Storie di Ordinaria Follia (Tales of Ordinary Madness)

Storie di Ordinaria Follia (Tales of Ordinary Madness) (1981)

  • 70% of users liked it
    (475 ratings)

Ben Gazzara delivers a gutsy, four-barreled performance as skid-row poet and storyteller Charles Bukowski (rechristened Charles Serking onscreen) in Tales of Ordinary Madness, blackly comic Italian director Marco Ferreri's adaptation of Bukowski's roman à clef Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions… More

Unrated, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By
Marco Ferreri
Genres
Art House & International, Drama
In Theaters
Sep 11, 1981 Wide
On DVD
Aug 19, 2008

Critic Reviews

  • Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews

    Denise Gentile tries her best to save the picture but can't. The writing is too loose and the other acting is credible only in fits and spurts.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    Ben Gazzara had some of Bukowski's outward mannerisms and the same beady eyes as the poet.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Greg S


    Lecherous, alcoholic street poet "Charles Serking" (pseudonym for Charles Bukowski) falls in love with a suicidal prostitute. Partly successful, with some of the strangest sex scenes you'll ever see. Boozy as hell; plays out like a string of half-remembered and… More

  • Stefanie C


    "Style is the answer to everything...To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art." Bukowski had style. Ferreri has style. This film is an achingly human, drunken odessey inspired by the writings of Bukowski. This is not an adaptation, but captures the essence… More

  • Walter M


    Returning to Los Angeles by bus after his wallet was stolen after having passed out following a performance, poet Charles Serking(Ben Gazzara) finds his ex-wife and landlord Vicky(Tanya Lopert) wanting the last two months' rent. That does not stop him from chasing after… More

  • Dimitris S


    Ah,bliss,carefree honey-pie...no country for drunken horses,or an effective title for the parody of affairs by a master of literature.Ferreri justifies Bukowski in the role of Gazzara,and although not his premier erotic film,Marco assures us we are not in desperation,so viva la… More

Cast

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