Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981) on Netflix
Poet and drinker Charles Serking takes a bus back to Los Angeles, where he meets Cass, a young prostitute with self-destructive habits. The two begin a stormy relationship.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb6.6/103,376 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes60%
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Plot summary
This is one of my favorite movies.
It's from writer Charles Bukowski, and two similar roles were in Barfly starring Mickey Rourke and the newest movie, based on working, drinking and women, Factotum starring Matt Dillon.
"Too beautiful" Serking said. "Like an angel from heaven who flew too close to the ground."
In Tales of Ordinary Madness, Ben Gazzara plays Charles Serking an alcoholic aspiring writer who meets a beautiful prostitute named Cass played by Ornella Muti. He is back in the world of women, and quickly takes her back to his place to meet his ex-wife, current landlord, Vicky.
He realizes his inability to find hapiness taming, Cass, the self mutilating, most beautiful woman in town, he therefore continues his relationship enabling her to continue turning tricks, he ends up traveling towards rock bottom, in a pit of alcoholism and depression.
"Ever heard one mouth screaming? I have. My own."
He picks up on two other women one,drama queen Vera, played by GREAT Susan Tyrrell, and another strange scene in the same housing complex with a widow played by Judith Drake.
Charles does end up giving it a try with Cass though asking her to marry him, but fate leads him away from her once again.
When he finally returns, he finds out she made good on an old promise.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's protagonist, Charles Serking, is based on Bukowski's autobiographical character Henry Chinaski; director Taylor Hackford owned the rights to the Chinaski name at the time, having acquired them when he optioned Bukowski's 1971 novel Post Office.
- The film takes its title and subject matter from the works and the person of US poet Charles Bukowski, specifically the short story The Most Beautiful Woman in Town, published by City Lights Publishing in the 1972 collection Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness.
