FILM REVIEW: "Howl"

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on October 17, 2010 - 10:03pm

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“Howl”
Written and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
Starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg

James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in "Howl"

Review by Seth Rogovoy

For a movie that’s ostensibly “about a poem,” the new film “Howl” is a celebration of cinema and its myriad possibilities. The movie succeeds on so many levels—on the most basic one, in bringing to life the Allen Ginsberg poem, “Howl,” and making it potentially accessible to many thousands if not millions of filmgoers who have never had the pleasure of reading it, or might find it puzzling (as they should) if they did.

But the film also succeeds in contextualizing the poem and the poet at that extraordinary moment in American history when the literal and figurative shackles of postwar conservatism were about to be broken, ushering in an era of cultural and political revolution.

As the film shows, the poem “Howl,” and the trial of its publisher on charges of peddling obscenity, would play no small role in this revolution, as would Ginsberg, rendered uncannily by the already freakish James Franco.

The filmmakers seamlessly weave together re-creations of Ginsberg’s first public reading of the poem, scenes from the trial, segments from Ginsberg interviews, flashbacks from his life, and animated sequences, all working together to do the seemingly impossible – to make an exciting film about a poem. Of course, “Howl” isn’t just any poem, and anyone who isn’t already a student of that work will gain immense appreciation for Ginsberg’s achievement.

In addition to Franco, the film is blessed with terrific performances by a cast including Bob Balaban, Jeff Daniels, David Strathairn, Treat Williams, and Mary-Louise Parker, totally hidden inside her role.

The film also, unfortunately, is just one more bit of evidence that Jon Hamm was born to play one role, and one role only, and it’s not the one he plays in this or any film so far.

Playing at the Triplex.

Seth Rogovoy is Berkshire Living’s award-winning editor-in-chief and cultural critic.

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