Tropic Of Cancer

frank, funny, and fairly explicit for its times (1970's).
This film, fairly explicit for its time, in its frankness with language and nudity, tells the story of Henry Miller (excellently played a young Rip Torn [you gotta love that name].
Ellen Burstyn (who looked surprising good in this movie) plays Mona [which had her be pretty revealing in the opening scenes of the movie; surprising me, since this was the '70's]. It seems tame in todays XXX world, but for the time, it was open and frank in its discussion of sexuality. Although not very politically correct in its view of women, it did reflect much of what Miller writes/wrote in his books. Although the VHS copy had some garbled sound (considering the age of the movie, or perhaps the copy I had) it was a pretty decent movie just the same. Not for everyone, and some might argue the NC-17 rating, but it's not a bad early exploration of erotica by one of the most famous (or infamous) names in literature. Given the restrictions of the times, they did a pretty decent adaptation of the...

Recommended for the Miller fan, and no one else
TROPIC OF CANCER is, of course, the groundbreaking book by Henry Miller. Banned as obscene in all English speaking nations for nearly 30 years, it has come to be a literary classic. At century's end it was placed on many "Top 100 Books of the Century" lists. It is always a daunting task to bring such an important novel to the screen, and often the results are a bit of a let-down. This is certainly the case with Joseph Strick's "Tropic of Cancer."

My first reaction to learning of this film's existence was surprise. TROPIC OF CANCER [the book] is largely a rambling, alternately beautiful and vulgar, account of homeless and penniless ex-patriot Henry Miller living off of friends in 1930s Paris. The book does not possess the type of structure upon which one would think an entire film could be based. After watching this film, my first reaction was to think that in the portrayal of Henry and June Miller, Fred Ward and Uma Thurman did much better in the 1990 film "Henry and June"...

A Flawed Yet Provocative Henry Miller Translation
Three years after his unsuccessful 1967 cinematic adaptation of James Joyce's "Ulysses," director Joseph Strick had better results with Henry Miller's 1934 novel. "Tropic of Cancer" (1970) is one of the few notable attempts to translate the author's sexual exploits to celluloid. Much of the film's success can be attributed to an outstanding performance by Rip Torn - ideally cast as the earthy Miller during his Parisian exploits. Unfortunately, Strick didn't have the budget (or was too arrogant) to film this classic literary work in its proper era. Instead, he shot "Tropic of Cancer" on location in 1969 - regrettably updating the sexual flavor and atmosphere of Miller's book. Nevertheless, Torn dominates every frame with his believable portrayal of the expatriate writer and his erotic obsessions. Another standout is Ellen Burstyn's small but effective role as Miller's wife. If you can get past the modern-day look of "Tropic of Cancer," you will find it a provocative and rewarding...

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