Howl
Poetry, passion, and the obscenity of censorship.
Starring James Franco
Available Formats
About
A renegade artist breaking down barriers in search of love and redemption.... an hallucinogenic ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation.... a work of art put on trial for obscenity.... HOWL tells the unlikely story of a poem that sparked the counter-culture.
James Franco is uncanny as he channels the young Allen Ginsberg in this unconventional mash-up of poetry, politics, dreams and desire. Also featuring David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Bob Balaban, Treat Williams, Alessandro Nivola, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeff Daniels. Animation designed by Ginsberg collaborator Eric Drooker (Illuminated Poems).
Photos
Festivals & Screenings
Freedom of Expression Award
Reviews
"Not quite a biopic, not really a documentary and only loosely an adaptation, HOWL does something that sounds simple until you consider how rarely it occurs in films of any kind. It takes a familiar, celebrated piece of writing and makes it come alive."
- A.O.Scot, NY Times
"Moments of soaring brilliance, with an elegant performance by James Franco as Ginsberg that should redefine his career."
- Betsy Sharkey, LA Times
"A great film. Franco disappears into Ginsberg's sexy earthiness."
- Jennie Yabroff, Newsweek
“Stimulating and at times exhilarating to watch…”
- Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair
“HOWL combines dramatization and documentary images so fluidly that one experiences what may be a new form.”
- Steven Watson, Artforum
“A frenetic charged piece of cinematic poetry.”
- Nick Haramis, Black Book
"HOWL is a marvellously entertaining film, crashing through time periods, genres, film stocks and animation with absolute confidence.... a bold, inspiring piece of work, putting experimental techniques in the service of a heartfelt, insightful and surprisingly audience-friendly work of art."
- Tom Huddleston, Time Out London
"HOWL is a gutsy, inventive film about an important moment."
- Marshall Fine, Huffington Post
“Damned if Franco doesn’t nail the poet’s winningly bombastic urban-intellectual glee; he’s like a young rabbi letting himself go in the New York beatnik unerground. HOWL isn’t a conventional biopic.”
- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"Franco plays Ginsberg with an electrified fondness. HOWL plays like poetry in motion.”
- Troy Patterson, Spin Magazine
"An exhilarating experiment that Sundance was built to nurture. Bravo!"
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"After a movie you usually want to talk about the actors or the direction or the cinema-photography, but when you leave this movie what you want to do is go directly to a bookstore and buy a copy of “Howl” so that you can do some literary interpreting yourself; and then you want to go back and see the movie again (as I did) in the hope that this time you have something of your own to offer. See you there."
- Stanley Fish, NY Times
Credits
Written for the Screen and Directed by
Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
Produced by
Elizabeth Redleaf
Christine Kunewa Walker
Produced by
Rob Epstein
Jeffrey Friedman
Executive Producers
Gus Van Sant
Jawal Nga
Director of Photography
Edward Lachman, ASC
Production Designer
Thérèse DePrez
Editor
Jake Pushinsky
Costume Design
Kurt and Bart
Music by
Carter Burwell
Music Supervision
Hal Willner
Animation Designed by
Eric Drooker
Animation Producer
John Hays
Co-Producers
Brian Benson
Andrew Peterson
Mark Steele
Associate Producers
Peter Hale
Bob Rosenthal
Associate Producers
Ken Bailey
James Q. Chan
Kelly Gilpatrick
Line Producer
Lynn Appelle
Casting by
Bernie Telsey, CSA
CAST:
James Franco
as Allen Ginsberg
David Strathairn
as Ralph Mcintosh
Jon Hamm
as Jake Ehrlich
Bob Balaban
as Judge Clayton Horn
Jeff Daniels
as David Kirk
Mary-Louise Parker
as Gail Potter
Alessandro Nivola
as Luther Nichols
Treat Williams
as Mark Schorer
Jon Prescott
as Neal Cassady
Todd Rotondi
as Jack Kerouac
Aaron Tveit
as Peter Orlovsky
Resources for educators:
Literary Criticism Comes to the Movies by Stanley Fish
Sample Study Guide from The Learning Network / New York Times
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