Directed by Rob Epstein -- who also produced and directed the stellar 1984 documentary, The Times of Harvey Milk -- and Jeffrey Friedman, Howl is a nifty tribute to Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem "Howl;" it is also a historically contextualized contemplation of Beat Generation aesthetics, art, the creative process and gender issues. I enjoyed it. Fair warning, however: this is neither a Disney movie nor a Hallmark card, but rather has the definite feel of a modest (definitely not epic) independent film with several interesting things to think about. Though Howl incorporates some of the techniques of a documentary, it is a shaped fictional recreation of Ginsberg and his times, particularly focusing on the 1950s period. In addition, one is treated to the entire poem, threaded throughout the movie and often supplemented with strange animated sequences.
In the acting department, Howl features first and foremost James Franco as Ginsberg. Though popular culture has more recently tended to dwell on Ginsberg as a sort of Buddhist hippie in the 1960s and later, Franco gets to play him as the initially shy and emerging 1950s poet who dresses a bit more conservatively. In addition to Franco, there are solid portayals of other key players (mostly small parts) by Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels, Treat Williams, Mary Louise-Parker, Alessandro Nivola, Aaron Tveit, and others. But no William S. Burroughs! No worries, I've got another film about him to post about in the pipeline.
N.B. Epstein and Friedman initially teamed up on Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), a documentary that I haven't seen.
Today's Rune: Harvest.
6 comments:
That cast is amazing
That sounds very interesting.
Have not seen it. My knowledge of the Beats is spotty at best.
Erik, my son forced me thru 'Howl'. I can appreciate, but never really love the beat dudes like he does. Where there any beat dudettes? Please recommmend!
Hey, thanks all for the comments! Jodi, there's an anthology edited by Brenda Knight, *Women of the Beat Generation,* that includes a good sampling of women Beat types like Denise Levertov and Anne Waldman, plus Joyce Johnson, Carolyn Cassidy and Edie Parker Kerouac (who lived in one of the Grosse Pointes and in NYC).
I think it safe to say that the Beat poets and artists had a tremendous influence on the succeeding generation of the protest and pacifist hippies. Unfortunately the Beats left their "break the structure and let me live free" attitudes when it came to that succeeding generation, which as you point out up two posts Erik is them who now rule the world through "free market capitalism."
Post a Comment