`FACTOTUM' CAPTURES REALITY OF BUKOWSKI, THE BARD OF L.A.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

L.A. poet and writer Charles Bukowski was a lot of things. Lover, drinker, voice to the semi-

defeated working class. But he was not, the performers of the film ``Factotum'' insist, a slob.

That's an important detail. When you're talking about a hard-drinking, womanizing writer with a serious case of world-weariness, the beauty in the man often can be found within his contradictions.

``He was misunderstood in that way, and that helped sort of find the character's dignity,'' says Matt Dillon who plays Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, in the film, which opened Friday. ``In fact, he was a guy who carried himself very well. He was clean. He washed his clothes. That little piece of information really helped me.''

Interviewed separately, Lili Taylor -- who plays Chinaski's off-again, on-again partner Jan -- keys in on the same observation. Bukowski the author (and man) embodied some of the same contradictions that he wrote into his characters.

``Himself being a drunk and being very clean, that's very surprising,'' says Taylor. ``For Jan to be very vulnerable and hard, to be manipulative and lovable -- any time we can get more complexity with human nature, I like it.''

``Factotum'' (based on the 1975 novel, while drawing from several other Bukowski works) follows a heavily burned-out Chinaski from one dead-end job to the next as he tries to get himself published. Broads, booze, gambling and general carousing fill up the remaining non-work and non-writing hours of Chinaski's days.

Dillon, Taylor, Marisa Tomei and Fisher Stevens star for Norwegian director Bent Hamer, who wrote the script with producer Jim Stark. Set on the streets of Bukowski's L.A. (the author died in San Pedro in 1994), ``Factotum'' was actually filmed in Minneapolis.

Dillon, 42, and Taylor, 39, read Bukowski in their early 20s and late teens, respectively. ``Then, like so many people, I put him down,'' says Taylor (``I Shot Andy Warhol.'') ``What's nice about this is so many people are going to pick him up again -- because he's worth picking up again.''

``I started off with `Hot Water Music,' and I was immediately hooked by the first short story,'' says Dillon. ``I think the thing I responded to was the humor, this irreverent humor from a guy who refuses to conform to some sort of normality. I think of his ability to see life as a comedy in spite of what seemed to be tragic circumstances. He's laughing all the way.''

Researching the man, Dillon turned to Bukowski's poetry. A series of interviews of the often publicity-shy Bukowski conducted by Barbet Schroeder (who directed the Bukowski film ``Barfly'') were also invaluable, the actor says.

Dillon and Bukowski were no physical match, says Dillon, who initially envisioned a gruff Lee Marvin or Lee J. Cobb type as Chinaski.

``The producer and director pointed out to me that I was actually the perfect age to play Hank at that period of time,'' says Dillon, who put on a few pounds but didn't grime up for the role. ``I think the thing that ultimately drew me to the project was this idea that I was playing Bukowski's alter ego. It gave me some freedom within the character that they were not expecting a Bukowski impersonation.''

Dillon secured the blessing of Bukowski's widow, Linda Beighle, who was a consultant on the film.

``We talked about his work and about the way he saw the world,'' says Dillon. ``The material world wasn't really important to him, and he sort of took a vow of poverty to live the way he did. What I got was the sense that he was physically defeated. He sort of surrendered to the physical world; so there's this kind of effortlessness in the way he carried himself.''

``He says on his tombstone, `Don't try.' I think that gives you some insight,'' Dillon adds.

The actor -- Oscar-nominated for ``Crash,'' and seen recently in ``You, Me and Dupree'' -- gets praise from his co-star. Taylor, a longtime acquaintance, says that through Chinaski, she noticed a ``deepening'' in Dillon's work.

``The comfortableness was already there,'' Taylor says. ``but it was really fortunate to be working with him at this time in his life, to see the deepening of Matt as a man and an actor. Matt's blossoming, and I see the effects of it while we're working.''

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon) tries to fend off the distractions presented by women, drinking and gambling, only to fall for Jan (Lili Taylor) in ``Factotum.''