'Howl'

Thu, 02/24/2011 - 5:40pm by KristinL

The film, Howl, starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, is centered on the obscenity trial that ensued from the publishing of Ginsberg's epic poem, Howl. Considered to be one of the most influential works to come out of the Beat Generation, the poem encapsulated the fears and issues facing a new generation coming of age in the middle of the 1950s.

The film, like the poem, is unstructured as it jumps from Ginsberg's early years to animated segments of the poem, which are threaded throughout the film. Howl is not a biopic of Allen Ginsberg, but an attempt to bring the poem to life by presenting the historical context in which the Beats emerged, and graphically representing the words of the poem by the use of brilliant cinematic techniques. The film is perfect for anyone who loves the Beats or visual storytelling.

To learn more about Allen Ginsberg or the Beats, check out Howl: A Graphic Novel, by Allen Ginsberg, animated by Eric Drooker; The Beats: A Graphic History, by Harvey Pikar and others; Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg: The Letters, edited by Bill Morgan and David Standord; and The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation, by Bill Morgan.