Director Chris Rodney had unrestricted access to David Cronenberg and his team during pre- and post-production and the filming of Naked Lunch (1991).

The resulting documentary (52 minutes) is much more interesting than the usual “Making of . . .” fare.  There is extensive footage of William Burroughs in discussion with Cronenberg, as well as perceptive analysis from Judy Davis and Peter Weller. Rodney has captured the clearest explanation I have seen yet from Cronenberg about his rationale for making the film the way he did rather than trying, as several others had done (and failed), to develop a screenplay drawn directly from Burroughs’ episodic, discontinuous narrative. 

There is also fascinating footage of the animatronics team who made the typewriters with the talking arseholes, the Mugwumps, and the lifesize model of Cloquet sodomising and devouring Kiki.

The documentary aired initially on London Weekend Television’s The Southbank Show and is included on the extras disc in the Criterion Collection DVD box of Naked Lunch.