Barfly
Charles Bukowski
Barfly
The 1984 Paget Press edition of the screenplay, published before the film existed.
Read our takeThe Movie: “Barfly”
Charles Bukowski
The Movie: “Barfly”
The revised script with photographs from the set — and 140 copies signed by Bukowski, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway and the director.
- 1987
- Savage
- Wry
- Atmospheric
- autobiographical
- voice-driven
- filthy
- funny
About Charles Bukowski
The story, briefly
Spoiler-freeThe Movie: “Barfly”, published by Black Sparrow Press in 1987, prints Charles Bukowski's screenplay in the form it reached the screen, alongside black-and-white photographs taken during production by Michael Montfort and Andrew Cooper. It revises the text Paget Press had published in 1984, when the film was still unfinanced. A limited issue of 140 copies carries four signatures — Bukowski, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway and Barbet Schroeder — so a single copy holds the writer, both leads and the director.
The story, in more detail
Barbet Schroeder spent years raising money for the film, a struggle Bukowski turned into the novel Hollywood two years later. By the time this edition appeared the film was finished, Rourke had played Chinaski and Dunaway had played Wanda, and the book could show the production rather than anticipate it. Michael Montfort had photographed Bukowski before: he took the pictures for Shakespeare Never Did This in 1979, so the two books bracket the decade.
Why we recommend it
The script as filmed
The revised text, with photographs from the production rather than illustrations anticipating it.
A document of the shoot
The signed issue puts the writer, both leads and the director on the same page.
What this book explores
Timeline
1984
Paget Press publishes the original screenplay while the film is unfinanced.
1987
The film is released; Black Sparrow publishes the revised script with production photographs.
1989
Hollywood tells the story of getting it made.
Book editions
- Paperback
- Black Sparrow Press
- 1987
- 9780876857083
- Hardcover
- Black Sparrow Press
- 1987
- 9780876857076
Reader reviews
Readers may also like
The Movie: “Barfly”: frequently asked questions
What is The Movie: “Barfly”?
Charles Bukowski's screenplay for the 1987 film, published by Black Sparrow Press the same year with black-and-white photographs taken during production.
How is it different from the 1984 Barfly?
This is a revised text, published after the film was finished and illustrated with production photographs. The 1984 Paget Press edition came out while the film was still unfinanced and carries Bukowski's own drawings.
Who signed the limited edition?
A run of 140 copies carries four signatures: Bukowski, Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway and Barbet Schroeder.
Who took the photographs?
Michael Montfort and Andrew Cooper. Montfort had also photographed Bukowski's 1978 European trip for Shakespeare Never Did This.
Is there a novel about the film?
Yes — Hollywood (1989), which fictionalises the years Schroeder spent financing it.
If you like Charles Bukowski
Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.
View author
Simone de Beauvoir
French writer and philosopher whose novels, memoirs, and social analysis examined freedom, gender, responsibility, aging, and the material conditions that shape a life.
View author
Ernest Hemingway
Author of The Sun Also Rises and A Moveable Feast; his pared-down style, developed in 1920s Paris, became the most imitated in American prose.
View author
References
References
The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document The Movie: “Barfly”, its publication, and its place in literary history.
1The Movie: “Barfly”
PlayCharles Bukowski, 1987Used forThe primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.
2Charles Bukowski timeline (bukowski.net)
WebsiteUsed forPublication details, the signed issue and the photographers.
3Charles Bukowski: books and chapbooks (Verdant Press checklist)
WebsiteUsed forBibliographic details of the Black Sparrow editions.
4Charles Bukowski
BiographyReaktion Books, 2012Used forThe Schroeder collaboration and the film years.
i
Why these sources are here
The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.
Explore more resources