Product Details

• Actors: William S. Burroughs, Jürgen Ploog
• Directors: Klaus Maeck
• Producers: Heiner Mühlenbrock
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Screen Edge
• DVD Release Date: December 2, 2003
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000DJYMC
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,386 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Commissioner Of Sewers combines interview and archival material, paintings, and clips of William S. Burroughs' film appearances (including "Decoder" and Gus Van Zant's "Drugstore Cowboy" and "Thanksgiving Prayer") with footage from Burroughs' last Europe

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This video captures the essential brilliance of WSB, October 26, 1999

By	Mark Meza ([e-mail]) (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

I saw this video in 1994 as a fledgling WSB fan and quickly became a loyal reader of all his books and, have been seeking out other cameo performances ever since by one of the most influential sub-culture writers of all time. This video provides us with the brilliant insights of a reasonable, highly logical individual who just happens to have the genuine, but obscure talent to make us realize some of the undesireable - and sometimes unfathomable truths of life in the modern world. The mono-tonal voice of cynical eloquence is captured in this video, along with rapturous images of the artist work on canvas. The "fireside chat" style of the interview, paired with dubiously positioned questions on life, death, and consciousness are cleverly interlaced in between readings of some of WSB's finest excerpts. As a relatively new, but life-long WSB afficionado, I highly suggest this video to start off your wonderous journey into the mind of an incredibly gifted, off-kilter literary phenomenoh.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A rare personal look at Burroughs, rough, but informative, May 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A rare look at Burroughs, the man, including a hilarious skit of "By the Dawns Early Light" starring Burroughs as Dr. Benway. The filming is quite rough, but I think William would have liked it that way. It's worth it just to hear the man speak.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the Technique and Just Enjoy the Author, January 27, 2006

By	J. Merritt (Washington-Baltimore Corridor) - See all my reviews

Few authors have ever been as adept at oratory with their own writings as Burroughs was, so any record of him reading his work is worth seeing. This also includes some interesting interview segments. It looks cheaply shot, and I could've lived without all the psychedelic effects that the filmmakers put behind Burroughs while he reads; the man is fascinating to listen to and watch, so that stuff is just a distraction. Nonetheless, worth seeing for fans.