subject: Howl Preview: Best Picture Contender? Breakout Role for James Franco? [print this page] Who is Allen Ginsberg and why should you care about his new biopic Howl? Well, let's just say every major artist in the 60s and 70s was influenced by him. Writers like Hunter S. Thompson and William S. Burroughs loved him.
Musicians like Bob Dylan, U2 and The Beatles owe extraordinary credit to him. Actors like Johnny Depp and John Turturro participate in his poetry readings. Andy Warhol even called him "the best poet in the world." Is that enough?
Ginsberg is finally getting a major film biography that will hopefully make him a household name again. Howl focuses on three stories: 1) James Franco plays Ginsberg in 1957 San Francisco on trial for obscenity for his great poem, Howl.
2) Flashback sequences of Franco as a very young Ginsberg finding his way as an artist in an uptight and hypocritical society. 3) An animated reflection of the Howl poem (aka, watching someone read aloud is boring, so we'll throw this in to mix it up).
All three are combined to show the tumultuous birth of a new breed of counterculture.
Franco seems to get better with each film. Hopefully, Howl will establish him as a serious dramatic actor. Maybe even an Oscar nod? The Academy are suckers for biopics after all.
The impressive supporting cast includes Mary-Louise Parker, Jeff Daniels and David Strathairn. Howl is directed by Rob Epstein (Oscar winner for The Times of Harvey Milk and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt) and Jeffrey Friedman.
With the talent involved and great source material, I think we have a Best Picture nominee.
