For example, Henry's parents, like Bukowski's, had met in Germany after World War I. How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so? They literally haunt my dreams., a short film that he produced and directed in 2016, opened at the Brattle Theatres Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now, As Prices Soar, Fossil Fuel Industry Looks After Its Interests On Beacon Hill, Photo Dispatch: Ukraine Day Rally In Bostons Copley Square, State Wire: EPA Encouraged To Strengthen Air-Quality Standards For Soot, Mass Baby Bonds Bill Aims To Close Racial Wealth Gap. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. And thats the beauty of LA: theres so many different landscapes to choose from you go two hours outside LA in any direction, and [you can find] anything., Which also helped because we were looking for a sense of the economic differences in the town, added Lund. Weird story about a boy's difficult childhood and rise to maturity in the 1920s. He has served as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera for years without getting to sing a single note on stage! The reader eventually follows Chinaski to college and reads of Henry's attempt to find a worthwhile occupation. She was 12, and now shes 18 going on 19 The fun little tidbit I like to say about working with her on these projects is that I only realized during the rehearsals, which was a months-long process, that the character of Haley in Ham on Rye is actually the same character as Poll Flowerpot from Suburban Legends but grown up in Suburban Legends, her curiosity always brings her closer to other peoplethats what her youth afforded to her. Boston Celtics well represented at 2023 NBA All-Star game. A few clumps of friends are slowly making their way to the nights festivities (why are they practically all on foot? With his first feature, the director and co-writer Tyler Taormina delivers something at first familiar and then increasingly but never ostentatiously strange. Ham on Rye can be taken as an allegory for middle-class suburban life in America, but its got added value as a potent mood piece, accomplished with a bare minimum of means. But now, you see her curiosity throughout the first act of Ham on Rye, and what does it give her? The air is often dead, even when people are ostensibly being social: Asking a question or making an observation is no guarantee anyone will say anything in reply. special is how dutifully it avoids the lack of depth that usually accompanies utilizing deliberately generic settings. All Rights Reserved. For independent filmmakers, Los Angeles is a city of contradictions: it's both an ideal place to congregate with likeminded artists and craftspeople, and a truly daunting place to actualize on . Executive producers: Tyler Taormina, Eric Berger, Kevin Anton Bukowski keeps his descriptions of his hometown grounded in reality, paying more attention to the people that make up Los Angeles than to the city itself. He locks himself away inside himself to protect himself from the expected loathing from others never allowing himself hope that someone would love and under him. Ham on Rye, the feature film debut of Long Island-native, Los Angeles-beached Tyler Taormina, is one of the strangest and most discomfiting "coming-of-age" films of recent memory.I put "coming-of-age" in quotes because, yes, ostensibly it follows children between the ages of 15 and 18 becoming Something Else, Something Bigger. I trust that I am in honest company when I confide this, but still I am tentative to say it. [3] It begins with Chinaski's early memories. But now, you see her curiosity throughout the first act of. Afterwards, you get a sense of the sadness and defeat of the people who are left behind. The post-facto rationalizations they concoct for their hostility, however, involve his inability to play sports and his being viscerally revolted by cruelty to animals, the latter being one of the favorite past-times of neighborhood men and boys alike. A hauntingly. Are we here alone? As Henry begins High School, his father, who is experiencing downward inter-generational socioeconomic mobility, makes him go to a private school where he fits in even less amongst all the well-heeled, spoiled rich kids with their flashy, colorful, convertible sports cars and beautiful girlfriends. The grotesque-looking boils of his acne vulgaris will eventually turn their excuses for hating him into an ostracizing trifecta. Haley (Haley Bodell), the closest the film has to a protagonist, flees the deli ceremony, casting herself off as Amy Irving's character was cast off in Carrie. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. These films are unlike earlier genres of self-satisfied materialism or later rebellious promise. Were not told when the film is taking place, or where the film is taking place, or even whats the deal with this big local event all the kids are moving towards. Viewers will likely feel similarly connected to the characters whether they graduated high school in the 60s or last spring. Henry is not athletic but wants to be and therefore tries hard to improve. As Henry grinds his way through Junior High School, he discovers the manifold pleasures of alcohol and masturbation. But it is also Inauguration Day 2021 and Ham on Rye is heartening evidence that even throughout the last few years of permanent, screeching crisis, there have been filmmakers paying attention to the smaller things, to the more mundane cruelties of our world, that will require much more than a change of administration to address. Bukowski's Ham on Rye and the Los Angeles Novel. As Henry grinds his way through Junior High School, he discovers the manifold pleasures of alcohol and masturbation. The Review of Contemporary Fiction. Bukowski's Ham on Rye and the Los Angeles Novel. He achieves a number of other startling effects in this impressive movie, which sheds its naturalism slowly as it embraces a surrealism thats both disquieting and poignant. Where are the writers and directors who are thinking of beginning things?! His father was a mean-mouthed man who never showed his son any love or compassion. Increasingly fearful Louisa insists on returning to her own apartment. Chinaski has been compared to both Frankenstein's monster and Kafka's Gregor Samsa, because of his alienation and outcast resulting from his "monstrous" appearance. Mexicos president under attack from neoliberals at home and in U.S. Trail of Tears Walk commemorates Native Americans forced removal, California Nurses recharge their fight for Medicare For All, China calls for Ukraine ceasefire and issues 12-point peace plan, Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons as Jake in 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things.' Charles Bukowski. Even the oddest moves seem welcome. But what once had to burn or perish can now simply vanish between clicks, and without even the slightest hint of ceremony. a simple language is used, and bombs go off without much fanfare. And so by the time it reaches the mythic ceremony that occurs near its halfway point, Ham on Rye has successfully conjured up a cinematic space where all those aforementioned experiences have been quite purposefully blended together, forming a sunlit anxiety dream of a generic suburban upbringing. ), being told to make the most of the big night by parents while occasionally expressing some ambivalence about attending. Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. However, he rarely is completely confident with his own abilities and often second-guesses himself. Girls primp their frou-frou dresses and exchange back-spinning compliments according to arcane queen bee hierarchies, before posing on stairways as parents twitter and coo at them with cameras. Ham on Rye is a 1982 semi-autobiographical novel by American author and poet Charles Bukowski. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. And with the exception of a couple of surprising mood changes on the dance floor and off, thats about all in the film you could describe as a plot. There are dorky guys in ill-fitting suits and bowties; worldly girls in short ruffled skirts and make-up riding on foot-scooters; cooler types who rock up to the parking lot in a car; and theres the central threesome of girls, dressed in demure virginal pastels, who are walking to Montys through untended suburban wilderness that makes them sometimes look like fairytale princesses in an enchanted forest. This deliberately coy prologue begets the opening credits sequence (introducing characters with more close-ups of little details, like a tie being fastened or a nail being painted), which then feeds directly into the films real first section, where for about 20 minutes small cliques of seemingly high school-aged kids walk through various neighborhoods on their way to an unspoken happening. The kids have phones, but they seem to be flip-tops, seldom used, and when later some of the older boys glide off into the night on more modish electronic hoverboards, somehow the contradiction doesnt disrupt the films own little enclosed continuum. Reaktion Books, London, 2012. p. 146. Ham on Rye (1982) is not only a loosely constructed autobiographical novel of Bukowski's distressingly poor childhood during the Depression, but it also qualifies as the novelist's version of. I mean, pig, pork, hamthats all a thing isnt it? Where Kaufman jams his long sweeping camera shots and claustrophobic car journey with anxious forced repartee, Taormina pushes his lens uncomfortably close for extended runs with little dialogue. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. It focuses instead on the vaguely insidious side of life that we not only tolerate, but embrace. Ham on rye (2022) . The girls talk about fashion and popularity. State Wire: Affordability Limits MAs Higher-Ed Attainment Goals, So Much For Contracts: State Report Blasts MBTA Contractor. As the story progresses the reader follows his life through the school years and into young adulthood. Detail fetishism, he begins, before starting a new thought. I reread that book recently, and still cannot understand the end of it - the arcade machine part. It seems like in some poems somewhere I've seen Bukowski talk about reading the great philosophers and he seemed to work his way out of the classes, to become his own man free from all the constraints of the working man.It took a hell of a long time, but he did it through perseverance. "Ham on Rye" was shot in and around the San Fernando Valley area, north of Los Angeles, a favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson, and the film's DP Carson Lund effectively evokes that neighborhood's. Its kind of about how you grow up and curiosityespecially curiosity about systems and societal functionsis not welcomed. Which have a bit of psychedelia to them, and that gauzy look. The novel focuses on the protagonist, Henry Chinaski, between the years of 1920 and 1941. Ham on Rye 's second half is informed with a kind of survivor's guilt that's also reminiscent of Carrie. Get help and learn more about the design. And I think we took that philosophy and mindset and applied it to everything. Not sure why, but I really liked this. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. As Chinaski progresses through grammar school, the focus of Henry's attention is on sports, violence, and girls. This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski. Screenwriters: Tyler Taormina, Eric Berger Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. Chinaski has been compared to both Frankenstein's monster and Kafka's Gregor Samsa, because of his alienation and outcast resulting from his "monstrous" appearance. The grotesque-looking boils of his acne vulgaris will eventually turn their excuses for hating him into an ostracizing trifecta. The mood is now fairly forlorn, best embodied by Sloan (Cole Devine), a 20-something cook at Montys whos mourning some kind of loss. One also notices that while before the dialogue was ambiguously foreshadowing, now its ambiguously looking backwards (the way Lund put it is, in the second half the dialogue becomes more textural than expository.) And this all leads to a backyard cookout populated by a large group including some faces at least vaguely familiar to viewers of the millennial demographic: Lori Beth Denberg of All That (1994-98), Danny Tamberelli and Aaron Schwartz of The Mighty Ducks (1992) and The Adventures of Pete & Pete (1992-96), and Clayton Snyder of Lizzie McGuire (2001-04). 0:00 / 1:45 Ham on Rye Theatrical Trailer Factory 25 618 subscribers Subscribe 247 Share 33K views 2 years ago "Ham on Rye has the uncanny echo of a disturbing real-life dream. Researching the creative figures behind, (2020), what stuck out to me was the inevitability of certain voids. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 36, 42, 43. So to both make and spruce up the required disclosure, let me say that I not only consider Carson Lund a close friend, but that I also consider myself a dedicated fanof his film criticism (which also includes notes for the programs of the Harvard Film Archive), his music, and now of course his filmmaking practice, which in addition to his cinematography for Taorminas feature also includes a short film that he produced and directed in 2016, Starr Farm, and a screenplay that he co-wrote and hopes to direct sometime in the near future. Image from Ham on Rye, courtesy Factory 25. 4 [deleted] 2 yr. ago I couldn't put it down. Production companies: Tago Clearing Film Studio, Omnes Films But in the bazillion short stories and poems and recorded interviews, you do eventually start to hear some of the same stories again. So to both make and spruce up the required disclosure, let me say that I not only consider Carson Lund a close friend, but that I also consider myself a dedicated fanof. Cinematic didacticism has given way to filmmakers content to raise questions they wont or cant answer. 7. We learn more from the young peoples dress, groupings and actions than from the sparse and often inaudible dialogue. And so by the time it reaches the mythic ceremony that occurs near its halfway point. The film premieres at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this week, and the official site is here. The specifics are never explained, but we suspect that some years ago, he was in Haleys shoes. Love all Bukowski work. As Chinaski progresses through grammar school, the focus of Henry's attention is on sports, violence, and girls. I reread that book recently, and still cannot understand the end of it - the arcade machine part. fandango. "That boy," said my grandmother, "when I tried to pick him up out of I was like, this is going to be fun to shootits like shooting a bunch of still lifes, he continued. in emptied-out spaces like bedrooms and street curbs, completing the articulation of a metatextual idea first initiated by those kids-television cameosthe image of the child stars left behind. Though of course Taormina can pull the episodes whenever he wants, or Youtube or Vimeo could take them down for any reason including none whatsoever, and then theyd be left to a small handful of hard drives, at most, where a random crash might erase them on any given sunday. [3] It begins with Chinaski's early memories. but you can choose how you rise above, some with words, other with action. "Let the boy play the piano," said my grandmother. Filed Under: A+E, Film. Carson Lunds superb cinematography, apparently influenced by photographers like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, picks out boys riding skateboards, borrowing Dads Volvo, and talking about the crucial importance of boning, like its a philosophy, like theyre the first ones ever to have had so original a thought. Without giving away too much, lets say the rest of the plot recalls the great Shirley Jackson story The Lottery. But theres no overt horror element, or violence, here. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 36, 39, 40. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. And then, also being from the suburbs myself, youre dealing with these signifiers that are very familiar to me. In the beginning, and just for a little while, Tyler Taormina's "Ham on Rye" seems like every other no-budget suburban coming-of-ager you've ever seen, if maybe better shot. Whats established instead are countless signifiers of a semi-contemporary American upbringing: from overarching, stuff like scenes of characters preparing for something like a prom (three girls in frilly dresses being photographed by their overexcited parents, see above), and then carpooling there (the parents now waving at the door like the first day of school, another ceremony) to smaller details seen in briefer shots like the decor of a longhair musicians car (beads on the rear view, bandana on the passenger seat), or a particularly rebellious-looking kid scraping a stick against a fence (which in this context cant help but recall, , ur-text of the American coming-of-age storya narrative lineage that, Its a day were going to remember for the rest of our lives, says the opening dialogue, and the generic phrasing blurs certain lines to build upon the very particular biorhythmic point where Taorminas movie takes place: A kid who says that might be talking about their prom, or about having sex, or about moving out, or maybe even about school graduation, among other possibilitiesbut no matter what, theyre probably talking about something meant to happen in the period that weve come to calling. Transgression becomes even more unfathomable when an entire global generation seems to share the same path in gentrifying the cities, Taormina wrote for an interview published by Film Comment (also suggesting one of his films many productive contradictionsthat its a lament for the loss of a suburban experience produced almost exclusively in urban spaces). His only love was drink. Ham on Rye opened at the Brattle Theatres Virtual Cinema on October 23, where it remains available to rent now. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 35. Press J to jump to the feed. Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness, The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship, Portions from a Wine-stained Notebook: Short Stories and Essays, Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ham_on_Rye&oldid=1056996657, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 24 November 2021, at 20:05. Like Henry, the rest of the Chinaskis are modeled after Bukowski's own family. Sad, gloomy and angry. Its such a music-driven filmwere all musiciansand one of the things we did talk about a lot in preparation, especially for the Montys party sequence, was 80s music videos, Lund mentioned later. , . Following a nocturnal tour of the now much-less-populated location (in a scene that for me betrays Lund's appreciation . Mailboxes were very hard to find. You are using an out of date browser. among other publications, he began writing reviews for our paper earlier this summerthough I first met him long before that, in 2014, when we had a conversation at the Harvard Film Archive regarding the films of director Wojciech J. Ham on Rye is a satirical parable on conformism and aspiration, and it speaks to anyone who, in settled adulthood, looks back to when their life and romantic chances were arbitrarily decided by. Genre: Comedy. Brewer, Gay. As a prequel to Bukowski's previous novels, Ham on Rye depicts the origin and development of many of the reoccurring themes of his work as well as the persona of Henry Chinaski. The story showed the evolution of the child into a man. "Will you stop that?" my father said loudly. A puzzling but artful look at teenage alienation. but that said, it doesn't really matter. Jake tries to persuade Louisa to spend the night at the house. Chinaski relates that he has an abusive father, and his mother does nothing to stop his father's abuse. [1] Scenes outside of Los Angeles show Chinaski as an intruder, as with an early scene where he and his family are chased out of an orange grove. We're pleased to share the exclusive trailer premiere for Tyler Taormina's Ham on Rye, which will be released virtually on October 23rd in 20+ theaters nationwide.An unorthodox teen coming-of-age movie with an increasingly sinister twist whose details are best left unspoiled, Taormina's debut feature premiered at last year's Santa Barbara International Film Festival before making its . The unease is existential, as the fates of some of the couples make clear. And then some of them are magicked away, a process that happens here with a crude, pencil-eraser-style effect the whole film is drenched in old-fashioned stylistic flourishes, that somehow manage not to foreground themselves but create a mood of heightened ambiguity: long, slow-fading dissolves; abrupt sound edits; janky close-ups; and sudden, non-sequitur inserts, like of a father giving his son a manly, go-get-em pep talk. I just wanted to make these dots between them, and theres no real reason for it. Throughout the course of the novel, Bukowski develops his misanthropic anti-hero character that is seen in his other works like Post Office and Hollywood. In this case, the transgression is, oddly enough, staying at home with your familyand its definitely not a cool one. He never experienced love. This type of description does not venerate or idealize the city, a contrast to other so-called "Los Angeles Novels". Director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) ratchets up American gothic to psychological horror as he distorts time, place and relationships, scattering uneasy references to the musical Oklahoma, the film Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and poetryIntimations of Immortality. Louisa may be thinking of ending itbut Jake may actually be the one to end it after all! With the snow falling heavily, the ride back itself may only substitute one danger for another. The Review of Contemporary Fiction. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Like his previous works, Ham on Rye is set in Los Angeles where the author grew up. Take your time and savor the experience. It's not PC, perhaps that's part of its appeal. Ham on Rye makes no such assurances which of course makes it more honest, even if its oblique lessons will be heard by a tiny, tiny fraction of the number who navigated adolescence by the. [2] The story takes place at home, at his different schools, at the doctor's office (for his never-ending acne treatments) and at various other locales around town. Like Henry, the rest of the Chinaskis are modeled after Bukowski's own family. Interesting view into the life of a boy who just never caught a break. Written in Bukowski's characteristically straightforward prose, the novel tells of his coming-of-age in Los Angeles during the Great Depression. But with all these signifiers, as well as the title, which sends us back to Charles Bukowskis coming-of-age memoir of the same name, which itself refers to The Catcher in the Rye, pretty soon the references multiply to the point you have to give in and call Ham on Rye its own, pretty unique thing. Bukowski keeps his descriptions of his hometown grounded in reality, paying more attention to the people that make up Los Angeles than to the city itself. The destination of the walking kids is, well, a delicatessen, and this is where the films similarities to coming-of-age movies like Dazed and Confused ends. While its eventually seen that some of the kids have mobile phones, Taormina purposefully dresses his cast and designs their environment in a way that throws them into a sort of temporal never-never land. This is emphasized by Bukowski's grave being engraved with the words: "Don't try." 16 poolside__convo 2 yr. ago Really enjoyed this take. Then tables are cleared, and a kind of free-form movement begins, with awkward teens trying out idiosyncratic dances. To make matters worse, Chinaski develops horrible acne so severe that he has to undergo painful, and mostly ineffective, treatments, essentially becoming a human guinea pig for various experiments thought up by his uninterested doctors. He becomes alienated from the children at school simply for somehow being different in a way that none of them could ever coherently articulate. For a complete list of virtual cinemas exhibiting the film, see factorytwentyfive.com/hamonrye. Written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly veiled alter ego, during his early years. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1997. p. 40, 41. [2] The story takes place at home, at his different schools, at the doctor's office (for his never-ending acne treatments) and at various other locales around town. This stems in large part from his home life, in which he is beaten frequently (often for no reason) by his father. 49 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Ham on Rye. We had done a music video right before going into production on this that was very psychedelic, with a lot of superimpositions and really garish lighting schemes, so maybe that was feeding into it as well.. I doubt if it would be published in modern times (first published in 1982). Like a hoagie sandwich filled with meat and lettuce, thats a quintessential American suburban item., Over 100 Cast Members and No Permits: How I Shot, in Los Angeles, the films faceless neighborhood locations were stolen from various spots across that cityso for example. In this case, the transgression is, oddly enough, staying at home with your familyand its definitely not a cool one. The farmhouse seems to change shape, furnishings and configuration. Editor: Kevin Anton I'd read Ham On Rye, Post Office and Women in that order. It is an uneasy journey where some find purpose, escaping their suburban constraints, as others remain behind, their blank faces reflecting more circumscribed lives. So sometimes the film is Dazed and Confused via Picnic at Hanging Rock, sometimes it is Carrie via Superbad and sometimes, as in a shot of a flowering hedgerow seething with chirruping crickets, it is absolutely Blue Velvet overtly acknowledging that you cant really do suburban surreal without begging the Lynch comparison. A stylish twist on the end-of-high-school dramedy, Tyler Taormina 's " Ham on Rye " offers the ethereal echoes of "The Virgin Suicides" with the gossamer veil of a humid summer's day . She is, in fact, a victim of her husband's brutality as well. So, , was the realization I made about her character.. Chinaski relates that he has an abusive father, and his mother does nothing to stop his father's abuse. Bukowski's Ham on Rye and the Los Angeles Novel. Ham on Rye isn't a film about buried secrets. Tyler Taorminas debut film starts in the vein of classic high-school comedies until it turns toward a dark surrealism. She was 12, and now shes 18 going on 19 The fun little tidbit I like to say about working with her on these projects is that I only realized during the rehearsals, which was a months-long process, that the character of Haley in, is actually the same character as Poll Flowerpot from, , her curiosity always brings her closer to other peoplethats what her youth afforded to her. Grew up in Los Angeles Cinema on October 23, where it remains to. Film about buried secrets farmhouse seems to change shape, furnishings and configuration tells of acne. Them, and still can not understand the end of it - the machine. So by the time it reaches the mythic ceremony that occurs near its halfway.... Sure why, but I really liked this in 1982 ) oddly enough, at! 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