Henry Miller’s novel “Tropic of Cancer” was notorious after
being banned as “obscene” from the United States in the 1930s; it would be
re-published by Grove Press in 1961 and “cleared” by the Supreme Court in 1964.
Paramount made the film in 1969, about the time I would be
getting out of the Army. The film offers
Rip Torn as the expatriate writer living in Paris (in the early 60s), living is
adventurous life one day at a time.
His wife even pays him a visit, and he accuses her of having
lice! (That issue came up in Basic Training in the Army!) Later, there are all kinds of
meandering misadventures, such as a gig teaching English in Dijon, where Henry
uses a lot of creative metaphors in front of teenage males.
The film has Miller narrating by reading graphic text from
his novel. The language, as well as some
“full” scenes (showing the “rosebush”) is responsible for the DVD itself (from
Olive Films) sporting an NC-17.
What was striking for me was the “attitude” of Miller and
some of his make “friends” in the film. There
is a curious juxtaposition of wanting the responsibility of fatherhood and
seeing other women as playthings. It’s
hard for a non-heterosexual to grasp.
Joseph Strick directed the film.
See review of a film about the Grove Press here March 14,
2012.
Henry Miller was also a painter. There is a 4-minute YouTube short, "To Paint Is to Love Again" on his painting career.
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