Factotum

Henry Chinaski keeps his head above water with odd jobs. Sometimes he packs spare parts, sometimes he checks the lids on pickle jars on the assembly line. Because he likes to have a bottle of schnapps with him and smokes despite the ban, he is repeatedly fired from jobs. With every new job application, Chinaski confidently declares that he is actually a writer. Based on Charles Bukowski's novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a man who lives on the edge and thinks he can find poetry between love affairs and horse betting. "Factotum” was the first film Bent Hamer shot in the USA. The existential loneliness that surrounds Chinaski is familiar from Hamer's earlier male characters. Here, though, it’s put into words and reflected upon. We see Chinaski continually writing. He means to provoke us, letting us share his thoughts about life on the margins of society. Then he’s drawn back to the streets, to the racetrack, to the nearest bar.