Howl

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2010, 90 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

In 1956 Allen Ginsberg published his famed poetry collection Howl and Other Poems. The title poem became one of the fundamental works of the Beat movement. Immediately after publication, however, Ginsberg and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti were charged with obscenity, and Howl found itself in court. The story of Ginsberg and Howl is told in three independent but interlinked plotlines. The first features the author reciting his poem at a San Francisco club, alternating with scenes of a young Ginsberg (portrayed by James Franco). Ginsberg talks about the poem’s origins, his homosexuality, and his friends. The second involves the trial, which shifted the notion of freedom of artistic expression in the USA. Issues concerning the definition of obscenity, the limits of free speech, and the boundaries of art are placed in the hands of lawyers and witnesses. The third plotline is an animated sequence of the poem itself created by Ginsberg collaborator Eric Drooker.

About the director

Rob Epstein (b. 1955, New Jersey) and Jeffrey Friedman (b. 1951, Los Angeles) are directors, writers, and producers. Their documentaries have received substantial recognition, including two Oscars and several Emmys. In 1987 they founded Telling Pictures productions. While Epstein started his career as a documentarist, Friedman began as assistant editor on such films as The Exorcist (1973) and Raging Bull (1980). Their most successful films together include Paragraph 175 (2000) about the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, The Celluloid Closet (1995) about gay and lesbian characters in Hollywood films, and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989) about the first decade of the AIDS epidemic in the USA. Epstein also shot the multiple award-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk (1984). Howl opened the Sundance festival and competed at the Berlinale.