Filmmaking that calls for its audiences to study up on its source material (not to mention the life of the creator of that source material) before screening it is, in my opinion, irresponsible, placing an undue burden on viewers in advance. Indeed, if a picture is unable to stand on its own to be at least modestly comprehensible on its face, then that’s a production with an innate handicap from the outset. Such is the case with director Luca Guadagnino’s film adaptation of author William S. Burroughs’s 1985 semi-autobiographical novella, a glacially paced, meandering, pretentious, often-inscru...