This film is currently unavailable
Factotum
A distinctive adaptation from the writings of Charles Bukowski, Matt Dillon plays Henry Chinaski, a drunk in search of a paycheque.
Director: Bent Hamer
Overview
Factotum follows Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon), as he drifts from job to job, from factory warehouse to shop floor, working for anyone foolish enough to offer him with a paycheque. While he has no great desire to work, he needs cash to support his real commitments: drinking, racetrack gambling, hooking up with women as unbridled and inebriated as he is, and writing stories that are continually thrown out by publishers.
More faithful to the spirit of Charles Bukowski's reportage from the boozed up margins of society than many previous adaptations, Bent Hamer's first English language feature develops the exquisitely mannered, observational style of his previous award-winning film, Kitchen Stories, creating a stylised view of the writer's world, one filled with humour and despair. Both Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei put in fine turns and provide real depth to the women characters wandering through Chinaski's environment, while Matt Dillon aces what is arguably a career best performance. Beefed up and bearded, his Chinaski is the perfect Bukowskian hero, a complex, deadbeat poet, addressing difficult things in his simple way.
Related
Tchaikovsky's Wife Tchaikovsky's Wife
Biopic 2022 144 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov's Flu) charts the tumultuous relationship between the 19th-century composer and his wife, in this poignant and powerful biopic.
Nezouh Nezouh
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: Soudade Kaadan
Enchanting feminist coming-of-age drama, from award winning Syrian director Soudade Kaadan.
The Turin Horse The Turin Horse
Drama 2011 155 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr’s devastating, starkly pared-down final feature, inspired by Nietzsche.
Werckmeister Harmonies Werckmeister Harmonies
Drama 2000 147 mins Director: Béla Tarr
A stuffed whale sparks social apocalypse in this haunting cinematic masterpiece from Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky.
The Man from London The Man from London
Drama 2007 139 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Tilda Swinton stars in this profoundly nocturnal Georges Simenon adaptation.
Pandora's Box Pandora's Box
Drama 1928 134 mins Silent Director: G.W. Pabst
Louise Brooks dazzles as the iconic showgirl who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, in one of the great silent films of the Weimar era.
Watership Down Watership Down
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1978 92 mins Director: Martin Rosen
An apocalyptic vision pushes a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation.
Tchaikovsky's Wife Tchaikovsky's Wife
Biopic 2022 144 mins Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Award-winning director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov's Flu) charts the tumultuous relationship between the 19th-century composer and his wife, in this poignant and powerful biopic.
Nezouh Nezouh
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: Soudade Kaadan
Enchanting feminist coming-of-age drama, from award winning Syrian director Soudade Kaadan.
The Turin Horse The Turin Horse
Drama 2011 155 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr’s devastating, starkly pared-down final feature, inspired by Nietzsche.
Werckmeister Harmonies Werckmeister Harmonies
Drama 2000 147 mins Director: Béla Tarr
A stuffed whale sparks social apocalypse in this haunting cinematic masterpiece from Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky.
The Man from London The Man from London
Drama 2007 139 mins Director: Béla Tarr
Tilda Swinton stars in this profoundly nocturnal Georges Simenon adaptation.