Friday, October 22, 2010
Words Of A Wild Poet
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This non-linear, contrastive approach is surprisingly good storytelling, and hearing parts of the poems several times - live, paraphrased at the trial, set against animation, mentioned in the interview - allows you to contemplate the meaning without compromising the storytelling and discovery.
This is very, very well-done. Franco's cast-mates are deftly chosen, notably Mad Men star Jon Hamm as defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (who inspired Perry Mason!), Bob Balaban as a thoughtful judge, the awesome David Strathairn in the unsympathetic district attorney role, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels as the state's rather unctuous and sanctimonious 'cultural experts.'
The men in Ginsburg's life (he was gay) are also well-casted, but mostly act in flashbacks, where they act with body language and voice-overs from correspondence or memoirs. They Aaron Tveit (the original teen boy in 'Next to Normal') as his life partner Peter Orlovsky (the real Orlovsky is pictured left with Ginsburg a la 'John and Yoko) and Todd Rotondi as Jack Kerouac, on whom Ginsburg had an unrequited crush.
Check out the trailer, which gives you a good feel of the film it promises..
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