The read
Every source lands within 3 points of the others. It runs a compact 1h 24m.
Synopsis
It's San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial. Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg to find his true voice as an artist, society's reaction (the obscenity trial), and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment-the birth of a counterculture.
Ratings
IMDb6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes64%
Metacritic63/100
200 audience votes
Key crew
- Rob EpsteinWriter
- Jeffrey FriedmanWriter
- Rob EpsteinDirector
- Jeffrey FriedmanDirector
- Carter BurwellOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- James FrancoAllen Ginsberg
- Todd RotondiJack Kerouac
- Jon PrescottNeal Cassady
- Aaron TveitPeter Orlovsky
- David StrathairnRalph McIntosh
- Jon HammJake Ehrlich
- Andrew RogersLawrence Ferlinghetti
- Bob BalabanJudge Clayton Horn
- Mary-Louise ParkerGail Potter
- Treat WilliamsMark Schorer
- Jeff DanielsProfessor David Kirk
- Alessandro NivolaLuther Nichols
Stills
Themes
freedompoetryliteraturepsychiatric hospitalmale homosexualitycounter-culture1950sgay theme