Jack Kerouac wrote his second autobiographical novel Big Sur when he was was trying to escape from all the unwelcome attention that he got after he published his big smash novel 'On The Road' a few years earlier (Walter Salles made that into a movie last year). This time its Michael Polish who has undertaken the difficult task of bring Kerouac's words to the big screen in what is a visual treat but a wee bit of cinematic mess.
Kerouac has borrowed the isolated rough cabin in the woods in Big Sur from fellow writer Lawrence Ferlinghetti so that he can get away from it all. At first he revels in the solitude as its a stunningly beautiful location, but very soon he finds the isolation unbearably boring so he hotfoots it back to San Francisco and his arty crowd with their unlimited supply of booze.
After another really pernicious bender he persuades most of his beatnik crowd to come back with him to the cabin so they can continue both their partying and all their literary indulgences. The gang includes Michael McLure, Lew Welch, Phil Whalen and Neal Cassady and his wife Carolyn. Kerouac claims 'I'm really happy for the first time in three years'.
That doesnt however stop him soon going back into the City again where Cassady introduces him to his lover Billie with whom he immediate embarks on a passionate affair. This soon starts to suffer when he starts binge drinking again. To try and escape from all the temptations he persuades Billie to spend some time in the cabin with him. They also take her young son with them, and Lew and his girlfriend too. But by now Kerouac has succumbed to the ravages of alcoholism, suffering mental and emotional delusions, and as he is barely able to get out of the cabin, his relationship with Billie totally disintegrates.
A lot of the scenes are accompanied by a narration by Kerouac from the novel which adds layers of rather intense prose but not much in the way of aiding what little plot there is. What comes so alive on the written page seems to lose both its clarity and energy when its translated on to the screen.
Great cast though .... particularly Jean-Marc Barr who as Kerouac was moody personified.
I am however undecided who, if anyone, I would recommend this too : I guess if you have an unshakable passion for this period in American literature then this may be a must see, but personally this season at least I would rather see 'Kill Your Darlings' which is essential a pre-quel to this time and deals with the arrival of Ginsberg on the scene. It is a much more accessible movie as well.
★★★★★
