One of the most extraordinary Hollywood films is the Society of Dead Poets. The actors of the picture played on the screens a real story that unfolded in the 1950s. at the Montgomery Bell Academy. What was this film about and who made it?
The creators of the picture
The screenwriter for The Dead Poets Society was Tom Shulman. It was he who studied at the Montgomery Bell Academy in the late 1950s and witnessed how teacher Sam Pickering tried to change the lives of his students for the better with the help of poetry and literature. Schulman’s work was not in vain - for his script, he received an Oscar. This is despite the fact that the "Society of Dead Poets" was a debut for the young Shulman. Subsequently, he also wrote the scripts for the films "Honey, I have reduced children" and "Welcome to Elk Bay."
The project was directed by Peter Weir, who subsequently directed The Master of the Seas: On the Edge of the Earth and the drama with Colin Farrell, The Way Home.
Behind the camera was John Seal, who also shot the thriller Witness with Harrison Ford and the drama Rain Man with Tom Cruise.
The producers of the picture were Paul Witt ("Christmas Crazies") and Tony Thomas ("Firstborn"). The music for The Dead Poets Society was written by Maurice Jarre (Doctor Zhivago).
Short story
The actors of The Dead Poets Society play mainly students and a teacher at the fictional prestigious Wellton Academy. The main characters are seven young men who are exhausted from boredom in this educational institution. But things change when they meet their new literature teacher, John Keating. In the first lesson, he makes them think about their death and how to live life, so as not to regret anything. John Keating relies in his arguments on famous literary works.
The young men are so impressed with their teacher’s speech that they decide to recreate the once-existing literary club, The Society of Dead Poets. Moreover, each of them, in his own way, decides to change his life. Not everyone is going smoothly. But, in fact, about this and the film.
When it becomes difficult for each of the heroes to make a choice or decide on some act, they turn to literature or to their teacher John Keating.
The Society of Dead Poets: actors and roles. Robin Williams as John Keating
The hero of John Keating had a real prototype in life - a teacher Sam Pickering, who worked at the Montgomery Bell Academy in the 1950s. Perhaps that is why the film “Society of Dead Poets” was so successful: this time the actors played quite real stories on the screen that happened to real people many years ago.
The role of John Keating was assigned to the owner of the Oscar Robin Williams. Williams once began his career as a comedian. However, then he proved that he can play quite serious characters.
Williams first gained popularity when he starred in Good Morning Vietnam. The 90s became no less successful for the actor when he appeared as central characters in the films "Mrs. Dautfire", "Jumanji", "Captain Hook" and "Birdcage". Unfortunately, the actor’s life ended in 2014 - he committed suicide.
“Society of Dead Poets": actors, photo. Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry
One of the central characters in the film is Wellton Academy student Neil Perry, who has to go through a series of difficult tests.
In the film Society of the Dead Poets, actors Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke,
Josh Charles and others play students who are inspired by John Keating and decided to change their lives. Neil Perry, performed by Robert Leonard, is studying at the Faculty of Medicine because his father decided so. But after John Keating makes his students realize the finiteness of life, Neal realizes that he is not ready to spend his limited time on an unloved profession. Therefore, he drops medicine and begins to play in the theater. But confronting an imperious father is not so simple. Due to constant skirmishes, the young man does not stand up and commits suicide.
Robert Sean Leonard before The Dead Poets Society played in films like The Manhattan Project, My Vampire's Best Friend, and Twilight Zone. Subsequently, he became familiar to the audience in the role of James Wilson from the series “House Doctor”.
Other role performers
In the film "Society of Dead Poets" the actors were collected quite famous. For example, Ethan Hawke, who played student Todd Anderson, is familiar to many.
Ethan Hawke is a very interesting actor, who often gets the roles of loonies, maniacs and eccentrics. The hawk can be seen in such thrillers as "Eclipse", "Devil's Games", "Before Sunset", "Taking Life" and in many others.
Actor Joshch Charles is known to viewers in the comedy "Not a Mommy's Words About the Nanny's Death", the drama "Three" and the action movie "Crossroads of Worlds." Dylan Kassman, who played Richard Cameron, also starred in The X-Files and X-Men. And Norman Lloyd, who played Mr. Nolan, can be seen in the films “Girl Without Complexes” and “Twilight Zone”.
Movie Reviews
Critics praised the work of director Peter Weir, but how did the audience react to the film "Society of Dead Poets"?
Reviews on the picture are very positive. The movie is rated 8.0 on the IMDb website. Firstly, the audience is intrigued by an extravagant title. Secondly, they are attracted to the cast.
For many viewers, the picture became inspiring. They are imbued with the desire of the main characters to change their lives for the better. This film finds echoes in the souls of those people who at least once in their lives felt that their time was wasted through their fingers, but they cannot understand why. About those who suffered because they did not dare to be themselves. And then, the director sharply raised the eternal problem of fathers and children, thereby significantly expanding the potential audience of the tape.
But there are spectators who were skeptical of the Society of Dead Poets. Some complain that John Keating simply has barbaric teaching methods, but because it is strange to make a hero out of such a person. Others claim that they “saw through” the plan, idea and the whole plot literally from the first minutes, so it was not interesting to look further.
And yet, if there is a desire to watch an old film, the creators of which tried to fill the plot with meaning, in contrast to modern Hollywood creations, then The Society of Dead Poets is perfect for this.