Summaries

Poet/lecturer Charles Serking awakens from his alcoholic haze long enough to take a bus back to L.A. and plunge into an orgy of drink and sexual depravity.

After a lecture where a poem is read out to a group of bored students, the alcoholic and sex addicted poet, Charles Serking, meets a young girl backstage. Then he travels to Los Angeles, and has sex with bizarre women. When Charles meets the gorgeous self-destructive prostitute Cass in a bar, he finds his soul mate and falls in love for her.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Details

Keywords
  • male nudity
  • male full frontal nudity
  • alcoholic
  • poet
  • sex with a fat woman
Genres
  • Drama
Release date Sep 10, 1981
Countries of origin Italy France
Language English
Filming locations Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Production companies 23 Giugno Ginis Films Alpes International Paris

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 41m
Sound mix Mono
Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1

Synopsis

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 herto 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.

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