Alex Deleon HOWL, The Poem in focus, Viewed at Berlin, 2010"Howl", in competition at Berlin 2010, straight from Sundance where it was the festival opener, is a semi-documentary focusing on a page out of the scandal ridden life of gay Poet Laureate of the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg, when he was put on trial in 1957 for obscenity in connection with the publication of his magnum opus "Howl".(I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness ...). The poet is portrayed by actor James Franco who appeared opposite Sean Penn in last year's Oscarized gay mayor movie "Milk", and is directed in tandem by documentarians Rob Epstein (The times of Harvey Milk, 1984 ) and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet, 1995) Using Gínsberg's famous verse masterpiece as the focal point of the story, "Howl" looks at different aspects of this landmark poem of the Beat era. The poem itself is depicted through animation and Ginsberg is shown reading it to an audience for the first time, then being interviewed by a faceless reporter off camera. Tailor made for Beatnik Era buffs (such as myself, for instance). "Howl" was interesting historically, but generally rather disappointing. Maybe I was expecting too much but among other things, the main actor, James Franco, playing Ginsberg, just wasn't Jewish enough, abrasive enough, or Gay enough! Berlin, Feb,12, Day Number 2 February 12, 2010 The early morning press conference for HOWL screened last night was better than the film itself. Both directors Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein were on hand to field probing questions from a sparse but more sophisticated press assemblage than usual. One German lady claimed that the animation used to illustrate the Allen Ginsberg poem was too glitzy and modern to suit the fifties time frame of the film. The general feeling, however, was that the film was worthy and stimulating, if not geared to the mass audience.Other than that it can be said that this year's Berlinale, never a festival to start off slow, has already shot off much of its heaviest load and biggest guns in the opening three days. Among high profile premiers already screened have been the Alan Ginsberg biopic and homage to his magnum opus "HOWL", entitled --you guesstit -- "Howl" -- good reception here, but will probably be a hard sell at the cineplexes because of the experimental animation mixage and the intellectualized treatment of the subject matter. BOTTOM LINE: For Ginsberg buffs and Beat Generation historians only.

Armand about freedom, words force, fear, solitude and a subtle form of revolution. a film who seduce not exactly for story itself but for its spirit. because the mixture of animation, performance of James Franco who preserves not only the spirit of the period but the faith of poet as mentor gives special seduction to movie. film of a poetry , it is a chain of doors. and that fact transforms it more in a reflection seed than an artistic success. short - a necessary docudrama. and one of movies who impose a lot of emotions after its end because it reminds the pure essence of word, the need of truth affirmation of basic things who defines the life.

MisterWhiplash Howl might be a one-of-a-kind film experience if not for Chicago 10, another film that blended documentary, dramatization and animation together into a blender of personal history. But what sets this film apart from that and all others is that poetry becomes interwoven into a courtroom trial procedural - all, apparently, taken from the actual court transcripts of what the prosecution/defense asked of the people on the stand - so that it becomes about free speech. At the same time it's a quasi-biopic on Allen Ginsberg, who was a real free spirit, but also a shy Jewish kid from New York city who lost his mother as a child and worried about writing poems that might irk the ire of his father (he even considered not publishing Howl for that reason).It's a beautifully surreal little treat of a film that treats its subject seriously while also giving life to the epic poem that stays timeless, as with Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (which also gets name- dropped here). The filmmakers bring together the poetic readings - done by James Franco, one of his real 'embodiment' performances like Saul in Pineapple Express that is basically stunning - from in front of a live audience (where one sees how Ginsberg at first has an audience patient and waiting and then is full of life and looking forward to every next thing he says) and in animation. The poem becomes alive through the low-budget drawings, and depending on the stanza it can be at least acceptable and at most mind-blowing. You almost want the poem to go longer to sink in deeper to those Ginsberg stanzas that flow out with what appears to be stream of consciousness, but really has a structure to it.Acting is fantastic - David Straithairn, Jon Hamm and in a one-scene keeper Jeff Daniels - Franco keeps things moving so well with his performance, and the poem is given it's best context in personal and social history. All of a sudden, thanks to a film like this, the material becomes alive again, like a student picking it up and sinking into it for the first time.

Lee Eisenberg Probably nothing symbolizes the beatnik era more than Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl", not just because of its subject matter but also because of the obscenity trial that it sparked. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's movie "Howl" tells the story of this. The film consists of three interspersed sequences: Ginsberg (James Franco) discusses his world views, the poem gets depicted in animation, and the trial. Franco is great as the anti-conformist poet, talking about his experiences with Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady, and speaking frankly about his homosexuality. The part about the trial of course confirms that free speech is useless if everyone is forced to employ "agreeable" language, especially when addressing society's problems.So, "Howl" is truly one that I recommend. Some people might still argue, as Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn) does, that certain speech is inappropriate in certain conditions, but the purpose of the First Amendment is that people are supposed to be allowed to say whatever they want, even if it's not the most popular thing to say.Also starring Jon Hamm, Alessandro Nivola, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Bob Balaban, Treat Williams, Aaron Tveit and Jon Prescott.