Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider

This 1993 documentary conceived and directed by Catherine Warnow and Regina Weinreich is an at times disturbing but always fascinating portrait of the enigmatic and reclusive author who many call the original expatriate and the godfather of the Beat Generation. Using the environment of present day Tangiers as a springboard, the film charts the life of Paul Bowles, from his privileged upbringing to his promising career as a celebrated composer on Broadway in 1930s and '40s New York to his move at the suggestion of Gertrude Stein into the expatriate community of Morocco, a mysterious land and culture from which Bowles never left. Bowles is seen in the environment that most suits him; as he says, "I never make plans; they make themselves." The documentary also details the complex and tumultuous relationship between the author of such seminal works as The Sheltering Sky, Delicate Prey, and Without Stopping and his wife Jane, from her attempts at writing and her alcoholism to their respective affairs with both men and women. Featuring testimonials from such notables as Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, what emerges in Paul Bowles: The Complete Outsider is an indispensable and evocative portrait of one of the most influential writers of this century.