Howl (Film)

Howl is an experimental, documentary film directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman from the year 2010. It is based on the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg and the circumstances of its publication.

Action

The film is set in the late 1950s in the United States. In a major strand of the poet Allen Ginsberg ( James Franco) is interviewed by a journalist about his work. Ginsberg offers comprehensive information and describes his ecstatic way of working, dealing with social taboo topics ( self-liberation, homosexuality, use of intoxicants ) and its linguistic approach, which is mainly due to the sound of jazz.

The second strand is the legal battle again, which followed the publication of the tape. In a famous trial, the court found in 1957 that the freedom of the individual to justify the publication of the book of poetry, even if large parts of the text were perceived by the public as offensive.

In addition, there are animated sequences where the film picks up scenes and moods of the poems. In an applied as retrospective in black and white fourth level, the Six Gallery reading mapped, which is considered in literary history as the birth of the Beat Generation. The animations are based on the 1996 published by Ginsberg along with Eric Drooker book Illuminated Poems. Drooker was involved in animation and design of the film.

Historical references

In the film, the main protagonists of the Beat Generation emerge. These include Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. The American defense lawyer Jake Ehrlich is represented by Jon Hamm, who became famous by the TV series Mad Men.

Public perception

Howl was 2010, both at the Berlinale as well as at the Sundance Film Festival in competition, but could not win a prize. For the critics, he triggered a mixed response.

2010 in film Jeffrey Friedman (filmmaker) Screenplay Film score Carter Burwell Edward Lachman Fictional film
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