Review of Howl (2010) by Nick D — 19 Feb 2011
The documentary sensibility of the superb team of Friedman and Epstein is baked in, along with a bit of warp in this attempt to move into 'narrative' storytelling with a biopic of Allen Ginsburg before and during the obscenity trial of his revolutionary beat poem HOWL. To which I refer, primarily, to their decision to illustrate some of the recitation of the poem with faux-naif animation. Warp. I much preferred the B&W recreation of Ginsburg's reading in a crowded smoky San Fransisco coffeehouse in 1955, with James Franco as a surprisingly convincing young Ginsburg (glasses, haircut helped). My spine tingled as Franco uttered so many familiar and electrifying sequences including the 'Moloch' and 'Holy' riffs. This is word jazz, and it holds up, just as it did for me as a young college student, it jazzed me up in the screaming non-Negro night of my lost and angry dorm room generation.
The actual trial, peppered with innumerable stars as dueling 'experts', feels predictable but necessary. My favorite parts, of course, covered in various other films and books, were the scenes of Ginsburg's relationships with Kerouac, Cassidy, Solomon, and his parents, the stuff from which the poem was based in the first place. Can I have more, please?
This review of Howl (2010) was written by Nick D on 19 Feb 2011.
Howl has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
