Junction Books

Whatever your opinions on the film itself, the title of this article should hold true, as it’s rare that a poet is ever thrust into the national limelight (I can’t remember any others recently, besides Amiri Baraka). Critical reaction to the film has been mixed, no doubt due to its experimental nature. However, directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman have experience dealing with characters ostracized by society (San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk, homosexual characters in Hollywood films) and you have to imagine that there was a reason that they applied such playful film-making to poet Allen Ginsberg’s masterpiece.It might be said that the many different parts of the film combine to create one of the only possible on-screen representations of Howl. The poem itself is divided into four parts (including the footnote). Conversely, the film itself has four major threads: Ginsberg’s early experiences as a Beat are shown in black-and-white, the legendary Six Gallery Reading is re-enacted, the poem itself is adapted in animation, and the 1957 obscenity trial associated with the poem is revealed in color footage.Not long ago, James Franco might have seemed like an odd fit to play Ginsberg. His best known roles were in the high-school comedy series Freaks and Geeks and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. However, he did portray James Dean in a 2001 TV film, and appeared in a feature-film adaptation of Epstein’s Harvey Milk documentary (titled Milk). Reviewers have praised Franco’s turn here, portraying Ginsberg before he became the face of a generation, when he was still plagued by the decision of whether or not to even publish his poem in the first place. For those who are interested in the story behind a literary legend, make it a point to experience Howl in a theater near you.