Howl

I avoid movies about "my" generation, or the "beat" generation because they almost always get it wrong. Imagine my surprise, this is a fine movie, it's a terrific movie. James Franco does a masterful turn as the young Allen Ginsberg, nailing his voice, and mannerisms as if Ginsberg snuck in there. My opinion is that HOWL is the most important poem of the 20th century, and so far, the most important of the 21st. I'm chuckling here - HOWL is the Moby Dick of poetry, and this movie is as good an exposition as imaginable, using animation, archival footage, and recreated scenes with every line either from the poem, the obscenity trial transcript, or interviews. I've been knocked for a loop, and YOU ought to watch this movie

THAT MEANS....I WILL NEVER FORGET (THIS ACCIDENT) I JUST HAPPEN TO FIND BUT I WILL SHARE IT WITH MY 50 y.o. DAUGHTER. I HOPE SHE WILL TAKE THE CHALLENGE TO GIVE HER OPINION AND SCRUTINIZE THE WORK. WHY? BECAUSE SUCH ''QUEER''' ART (nothing to do with sex, per se) IS HARD TO EXPLAIN, VIEW, AND TRANSLATE (FOR ONE'S OWN GOOD AND STATE OF MIND.) IN OTHER WORDS, SUCH A WORK WILL TELL ONE MORE ABOUT THEIR OWN BEING THAN THE ART ITSELF. *As a mother of children I was going along with the description of the art until that scene about kids and tossing them somewhere. Now. That stopped me and I had to control my demon inside. My hate was beginning to rise to a level I could not escape from readily. *I am willing ....because I know ALL people are not the same and was never meant to be the same but a culture can be established monoisticly and the people can be forced to mimic it in their best ways and effort so as not to have serious societal problems dealing with issues psychologically. But this was a sore area in the film for me. It's like: "You want a life without women and kids...so hoopty--doo, that's you, who cares?" And that means do what you want but don't rain on my parade.....if I am trying my best not to rain on yours. *My daughter has some great friends (for decades) who are gay.* I look forward to hearing her view of '''HOWL'''. *I saved a copy of a Dr. Phil Show way back when. Most of the young people circling Dr. Phil desperate for answers were in their 30s. I saved that video as a teaching tool for my children. Telling them that we all have to '''''grow up''''' and that process is not easy. So don't go over-board. It is just a growing phase. Ginsberg was 30 when he wrote '''HOWL'''....and it showed.Plus....his mother was sick for a long time. That had an affect on his youth, likely. *Overall, one cannot deny that HOWL is a piece of work, art-expressively. Just art. It does not solve anything but it does indicate that Ginsberg had talent, expressively. But work I would not enjoy. I'm not confused. I've got my bearings. I went through my states & stages of growth and am now in a new one, in my 70s.....

This film was a revelation to me. If only I had been exposed or taught about this great poem, Howl and the genius of Alan Ginsberg when I was attending school I think it could have made a positive difference in my life. I was different from the people I knew and felt so very alone. I fell in love and suffered hurt and rejection which seemed similar to the hurt Ginsberg might have felt when he received that letter from Neal Cassidy. This film connected to me on many levels. The direction, editing, cinematography-black and white and color and a large number of excellent well known actors in supporting roles make this film outstanding but it is James Franco as Ginsberg reading his poem and speaking to an unseen interviewer that make this a powerful, thought-provoking and emotional experience. The added irony is that Ginsberg wrote "Howl" in the 1950's and it was facing censorship as portrayed in this 2009 film...and here we are in 2018 facing daily attacks on the first amendment and freedom of speech and press from the highest level of our own government.

This is a film about a poem, a very famous poem. It is an ambitious film since it must relate the poem, give the context of the poem, portray the biography of the poet, and use the obscenity trail around this poem to highlight its features and to acquaint the viewer with the significance of the finding of the court in that obscenity trial. Does this sound overly ambitious and complex? Well yes, but this is a fairly complex poem, expressing the counter-culture movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is a poem, inspired by Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, that celebrates the life forces pushing against the constraints of social demands and conformity. Well how do the directors convey all of this? In this film they use several techniques, all of which added together conveyed a powerful story. Allen Ginsberg, the poet, gives an interview to an unseen person and during that interview the viewer sees, in black and white, much of the personal context of the film. These black and white segments include a dramatic reading of the poem by Ginsberg in a nightclub and this reading of the poem is enhanced by animation depicting key passages of the poem. These scenes are integrated with scenes from the obscenity trial around the publishing and sale of this poem in book form, which allows the directors to convey a commentary of the strengths and challenges that surround this poem. I would not say that this film is a general audience film. It is a film for a specific audience of persons who would appreciate the creativity, the freedom, the sexual liberation, and the joy of life that are features of this long four part poem. I came away from the film with a much more enhanced understanding of how the beat culture of the 1950s was the foundations upon which the free love culture of the 1970s and the gay liberation movement of the 1980s were built. I also came away from the film with more understanding of Ginsberg’s ground breaking efforts to reflect the youth culture in which he lived and loved. To make a film about a poem is no easy task and this film succeeds magnificently.

Thanks to this very well crafted movie i discovered Alen Ginsberg and then i realised he is much alive in his writings 56 years after hw wrote Howl now as he was then.As a gay man i identify completely with what he had to say about cruising in the city.I am not that young anymore but i recommend it strongly to any younger gay man who needs a reason to go on in life as a gay man.James Franco's interpretation of Allen Ginsberg is very good when he reads his poems but when when he tries to become allen ginsbugh in the long interview he is a bit les than perfect

Il film, tripartito, mostra contemporaneamente un'intervista ad Allen Ginsberg, il processo degli editori di "Urlo" e la lettura dell'eponima poesia ad opera sempre di James Franco. Il film è carino, ma nulla di eccezionale: la vera punta di diamante è la performance di Franco nel ruolo del poeta americano, specialmente nei momenti della lettura del testo.

Ich empfinde das Werk „Howl“ als ein ungeschminktes Zeitzeugnis.Mit einem unkontrolliert, sprudelnden Wortfluss und einem gnadenlos ungeschliffenen, tiefen Ringen um Verständnis und einem riesigen Bedürfnis nach Gerechtigkeit. Howl ist mit Emotionen durchtränkt und mit Geheim Codes versehen. Schutzlos gestrandet, mit kahl geschorenen Köpfen. Suchende Blicke hinter Brillengläser versteckt, Prüderie tief begraben, staubtrockenes Verlangen, tote Körper zu triumphaler Auferstehung und feuriger Liebe verhelfend. Es taucht tief ein in die Seele der Welt mit Inbrunst und blutigen Tränen. Ein am Rande stehender Beobachter, tief hat er in den Schlund der Vergänglichkeit geschaut. Den Ratlosen, Suchenden, den Benachteiligten, den vom Leben gezeichneten, seine Hand gereicht. Er malt mit seinen Worten surreale Bilder, von Liebes hungrigen, einsam herum irrenden, betäubten Körpern, von Macht und Ohnmacht. Verlorenheit im Getriebe der Zeit.Sabine Bärbel Patjens (Autorin)

Urlo non è solo un biopic che racconta la vita e l'essere del poeta Allen Ginsberg ma è un viaggio psichedelico-visionario che in maniera originale, fonde live action e animazione in computer grafica che sapientemente impiegata, accompagna gli intensi versi recitati di "urlo", con immagini in continua evoluzione.Consigliato a tutti gli amanti di poesia, del cinema di parola e anche di animazione.

Geschichte eines Schriftstellers mal anders, provozierende Wortwahl macht das Werk einmalig. Das ganze wird von guter Jazzmusik begleitet und mit Zeichentrick Einlagen bildlich dargestellt sodass man die Gedankengänge des Künstlers versteht. Irgendwie eine Mischung aus Ballade und Memoire. Sehr sehenswert und anspruchsvoll. Hoffe diese Rezession hilft manchen weiter..... einfach selbst ein Bild von machen.

Lieferung kam wie erwartet schnell und problemlos.Als ich den Film das erste Mal gesehen hatte verfiel ich ihm sofort. Allen Ginsberg war ein Künstler und ein unbändiger Geist. Sehr tiefgründig und interessant.

This film has managed the impossible: a manual of poetry!though!What is poetry and why poetry is indispensable?it is useless BUT it is indipensable!what is a football player and the "goal" that brand? it serves no purpose but the people need this!As the need for poetry but the height of poetry is to disappear when the nome, here, in this film the poem ("Howl") of Alllen Ginsberg EXPLODES!Ce film a reussi l'impossible : un mode d'emploi de la poésie !si !A quoi sert la poésie et pourquoi la poésie est indispensable?ça ne sert a rien MAIS c'est indipensable!à quoi sert un joueur de foot et le "but" qu'il marque? ça ne sert à rien mais le peuple à besoin de ça!Comme il a besoin de la poésie mais le comble de la poésie c'est de disparaître lorsqu'on la nome,ici, dans ce film le poeme("howl") de Alllen Ginsberg EXPLOSE !

Wir haben den Film gemeinsam im im Kino gesehen. Mein Mann war so begeistert, das er sich die DVD zum Geburtstag gewünscht hat. Mit der Bestellung hat alles prima geklappt.

Comment comprendre au mieux Howl (le livre). Un film a la hauteur de mes espérance, qui ne peut que donnerenvie de (re)lire le livre.

völlig abgesehen vom Gedicht eine wunderbare Teilbiografie eines grandiosen Schriftstellers und Poeten dargestellt von einem überaus beachtenswerten Mann, James Franco. Unbedingt kaufen und anschauen ;-)

Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac und Willam S. Borroughs bilden ein Teil der Beatliteratur im Amerika der Nachrkriegszeit. Sie sind die Dichter der Apokalypse und betrachten Amerika in einer neuen Sicht.Der Film ist eine Dokumentation in 3 Ebenen. Howl - Das Geheul - ist der Anstoss der US Gesellschaft und der Verleger wird 1957 in San Francisco vor Gericht gestellt. Dabei geht darum ob "Howl" trotz der Obszönität Literarischen Wert hat oder nicht. Dazu wird in Schwarz/Weiss der Vortrag des Gedichte Epos aus dem Jahr 1955 gezeigt und ein Interview während den Verhandlungen mit einem Ginsberg von 1957. Der Schauspieler James Franco verkörpert Ginsberg in einer absolut autenthischen Gestalt. Die Vorlesung auf der einen Seite in S/W gehalten gibt dem Kolosalen Wort des Gedichts einen visuellen Ausdruck, da die Reaktion der Zuschauer gut eingefangen ist. Es findet eine spürbare Interaktion hat ohne dass sie sichtbar wird. Das Interview in fast kitschigen Farben gehalten ist eine Erklärung Ginsberg zu "Howl" sowie seinem eigenen Lebensgang bis 1957. Die Verhandlungen vor Gericht zeigen wie puratinisch die Gesellschaft auf der einen Seite sich über Literatur zu erklären versucht, wie aber anderseits der Verteidiger des Verlegers auch Literaturexperten sprechen lässt, die dem Werk eine Nachhaltigkeit eines neuen Geistes in Amerika und auch einen Willen der Freiheit für die Literatur aufzeigt. Der Richter, obwohl nicht sehr in Aktion, spielt seine Rolle absolut genial.Eine solches Gerichtsurteil wäre auf Grund der heutigen politischen Situation gar nicht mehr möglich. Hätte die Beatgeneration und Woodstock in Amerika nicht stattgefunden, wäre Amerika heute bereits ein totalitärer Teaparty Staat.Aber das ist Spekulation und genau die Spekulation will the "Howl" nicht. Es zeigt den Nerv einer zerbröckelten Gesellschaft, die sich auffrisst in Gewaltkapitalismus und die Menschen schonungslos enthauptet.Für alle die sich für "Gedichte und Werke" rund um die Beatbeneration interessieren ein absolut sehenswerter Film.Zwar habe ich sehr gute Englischkenntnisse, doch war ich froh, dass Pandora-Films das Werk synchronisierte.