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This inspirational 1989 film was directed by Peter Weir and starred Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke.
< read all 6 reviewsThe tragedy of the rigorous and mindless enforcement of conformity
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Jun 11, 2008
- by CharlesAshbacher
- posted in Movie Hype
Rating:
This is one of the most inspiring and saddest movies ever made. Robin Williams stars as John Keating, an inspirational and unconventional English teacher in an atmosphere of strict conformity. The school is one that rigid, simplistic parents send their young men to, and they expect the education to be formal, complete and without deviation from the prescribed path.
+5
Williams arrives at the school and teaches the boys the joy of breaking with the mass lockstep and thinking for themselves. A group re-forms the Dead Poets Society, where they sneak out of their dorm rooms and meet in an Indian cave and read classical poetry. It is a club like those formed by young men since they first existed, a chance for them to rebel against their restrictions and branch out into new and forbidden areas.
However, when one of the boys chooses to act in violation of his father's edicts, the father responds with an ultimatum. When the boy chooses suicide over giving up acting, a scapegoat must be found and Keating is the "logical" choice. The boys are forced to sign statements blaming Keating for the death of their friend, with some being completely shameless about it. In a touching scene at the end, the most rebellious of the boys stands on his desk and says to Keating, "Oh Captain! My Captain!", from a poem of the same name penned by Walt Whitman and dedicated to the memory of the assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Others follow his lead and only the most heartless of us can watch that scene and not generate a teardrop.
In my opinion, this is the best movie Williams has ever done; his character is forceful, imaginative, and creative and pays dearly for his excellence. As an educator operating at the college level, I know that situations like this happen more often than non-educators realize.
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More Dead Poets Society reviews
From master director Peter Weir (The Year of Living Dangerously and Witness) comes the inspirational film Dead Poets Society. Through Weir's skillful direction the film is imbued with a passionate message about self-expression and discovering your identity, and yet it never comes across as being preachy or pretentious. The screenplay was written by Tom Schulman, who based much of the story upon his own experiences in school. The story is universal, showing how words and ideas can change us and how … more
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`Dead Poets' Society' feels like a classic from start to finish. The movie finds Robin Williams in a break-out role that transcends his earlier, comedic work. Which is not to say he isn't funny at times in this movie; it's just that he's more well-rounded. If we didn't care about the poor lads at Welton Academy, the whole film would fall apart. A boarding school with the highest academic standards, Welton is presented as the epitome of 1950's conformity and convention. It … more
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About the reviewer
Charles Ashbacher (CharlesAshbacher)
Charlie Ashbacher is a compulsive reader and writer about many subjects. His prime areas of expertise are in mathematics and computers where he has taught every course in the mathematics and computer … more
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About this movie
Dead Poets Society is a 1989 drama film starring Robin Williams and directed by Peter Weir. Set at a conservative and aristocratic boys prep school, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students to change their lives of conformity through his teaching of poetry and literature.
The story is set at the fictional Welton Academy in Vermont in the 1950s, and was filmed at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. The script, written by Tom Schulman, is based on his life at Montgomery Bell Academy, an all-boys preparatory school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Director:
Peter Weir
Genre:
Drama
MPAA Rating:
PG
Screen Writer:
Tom Schulman
DVD Release Date:
January 10, 2006
Runtime:
128 minutes
Studio:
Touchstone Pictures
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