Syl Allen Ginsberg (1926 to 1997) is best remembered as the ultimate American Beat poet. His landmark poem, "Howl," fought in court to prove its literary value and worth. James Franco was perfectly cast to play this charismatic poet. A great supporting cast are in the courtroom scenes. Allen's life is explored here with his life partner, Peter Orlovsky. Allen's relationship with Jack Keroauc is also explored as well. "Howl" is really a major part of the film where there is animation; black and white; color and imagery. The love scenes are tastefully done. Allen was a very talented writer, a visionary and this movie is a tribute to life and legacy. I just wished it was more organized and longer. Surprisingly it is only about 90 minutes.

Kirpianuscus a film about force of poetry. seductive , honest, cruel, strange. a film about a poem and about the fight for art. a film-homage about a period who impose new perspective about importance, purpose and perception of words. it is not a film about literature but about dreams who are foundations of life. about the courage to be yourself. the animation, the trial, the words and looks of public, the emotion who gives to the viewer status of part of film are admirable. a film who could be a challenge. in fact, it is only a strange gem. not only for artistic virtues- each of them is not enough to do a blockbuster or masterpiece - but for the return to questions, flavor of books, dreams of the youth, open windows and a poem who remains manifesto after few decades.

TheGovernatorOSU One of the main arguments in Ginsberg's defense during his trial was that dissecting "Howl" line-by-line with the intent of extracting exact prose and literal meaning is a perversion of its existence and the method of which it was written. My question is; wasn't the decision to use illustrations, which quite literally attempted to depict his poems word-by-word displaying corresponding visuals, a contradiction to that very argument? These illustrative clips seemed more of a medium to keep the viewer visually stimulated and maintain interest during his narrations, rather than an endeavor to create a platform in which we can truly envision Ginsberg's true intent behind his powerful words while maintaining one of the most fundamental points of the movie, that narrow and literal interpretations of such work should be discouraged, rather, that we should be invited to dream our own envisionment of a poems content through personal interpretation and wild imagination. I was perfectly content picturing the "angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night" on my own, enhanced by the spirited performance and narration of James Franco; in the crease in his brow, his subtle confidence and strain in his voice. The illustrations, albeit expertly rendered, took away from what I thought the film was all about.

johnstonjames i've never read Ginsberg's 'Howl'. heard a lot about it and am definitely curious, but i never get around to that one. i also think maybe i'm a little put off by the gay "beat" poets of the fifties and sixties. too much waxing that often feels more about the process of thinking than anything else. if life is truly existential, then i don't relate and i don't need your opinion.most of the thought by liberal left leaning "beats" is usually a lot of justification of the poet and a whole lot of forcing perspective and passing it off as some kind of truth. truth is often more relative than a lot of thinkers want us to believe.i'm not writing to trash anyone here. i just question anything or body that becomes a public legend or icon. no matter what side they're on or no matter how politically correct they believe their message to be. aside from all that, i'm sure that Ginsberg was a larger than life figure and probably deserves his celebrity status.even though the subject here appears to be Ginsberg, the real subject presented is actually free speech rights and censorship. i believe whole heartedly in reasonable and truthful free speech and i strongly oppose censorship. if you don't like it or can't handle it then don't watch it, read it, or listen to it. simple as that. and if you must expose yourself to different opinions and perspectives, don't freak out. acknowledge the opinions and then be strong minded and form your own. it's not THAT easy to get brainwashed. just show a little back bone for crying out loud.like the excellent Milos Forman drama about free speech issues 'The People vs. Larry Flint', 'Howl' is a important film about one of the most important topics of discussion. and like Forman's film, 'Howl' is exceptionally good filmmaking with outstanding performances and some really killer cool animation of Ginsgerg's famous poem.to say that this is a "gay" movie is limiting. this is a film that reaches out to a broad audience with a issue that concerns everyone. this is hardly the "fluff" that the Logo or gay networks usually fill up their programing schedule with. this is a film that should reach everyone on some level or another.