I started this out of curiosity, expecting to last maybe ten minutes. Film drama about the Beats usually piss me off with their shallow characters. But the film Howl is a success.
This dramatic film shows profound respect for the poem itself. We hear much of it, in a variety of contexts: Ginsberg's original reading; as evidence in the later obscenity trial; and, most interestingly, as backdrop to animation, where literal cartoon figures have more flesh than the cardboard Beat figures we usually see. There's also an important narrative thread of young Ginsberg being interviewed.
Aram Saroyan's extraordinary book Genesis Angels gets my vote for the best thing ever written about the Beats. This film can be in its company, as no other dramatic film I know can be. I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise.
This dramatic film shows profound respect for the poem itself. We hear much of it, in a variety of contexts: Ginsberg's original reading; as evidence in the later obscenity trial; and, most interestingly, as backdrop to animation, where literal cartoon figures have more flesh than the cardboard Beat figures we usually see. There's also an important narrative thread of young Ginsberg being interviewed.
Aram Saroyan's extraordinary book Genesis Angels gets my vote for the best thing ever written about the Beats. This film can be in its company, as no other dramatic film I know can be. I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise.
