forties. She is a barfly like Henry, although she drinks for different reasons. Wanda is somewhat pretty and looks as if she once lived an elegant life from the appearance of her old, but onetime fashionable, clothes. The bartender tells Henry that most men shun Wanda because she is crazy. This intrigues Henry and he buys her a drink. Henry and Wanda hit it off, and Wanda invites Henry back to her place. After a brief flight from the police and a drunken night of passion, it is decided that Henry should move in with Wanda.

The relationship between Henry and Wanda is the best thing about this movie. Through their stormy relationship we see the tender and loving side of Henry. Henry falls for Wanda right away. As with many people who drink, their relationship becomes larger in their minds than what it really is. They both share a common interest in drinking, however; they also have a mutual respect for each other. Wanda accepts Henry for who he is without asking him to improve. When Henry leaves Wanda at the Golden Horn to look for a job so that they can continue to drink, Wanda is afraid to let him go.  While Henry is being interviewed for a job, Wanda ends up going home with Eddie (because Eddie has a fifth of bourbon). Later, when Henry confronts Wanda back at their apartment an argument ensues.  Wanda unknowingly nearly kills Henry after striking him repeatedly as she leaves the apartment. Hours after he comes to, in a drunken rage, Henry throws all of Wanda's clothes out of the third story apartment window. When Wanda returns the next day, he hurriedly cleans up the place and makes no mention of the extent of his injury or hurt she has caused him. He uses the whole episode as inspiration for his writing. This illustrates the passion Henry has for writing. Henry writes to validate his existence, much like his boxing. The adversity he experiences is the fuel that feeds his creative fire. His drinking is a way of amplifying his passions.  He loves Wanda because to him a woman who drinks as he does, is a woman who is raw, honest, and full of life.

The detective that has been following Henry actually works for a young, wealthy literary magazine publisher, Tully, played by Alice Krige. She reveals herself to Henry at the apartment while Wanda is out looking for a job. Henry had been sending some of his stories to her magazine and she was so taken by them that she hired a private investigator to find Henry so that she could meet him. She pays Henry for a story the magazine will publish and takes him to her lavishly expensive mansion. Tully cannot reconcile in her mind the stories she loves and the man who is responsible for their creation. She drinks with Henry and ends up sleeping with him. She offers to let him live in her guest house so that he would be free to write all of the time. He refuses, which she takes as a personal rejection because she cannot believe that given the opportunity and money, Henry would rather live like a bum. Henry feels that his gritty lifestyle is the source of his writing.

When Henry returns to Wanda, his notions about his lifestyle and Wanda is confirmed.  Wanda is jealous which puts Henry in great spirits. He shows Wanda the large roll of cash he has from selling his story.  The two head down to The Golden Horn to celebrate. As Wanda and Henry enter the bar, Henry is greeted by the patrons like a conquering hero. In a way, Henry feels like one. He has bested Eddie in a fight; has a woman he loves with him; resisted the temptations of a wealthy beautiful woman; and has plenty of cash with which to buy alcohol. Eddie is tending bar and is planning to fight Henry. Henry antagonizes Eddie by buying round after round of drinks for the entire bar. Tully enters the bar to talk to Henry. Wanda suspects that Tully is the woman that Henry had spent the night with. Enraged she and Tully punch and tumble on the barroom floor. Henry looks on in total bliss at the raw display of emotions. Days before he couldn't get a "woman for more than ten minutes." Now he has two fighting over him. As Tully leaves, Henry gives the victorious Wanda a kiss. Tully was in love with Henry Chinaski the artist. Wanda is in love with Henry the man.  Henry asks Wanda that if he loses to Eddie, will she go home with Eddie. She assures him that she will stay with Henry. The movie ends with Eddie and Henry exiting the back of the bar to the alley. This time Henry is the clear favorite of the spectators, their champion and hero.

This movie is well acted and directed. However, with Bukowski's great script, it would be difficult to not have a great movie. The film is full of memorable scenes and lines that leave a powerful impression on the viewer. Henry Chinaski is a sometimes autobiographical figure in many of Bukowski's works. The portrait of Henry we get is not sentimental or moralistic because it is drawn from Bukowski's own experiences. Henry and Wanda are presented with all of their faults with no apologies or excuses, which makes this movie very compelling.