Watch a William S. Burroughs adaptation by Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant is synonymous with the art film. He has received endless acclaim for his stylised portrayals of marginalised subcultures, depicted using independent films and art house tones. These topics include homosexuality and drug use, exemplified in the cult classic My Own Private Idaho, an avant-garde film that earned Van Sant master status in the New Queer Cinema Movement.
My Own Private Idaho was actually adapted from Shakespeare’s plays. Film adaptations of literature are common in Van Sant’s filmography, with his debut Mala Noche being an adaptation of Walt Curtis’ autographical novel and To Die For, an adaptation of Joyce Maynard’s novel.
In his feature presentations, literature is a significant source of inspiration for Van Sant. In addition, the director turned books and short stories into short films in his early career.
One of these works came from William S. Burroughs, an American writer and visual artist who influenced pop culture and literature as a figure of the Beat Generation. Burroughs’ works have been explored visually by other filmmakers. His 1959 novel Naked Lunch was adapted for the big screen by body horror film icon David Cronenberg in 1991. Van Sant selected The Discipline of D.E., as featured in the collection Exterminator.
Upon reading the essay, Van Sant set out to meet the author in person. He immediately contacted Burroughs and then went to visit him. It was during this meeting between these two creatives that Van Sant secured the rights to bring out Burroughs’ words using his own vision.
Van Sant’s adaptation of the short story is a nine-minute black and white collection of visuals, with a voice-over narration by Ken Shapiro, who recites Burroughs’ words. The short, released in 1978, depicts the simple everyday acts we all carry out, such as arranging objects in the home and arranging blankets on a bed. Shapiro reads Burroughs’ line, “Every object you touch is alive with your life and your will”, as we watch hands interact with numerous items.
Shapiro cited the film as “a way of doing”. He also explained it further as “simply means doing whatever you do in the easiest and most relaxed way you can manage, which is also the quickest and most efficient way, as you will find as you advance in DE”.
His sixth short film, The Discipline of D.E., exemplifies Van Sant’s artistic aspiration to “translate literature into film”. The blend of words and visuals complement one another under both Burroughs‘ and Van Sant’s intention as two creators from separate artistic outlets.
Watch the video below.
