Walking Paris with Henry Miller

Barney Rosset, the man who overturned the obscenity laws banning publication of Henry Miller’s major writings in the US is championed in the new documentary, Obscene, which debuted in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. In the nineteen-sixties Rosset fought and won the right to publish the first legal American editions of Miller’s novels including Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, and The Rosy Crucifixion, ending three decades of official censorship.

Rosset first encountered Miller’s writing in 1940, when as a college freshman he was inspired to write an essay titled, “Henry Miller vs. Our Way of Life”. In 1951 he founded Grove Press with the purpose of one day bringing Miller’s work to a larger American audience. Warming to the task, Rosset fought and won the right to publish the previously banned Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1959. Two years later, Grove Press brought out an American edition of Tropic of Cancer while the book was still officially prohibited. The ensuing court battle rose all the way to the US Supreme Court where the ban on Miller’s work was finally abolished in 1964. Of his legal battles against American obscenity laws, Rosset said, “I didn’t do that to save humanity, I did it to save Tropic of Cancer and Henry Miller”.

Trailer

A nice video clip of the Henry Miller portion of the film is available, but I can’t link to it directly because it’s nested within a larger Flash application. To view the clip, go to the TIFF ‘07 Screening Room, select the blue “Trailers” link on the right of your screen and navigate to the third page. The Miller clip is the one titled “Obscene (Tropic of Cancer)”.

In the trailer, Miller briefly discusses Tropic of Cancer, followed by interviews with Barney Rosset and Erica Jong. There’s even a clip of Lenny Bruce reading a selection from his smuggled copy of Tropic of Cancer.

Reviews

I haven’t seen the film yet, but several informative reviews have popped up around the net. Here’s a selection:
Twitch
Cinematical
Variety
Green Ciné Daily

Posted October 16, 2007 - trackback