Howl on Film
A film about the writing and obscentity trial of the poem “Howl” recently debuted at Sundance. I’m skeptical. I just have no idea what to expect, in terms of quality. I do, however, want to see it, badly. It’s got to make its festival run, so it’s doubtful that it’ll be on DVD anytime soon. Has anyone somehow managed to see this? What did you think?
A couple years ago, I saw the movie The Last time I Committed Suicide in the bargain bin somewhere and took it home and watched it. I was very disappointed. The film was based on a letter that Neal Cassady wrote to Jack Kerouac. Cassady didn’t write much, only leaving behind a single, fairly mediocre, novel and a collection of letters, most of which are only really interesting to the Beat Generation fanatic/scholar. But the letter the movie was based on, dated December 17, 1950, and commonly referred to as the “Joan Anderson Letter” is one of the finest, most moving pieces of literature I’ve ever read. The movie version was goofy as hell, poorly acted, and written by someone who obviously didn’t understand the first thing about the work he was basing his screenplay on. Plus, the guy playing Cassady had these huge Elvis sideburns that didn’t make any sense, because a) Cassady never wore big sideburns and b) the story doesn’t take place in the 50′s; it takes place in the mid-forties, before Cassady had met Kerouac.
Anyway, I’m wondering if the Howl movie will be more of the same? What do you think?
Incidentally, did anyone see the 2007 movie called Neal Cassady? It takes place during Cassady’s later life, when he drove the Prankster bus. Is it a bad sign that the film hasn’t been released on DVD yet? Or that Carolyn Cassady has said the thing is riddled with inaccuracies?
Well, it looked interesting, and if you go to YouTube (Where else?) you can watch the whole thing, free, in thirteen different parts.
Scratch that, it’s been removed.
But there are several trailers for it up now.
I found one place that said I could watch the full movie online if I took a ten minute survey. I haven’t the patience for those kind of games myself.
Cheers
David,
Which movie were you talking about? The Howl movie or the Neal Cassady movie? I saw last night after I posted this that Cassady could be rented from Amazon on demand. As for the Howl movie, I’m pretty sure that’ll get a DVD release, if not a wide release in arthouse theaters. I don’t really want to see a bootleg since it’s an indie film. I’d contribute cash somehow, even if it’s just a tiny percentage of my Netflix membership.
Like David, I was able to catch parts of “Howl” from youtube. Now it’s gone from the site (as far as I have dug anyway). James Franco is great as Allen. I remember when he played James Dean in a bio pic (long before spiderman), and I’ve loved his work since.
I saw “The Last Time I Committed Suicide” years ago on VHS. I was let down by the film.
I was talking about Howl, Pat. Someone posted the whole thing in thirteen different videos. But of course, it got purged. I doubt the offer to see it free after taking a ten minute survey is legit, but if you Google “Howl Movie” you’ll prolly find the link. The Sundance site had reviews and you can also find legit trailers at YouTube.
Cheers
Yeah, I’ve seen the trailer but you can never tell with those things. Like I said, though, I’d like to see it legit since it’s an indie movie and, good or bad, I’m sure a lot of love went into it.