David Cronenberg: All 21 Films Ranked From Worst To Best

7. Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch, William S. Burroughs' stunningly abstract, confrontational and downright disturbing novel, was one of many to have been granted the description of "unfilmable". A series of unconnected vignettes (dis)ordered in a non-linear fashion, the novel graphically covers dark themes such as paedophila, excessive drug use, fellatio, necrophilia and inter-special sexual relations without flinching. As Cronenberg himself noted, a straight adaptation would "cost 100 million dollars and be banned in every country in the world". When he was offered the chance to create a cinematic version Naked Lunch, the director decided to take a different approach. Selecting the largely underrated actor Peter Weller to play Burroughs' alter-ego Bill Lee, Cronenberg elected to make a heavily fictionalised "biopic" of the author peppered with sequences, ad verbatim passages and images from the novel. What he created may not be a real "adaptation", but it's as close as the world is ever likely to get. It's also brilliant. Set in Burroughs' mythical city Interzone (based on Tangiers, where he spent much of his life), it follows his life after the accidental shooting of his wife and involves uncovering various dark plots involving parasitic insects, living typewriters and the farming of "milk" (read: semen) from the hideous mugwumps that litter the film. It is fairly tricky to follow for anyone unfamiliar with Burroughs' life story or the original source material, but for fans of the author it is beautiful. Oh, and Howard Shore's jazzy soundtrack is just outstanding. Burroughs seemed to be a big fan, too. Naked Lunch is a great piece of film-making, and it shows Cronenberg at his twisted best.