Monthly Archives: May 2011

May 4, 2011

A Day on the Set of Big Sur, Part 1

by Jerry Cimino And then there were two. As a friend of mine put it most succinctly a few weeks ago, “I’ve been waiting fifty years for a new film adaptation of one of Kerouac’s books, and now we’ve got two of them coming one on the heels of the other.” Truer words were never spoken. Those of us who are die hard fans had to suffer through the knowing that the only Kerouac novel that had ever been adapted to the silver screen was The Subterraneans. Don’t go looking for it. It’s bad, trust me. So bad, it’s never legitimately been released to either VHS or DVD. So bad it’s why some say old Jack drank himself to death. That last clever aside may not be far off the mark. And it segues perfectly into the news about the second Kerouac novel to wrap filming and go into post-production this year. Big Sur is the story of Kerouac’s descent into full-blown alcoholism complete with the DT’s (delirium tremens) which led to his eventual demise. The timeline fits perfectly: With On the Road, Kerouac becomes famous in 1957. Declared the ‘King of the Beatniks’ soon after, The Subterraneans is released as a film 1960 (major plot line: Jack’s love affair with a black woman—Mardou Fox—changed to a French woman in the film – that was enough of a leap for 1960 US audiences). Kerouac’s Big Sur adventures take place in … Read more »

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