David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch was not the only attempt made in translating Burroughs novel into a film. There was a screenplay written much earlier by Brion Gysin (and storyboarded by Balch) back in the 1960's. Along with Towers Open Fire and The Cut Ups, there was much more film retrieved by P-Orridge, and some of it included footage of what is presumed to be scenes from this original screenplay. Although there was interest in the project by the likes of Dennis Hopper, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and the screenwriter Terry Southern, funding never materialised and the idea slowly faded.

Gysin's script differs in some ways from Cronenberg's and is more an artist's vision of a film than a filmmaker's, yet it has inevitably many similarities as they are both grounded in the same novel. For example the central character is William Lee (Burroughs' alter ego, Lee being his mother's maiden name), and the Interzone still features but is changed to Neverzone. Yet it is the differences that provide greater insight, and one of the main differences to be observed in the two scripts is the concept of reality. In Gysin's version the narrative centres around the reality of the novel. Hence when Lee escapes to Neverzone he is doing just that and the reality is not questioned. Whereas in Cronenberg's semi-biographical vision there is reason for the audience to question the reality of Interzone as a fictional retreat, even though it is dealt with as a part of the integeral narrative construct. Sargeant writes:

"The narcotic fragmentation suggested in the metanarrative in and around the writing of Naked Lunch, becomes mirrored in the films disregard for the division between fantasy/reality, as William Lee (Peter Weller) slides unannounced, between hallucination and consensus."

It could be argued that the book has abstract parts of Burroughs' own experiences within it so a straightforward handling of it would translate biographical notions, and in part this is true. But what Cronenberg has done is to work literal biographical elements into the Naked Lunch narrative to reinforce those abstracted notions and to create a questioning of reality. So the killing of Burroughs' wife, Joan, is what sends Bill Lee into Interzone and not the shooting of New York cops, as featured in the book and the Gysin script. It is necessary to refer back to Burroughs history to demonstrate the importance of this incident in his life and thus the film. In A Report From The Bunker (Beckris, 1981) Burroughs states:

"I am forced to the appalling conclusion that I would never have become a writer but for Joan's death, and to the realisation of the extent to which this event has motivated and formulated my writing. I live with the constant threat of possession, and a constant need to escape from possession, from control. So the death of Joan brought me in contact with the invader, the ugly spirit, and manoeuvred me into a lifelong struggle in which I have had no choice except to write my way out."

So the Cronenberg film is very much in harmony with this notion. As Cronenberg himself explained:

"It's Joans death that first drives him to create his own environment, his own Interzone." (p.211, Snowden, 1992)

Which is what the metaphor of the cops shooting in the original Naked Lunch is really about, Cronenberg is merely making it explicit in his interpretation.

Cronenberg uses the two writer friends Bill Lee has in the movie as another bridge between fiction and reality. They are icons representing the real figures of Burroughs' true friends Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac although they are not, in same way as Bill Lee, direct representations of the men in question.

The questioning of reality is one concept of many that Burroughs and Cronenberg had a shared interest in. One just has to observe the central themes of Videodrome (1982) and Existenz (1999) to recognise it as a significance within Cronenberg's work. Although this is not the only area that Burroughs has influenced Cronenberg in. He has frequently stated his main influences have not been filmmakers but writers, Burroughs and Vladimir Nabokov, because of "their status as 'alien' outsiders" (p.211, Sargeant, 2001). One can see the former of these literary influences clearly in the films mentioned above, but in particular Videodrome. Its motifs concerned with sexuality and his trademark body horror are converted from Burroughs own ideas, in the "horror of female genitalia" and expanded by "the aesthetics of revulsion" (p.217, Snowden, 1992) as Cronenberg puts it.

Another common theme the two share is that of the insect motif. The imagery of the insect is present in Cronenberg's 1986 film The Fly, in which the protagonist suffers a metamorphosis into a fly, and can be found in much of Burroughs literature, in particular The Soft Machine, where the centipede features, sometimes in a humanoid state. So it is not surprising to see this theme present in the Naked Lunch movie. Cronenberg lifts the abstract, literary iconography of the centipede from the pages of Burroughs books and gives it a symbolic meaning within the text of the film; a signifier of Interzone. The representational context of insects does not stop with the centipede. The typewriter Bill Lee uses to write himself into Interzone (again a direct reference to the reality of Burroughs writing himself out of 'possession' by Joan's death), is represented as a drug induced hallucination of a bug, connoting a life within the function of writing. It is a controlling force too, as the bug typewriter in Naked Lunch serves as an Interzone 'agent'. This has great referred meaning to Burroughs concepts as it encompasses 'control' as well as the drug user/pusher ideas of Junkie through to Naked Lunch in which, "Burroughs central analogy is the relationship between addict and agent or pusher" (p12, Mottram, 1964).

Although he has never been avant-garde in his film making to the point that Burroughs was in the 1960's, Cronenberg also shares a problematic categorization with Burroughs work, as his themes fall somewhere between science fiction and horror, two genres that Burroughs writing includes in various guises.

The only way in which Cronenberg strays from authenticity to Burroughs influence is where the notion of sexuality appears. Burroughs relationship with Kiki is implied in the film, connoting the confronting of his homosexuality, yet a parallel Joan-like woman is also created by Cronenberg within Interzone and can be read as a devise to bring into question his sexuality, thus making it commercially digestible. However I would argue that the introduction of a woman resembling Joan is multi-functional, as it serves as a constant iconic reminder of Joan to show she is always on his mind, backing up what has already been discussed regarding the omnipresence of Joans spirit in Burroughs. It also provides a sexual tension juxtaposed to Kiki, connoting the confusion still present in his mind during this period of sexual adjustment.

Cronenberg was responsible for putting Burroughs back into relevance in the film sphere but with the emergence of Beat ten years later it was clear that the man and his work were still important to the world of film. This is a largely unknown independent work, directed by Gary Walkow, that only enjoyed a limited theatrical release. It focuses solely on the biographical events centred around the formative years of Burroughs life, locating its narrative in the Carr/Kammerer court case and Joans shooting. Although the film was not a financial success and the historical accuracy of its narrative is questionable, Beat demonstrates a continuing influence in the mythology of Burroughs life as well as the Beatnik community in general.

This was followed by Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream, based on the novel by Hubert Selby. Although clearly not heavily influenced by Burroughs work it is a contemporising of Beat generation concerns, showing that they are as relevant in modern society as they were fifty years ago. This is due to the inherent facets of the human condition symptomised by so called civilized society, that the Beat figures so astutely brought to attention and that Requiem serves to highlight in part; addiction, social (and political) opposition and unease and a questioning of one's situation within this society.

Burroughs knew all this and was the one to take it to the furthest boundaries possible, challenging all media and creating the strongest intelligible and coherent opposition to their conventions there has been. So it is no wonder that the reverberations of these achievements are still felt today.

Bibliography

Beckris, V. (1981) With William Burroughs - A Report from the Bunker. 1st ed. New York: Grove Press.

Bridgett, R. An Appraisal of the Films of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin and Antony Balch in Terms of Recent Avant Garde Theory [online] Portland, Oregon: Gary Morris/Gregory Battle: Available from: http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/39/cutups1.htm

Burroughs,W/Gysin, B/Chopin, H (1971) Electronic Revolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackmoor Head Press.

Burroughs, W (2001) Naked Lunch. 1st ed. London: HarperCollins.

Burroughs, W/Gysin, B. (1978) The Third Mind 1st ed. New York: Viking

Burroughs, W. (2001) The Soft Machine. 3rd ed. London: HarperCollins

Cantrill, A & C, (1984) An Interview with Brion Gysin In: Sargeant, J. (2001) Naked Lens - Beat Cinema. 2nd ed. Creation Books.

P-Orridge, G. (1997) "Thee Films": An Account by Genesis P-Orridge. In: Sargeant, J. (2001) Naked Lens - Beat Cinema. 2nd ed. Creation Books.

Hibbard, A. (1999) Conversations with William S. Burroughs. 1st ed. U.S.A: University Press of Mississippi

Miles, B. (1994) El Hombre Invisible: A Portrait. 2nd ed. Hyperion.

Mottram, E. (1977) William Burroughs - The Algebra of Need. 1st ed. London: Marion Boyars.

Sargeant, J. (2001) Naked Lens - Beat Cinema. 2nd ed. Creation Books.

Shero, Jeff (1968) William Burroughs Interview In: Hibbard, A. (ed) Conversations with William S. Burroughs. 1st ed. U.S.A: University Press of Mississippi

Snowden, L. (1992) Which is the Fly and which is the Human? Cronenberg/Burroughs Interview In: Hibbard, A. (ed) Conversations with William S. Burroughs. 1st ed. U.S.A: University Press of Mississippi.

Studio International (1975) The Two Avant-Gardes. Nov/Dec

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