Big Sur (film)
| Big Sur | |
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film poster
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| Directed by | Michael Polish |
| Produced by | Ross Jacobson Orian Williams Adam Kassen Michael Polish |
| Written by |
Jack Kerouac Michael Polish |
| Based on |
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Aaron and Bryce Dessner |
| Cinematography | M. David Mullen |
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Release date
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Running time
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73 minutes (Sundance) 90 minutes (SFIFF) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $35,072 |
Big Sur is a 2013 American adventure drama film directed by Michael Polish. It is an adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac.
The story is based on the time Kerouac spent in Big Sur, California and his three brief sojourns to his friend Lawrence Ferlinghetti's cabin in Bixby Canyon. These trips were taken by Kerouac in an attempt to recuperate from his mental and physical deterioration due to his sudden success.
The film debuted on January 23, 2013 at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it received generally positive reviews.
The film was released in the United States in a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2013.
Jack Kerouac, coming off the recent success of On the Road, is unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and his rise in popularity, and begins battling with advanced alcoholism as a result. He seeks respite first in solitude in the Big Sur cabin, then in a relationship with Billie, the mistress of his longtime friend Neal Cassady. Kerouac finds respite in the Big Sur wilderness, but is driven by loneliness to return to the city, and resumes drinking heavily.
Across Kerouac's subsequent trips to Big Sur and interleaved lifestyle in San Francisco, he drunkenly embarrasses Cassady by introducing Billie to Cassady's wife Carolyn, cannot emotionally provide for the increasingly demanding Billie, and finds himself increasingly unable to integrate into suburban life. Kerouac's inner turmoil culminates in his nervous breakdown during his third journey to Big Sur.
Unlike the novel, which uses pseudonyms for every major character, the film uses their real names (with the exception of Billie, whose real name is Jackie Gibson Mercer). Also, a few major characters from the novel, such as Allen Ginsberg, Robert LaVigne, Albert Saijo, Gary Snyder, and Alan Watts were cut from the film.
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