"Howl": The Movie

My daughter and I saw "Howl," the movie, last night. I don't usually write about movies here, but as this one was about a poet and a poem, it seems relevant to the blog. I had mixed feelings about the film, but overall enjoyed it very much and am glad that I saw it. The focus of the film is on Allen Ginsberg's famous reading of his long poem "Howl" and the ensuing trial in which Lawrence Ferlinghetti, whose City Lights Bookstore published the poem, is tried for obscenity. The film interweaves four types of scenes: first, from the reading in 1955 at the Six Gallery in San Francisco; second, from the trial; third, of Ginsberg being interviewed and speaking into a tape recorder; and fourth, animated scenes "illustrating" the spirit of the poem. The first three types of scenes were all engrossing and beautifully acted; the fourth type verged on the silly, with 60s/psychedelic/Fantasia-style/ecstatic whooshings and swoopings through a cityscape and the sky, animated attenuated creatures, and explosions of fireworks-type lights. However, I chose to give in to the spirit of those sequences and enjoy them. James Franco starred as Ginsberg and did a terrific job. His portrayal brought out the vulnerable and tender side of Ginsberg as well as the intellectual, poetic, free-spirit rebel side. The film is packed with wonderful actors, including David Straitharn, Jeff Daniels, Bob Balaban, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, and Jon Hamm. The focus of the film is on Ginsberg's pioneering work in a new, freer, jazz-influenced kind of writing, one that should not be fettered by narrow conservative views about what is appropriate and what is obscene language. In a touching last scene, we hear and then see a far older Ginsberg reading/chanting his poetry. As an aside: I was fortunate enough to see and hear Ginsberg read his poetry in his later years, in the 1980s, and am glad I could experience his unique poetry, wit, and spirit in person.