Friday, February 17, 2012

Moview Review: Dead Poets Society


In a strict and traditional boarding school English professor John Keating inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day. The lives of every student and their family are forever changed by this event, some of them for the better and some for the worst. Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.



Dead Poets Society
Release Date: 9 June 1989
Duration: 128 mins
Rating: 5/5 stars
Buy: Amazon (US) || Amazon (UK)



Review:


This movie is believed to be one of the best movies ever filmed and I have to agree with that. I usually get bored with social movies but this one captivated my interest and kept me going for the whole duration. Even when it finished I wanted it to keep telling us the characters’ stories.

The movie is located in a boarding school, it is actually in eastern USA but the environment and the presence of Scottish elements makes the watcher think it is located in Scotland. The scenery is amazing, it has vast fields covered in snow, dark and misty forests and a very mystical Indian cave. Also I liked the school building but I think that about every boarding school with neoclassical elements so I am not so objective XD

The acting is at least above average and some of the characters are just perfect. I especially liked Robin Williams as John Keating and Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry. But also the “bad guy” Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron. The characters were awesome, I think every teacher, professor, sensei, shifu whatever you call it, should watch very carefully John Keating and try to be like him.

The plot of this movie is not very clear from the beginning, at least to me it wasn’t, because, I think, we are used to think that the main plot is about a character but in this movie it is not true. The “main character” here is the principle of free thinking and free will itself. The movie does follow the lives of the members of the dead poet society but at the end of the day the plot is all about freedom and that is what made it stand out for me. It shows both the greatness of what free thinking can achieve and the grief and horror that oppression can produce. Aside from that this movie made me start to enjoy poems, I know it sounds weak but it did, just like blues brothers made me love the old rock/blues music.

To sum up I have only one thing that I can say : “Oh captain, my captain !”.


7 comments:

  1. Great review! I wanted to watch this movie since a long time but never got around to it.
    Old follower!
    X

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  2. I absolutely love this movie! It's one of my favorites of all time, and I even kind of named my blog after it. Great review :)

    Krista - Nawanda Files

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  3. I loved the movie, even though I was younger when I saw it and had problems into understanding it completely....The end was sad, but it's a great story....

    I like your last paragraph and the concusion, the way you wrote them....

    Thnx for the review....

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  4. Love this movie. It played a huge role in me falling in love with the English subject when I was in grade school. And I also remember parading around my house, singing "Oh captain, my captain," much to my parents annoyance.

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  5. @Krista: Oh yes I remember Nawanda the most rebelious one :D

    @Patricia: It is funny that in spite of me being older than you when you watched it, I still said "Oh captain, my captain" more than a few times XD

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  6. Do you remember, there was an episode in How I Met Your Mother, where Ted and Barney were talking inside Ted's class, and I don't remember what they were talking about exactly, but at the end Barney's stand on a chair and says "Oh Captain My Captain"....

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  7. Fabulous review. I have seen this movie at least ten times and think it is so wonderful. I would love to have a teacher like Robin Williams. So great!! Glad you enjoyed it!

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There is lot of spam lately at the posts, so for a while i will put up the comment moderation. Sorry for that, i really don't like it but i thought it might stop the spamming. It will be down soon enough! Thanks a lot :)

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