Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
One of the greatest American writers of the 20th century is duly honored inHubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow, an exceptionally well-made documentary that does ample justice to Selby's literary legacy. The film's title indicates the respect that codirectors Michael W. Dean and Kenneth Shiffrin have toward the author of such gritty classics asLast Exit to BrooklynandRequiem for a Dream: As literary critic Michael Silverblatt observes in one of many illuminating interviews, Selby was known for using "eccentric typography" in his work (eschewing the use of commas and other punctuation, for example, or using slashes instead of apostrophes, etc.), and the film's title is a reverent reflection of Selby's unconventional technique. Functioning as an in-depth biographical profile and cogent literary analysis, the film gathers revealing, eloquent, and frequently amusing interviews with Selby (prior to his death in 2004 at age 76) and many of the writers, artists, editors, and scholars who were inspired by Selby's life and fiction. And while the choice of Robert Downey Jr. as narrator is an obvious one (because both Selby and Downey suffered and recovered from similar drug-addiction problems), Downey's voice lends greater resonance to Selby's compelling history of chronic illness, addiction, and stubborn survival. After getting permanently clean at the age of 40, Selby expressed his rage through literature, railing against a godless world with uncompromising ferocity, wonderfully contrasted here with Selby's own warm, sarcastic, and instantly appealing personality.In addition to interviews with Selby admirers like Henry Rollins, Lou Reed, Amiri Baraka, Nick Tosches, Richard Price, Jerry Stahl, and others, particular emphasis is placed on the unusually high quality of films based on Selby's novels (notablyLast Exit to BrooklynandRequiem for a Dream), with directors Uli Edel, Darren Aronofsky, and Nicolas Winding Refn describing the importance of Selby's work in their own artistic endeavors, while actress Ellen Burstyn offers her own touching reminiscence of meeting Selby while working with Aronofsky onRequiem. Best of all are the interviews with Selby himself, which are generously excerpted in the film and included in their entirety (along with full-length interviews with Silverblatt and Edel) as audio-only bonus features. Fierce, funny, and worthy of mention alongside the likes of Hemingway, Burroughs, and Kerouac, Selby was a force to be reckoned with, even as a lifetime of tuberculosis withered him down to a skeletal frame. For many years to come,It/ll Be Better Tomorrowwill stand as a worthy appreciation of the man and the impressive body of work he created.--Jeff Shannon