First up this week is a film for lovers of the Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg; Howl (Saturday 8th December, 8.30pm). This experimental docu-drama explores Ginsberg’s erotic, explicit and autobiographical poem Howl (released in 1956) and brings his prophetic masterpiece to life with psychedelic animations of the poem.
First up this week is a film for lovers of the Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg; Howl (Saturday 8th December, 8.30pm). This experimental docu-drama explores Ginsberg’s erotic, explicit and autobiographical poem Howl (released in 1956) and brings his prophetic masterpiece to life with psychedelic animations of the poem.
The film is based on a collection of recorded interviews with Ginsberg, played here very well by James Franco, who recites the poem throughout the film. It also flicks to the courtroom drama of the obscenity trial that followed the release of Howl. It was a case that tested the right to freedom of speech, and the film uses this to explore the literary relevance and importance of Ginsberg’s ground-breaking poem.
There’s a lot going on, and it’s such a fascinating moment in time you almost wish it was either a documentary or a drama. Some may find it a bit of a mash-up of styles, but it’s a sophisticated and intriguing way of examining Gingsberg’s masterpiece.
As I mentioned last week, this week we’re celebrating Boys on Film, which includes the Swedish film Patrick, Age 1.5 (Friday 7th December, 8.30pm). This comedy is about married gay couple Goran (Gustaf Skarsgård) and Sven (Torkel Petersson), who have been approved to adopt a baby and have moved into a very nice suburb filled with “traditional families”. Thanks to a typo at Social Services, Goran and Sven are sent a criminal delinquent, and homophobic, 15-year-old rather than the one and a half year old child they were expecting. Smart and funny, this enjoyable drama/comedy looks a little like an offbeat Swedish version of Desperate Housewives.
Also, as part of Boys on Film this week we’ve got Undertow, the 2010 Sundance Film Festival audience award-winning drama set in a small Peruvian fishing village (Tuesday 4th December, 8.30pm). And don’t miss Christopher Banks New Zealand documentary detailing the experiences of nine gay men in Men Like Us (Thursday 6th December, 8.30pm). You can read my exclusive Q&A with Christopher Banks HERE.
Enjoy.