Schroeder, who had filmed him for French TV years before, but would not surrender the script to Hopper, whom he despised as a gold-chain-wearing Hollywood phony; Bukowski and Penn remained friends for the rest of Bukowski's life. There is a scene where the camera tilts up over Faye Dunaway's legs. This glamour shot was done at her insistence and was not in the original screenplay. The apartment building where Wanda's apartment is located was an actual building where Charles Bukowski and his lover Jane Cooney Baker, the real-life counterparts to Henry and Wanda, had lived. No one knew this until Bukowski, who was watching the filming, remembered. The opening and closing song for the film is the 1967 instrumental "Hip Hug-Her" by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released in their 1967 album. Bukowski's reaction to the film Charles Bukowski had mixed reactions about the lead performance by Mickey Rourke. In an interview in the 2003 documentary film Born into This, Bukowski says that Rourke "didn't get it right... He had it all kind of exaggerated, untrue. He was a little bit showoff about it. So, no, it was kind of misdone.” Yet the original 1987 press kit for the film included a letter by Bukowski apropos the film, titled "A Letter from a Fan", in which the writer stated "Part of my luck was the actor who played Henry Chinaski. Mickey Rourke stayed with the dialogue to the word and the sound intended. What surprised me was that he added another dimension to the character, in spirit. Mickey appeared to really love his role, and yet without exaggeration he added his own flavor, his zest, his madness, his gamble to Henry Chinaski without destroying the intent or the meaning of the character. To add spirit to spirit can be dangerous but not in the hands of a damned good actor. Without distorting, he added, and I was very pleased with the love and understanding he lent to the role of the BARFLY". Bukowski had confided to the film critic Roger Ebert, in an interview conducted on the set of the film, that he thought Rourke was "doing a good acting job. I didn't really expect him to be so good." Bukowski later novelized his experiences surrounding the film in the book Hollywood. Reception Barfly received positive reviews from critics, holding a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 25 reviews.