The Junky's Christmas

(Koch Lorber, 11.7.2006)

When I think of Christmas, I rarely think of junkies. After all, if you're a heroin addict, every day is Christmas, right? But the late, great William S. Burroughs thought a lot about junkies -- hell, he was one -- and wrote one of his few compassionate, humanistic stories about a junky released from prison on Christmas day, desperately searching for a fix. Narrated by Burroughs, reading directly from his story, The Junky's Christmas succeeds primarily as a clash of aesthetics. By presenting the harsh realities of junky life in a claymation style not far removed from Rankin/Bass's beloved Christmas classics (ie. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer), director Nick Donkin dramatizes the tension that so many people experience at Christmastime, between the intermittent cruelty of real life and the romanticized, utopian ideal that Christmas represents.

But this isn't your typically ironic, anti-Christmas movie. Like all great Christmas stories, The Junky's Christmas has an optimistic message, rooted in a belief that mankind is fundamentally good. It's a gentle reminder that, even while some of us enjoy the comforts of food, warmth, and family, not far away someone else is hitting rock bottom. Burroughs's story may well have been written about his own experiences and the live action conclusion of this one-of-a-kind animated short provides a touching indication of how he might have turned things around.

Although The Junky's Christmas is the title emphasized on the cover of this DVD, its 68-minute running time is equally divided between three short films presented by Francis Ford Coppola, the others being Ironbound and Traveling Light. Recalling the unpleasant imagery of poverty and industrial decay in films like Eraserhead, Ratcatcher, George Washington, and The Yards, Ironbound is overwhelmed by an unimaginatively bleak worldview. You almost wish the characters would sing along to the Joe Jackson songs on the soundtrack, just to add some levity to the proceedings.

Turgid acting, photography, and music can only add up to a turgid whole, which is precisely what we get from Ironbound. As an occasional admirer of Joe Jackson's music, I was surprised to find his contribution to this film so off-putting but, according to allmusic.com's one-star review of "Night Music" -- the album from which these songs were derived -- I'm not alone.

Last but not least, Traveling Light starts with a pretentious voice-over that quickly subsides -- but later returns -- and makes room for a much more appealing emotional trajectory. Who knew avant-garde dance in the middle of a desert could be so appealing? The fact is, you could play Van Morrison over just about anything and it would accentuate the positive and minimize the negative. He provides a down-to-earth counterpoint to the characters' alien movements -- director Moreleigh Steinberg (wife of U2's The Edge) actually choreographed alien movements for the underrated Julien Temple film Earth Girls Are Easy -- that makes this potentially torturous viewing experience almost enjoyable.

Of course, this is not to dismiss Steinberg's contribution to Traveling Light. In addition to choosing (and using) Morrison's music to excellent effect, she also creates some striking, mysterious images. Her choices aren't always successful (and that weird bald dude gets tiresome very fast), but there's more than enough here to keep adventurous viewers interested.

All three films are presented in non-anamorphic 1.33:1, but Junky's Christmas and Traveling Light are both matted to a ratio closer to 1.5:1. The final verdict: buy this disc for The Junky's Christmas, take a look at Traveling Light, and avoid Ironbound at all costs. -- Jonathan Doyle