Howl

In our celebration of National Poetry Month, we always like to choose a film that has to do with poetry.  Yes, that is a very broad description.  But when we are deciding on the best film to show, we look at movies about poets or writers, we look at movies that the art of writing, and we look at movies that express what it is that poetry means...what it embodies as a form of art.  This year, the film we chose is Howl which is a glimpse into the trial of controversial poet Allen Ginsberg.  Ginsberg's poem Howl was banned from being published in the US, a ban which was fought in the courts.  But this film is so much more.  In it, we see the life of Ginsberg, his own explanation of why he wrote some of the poem, what it meant to him, and how he felt about it.  We also see the poem itself come to life in animated scenes in a remarkable way.  Interested yet?
The film is about obscenity, censorship, judgment, sex.  It is about poetry.  It is about history.  It is about men's attempts to define freedom of expression.  It is about learning to appreciate and defend that which we don't understand.  It is about the beauty of declaring the aloud to the world who you are and finding that others hear you and feel the same. 

Sound interesting?  Come join us. 
Wednesday, April 9th, in the Science Center room 104 at 7 p.m. 
Movie snacks will be provided.