Howl (2010 film)

{{short description|2010 American film by Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Howl

| image = Howl poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Rob Epstein
Jeffrey Friedman

| producer = Rob Epstein
Jeffrey Friedman
Elizabeth Redleaf
Christine Walker
Gus Van Sant
Jawal Nga

| writer = Rob Epstein
Jeffrey Friedman

| starring = James Franco
David Strathairn
Jon Hamm
Bob Balaban
Alessandro Nivola
Treat Williams
Jon Prescott
Aaron Tveit
Mary-Louise Parker
Jeff Daniels

| music = Carter Burwell

| cinematography = Edward Lachman

| editing = Jake Pushinsky
Stan Webb (animation)

| studio = Werc Werk Works

| distributor = Oscilloscope Laboratories

| released = {{Film date|2010|1|21|Sundance|2010|9|24|United States}}

| runtime = 85 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross = $1.1 million{{cite web|title=Howl|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=howl.htm|publisher=Box Office Mojo|access-date=6 September 2012}}

}}

Howl is a 2010 American film which explores both the 1955 Six Gallery debut and the 1957 obscenity trial of 20th-century American poet Allen Ginsberg's noted poem "Howl". The film is written and directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and stars James Franco as Ginsberg.

Plot

Howl explores the life and works of 20th-century American poet, Allen Ginsberg. Constructed in a nonlinear fashion, the film juxtaposes historical events with a variety of cinematic techniques. It reconstructs the early life of Ginsberg during the 1940s and 1950s. It also re-enacts Ginsberg's debut performance of "Howl" at the Six Gallery Reading on October 7, 1955 in black-and-white.{{Cite web |last=Shen |first=Lorrayne |date=September 24, 2010 |others=Epstein, Bob; Friedman, Jeffrey |title='Howl' filmmakers talk youth culture, James Franco |url=http://www.tuftsdaily.com/arts/howl-filmmakers-talk-youth-culture-james-franco-1.2341729 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429080111/http://www.tuftsdaily.com/arts/howl-filmmakers-talk-youth-culture-james-franco-1.2341729#.U19ce9nP1qY |archive-date=Apr 29, 2014 |website=The Tufts Daily}} The reading was the first important public manifestation of the Beat Generation and helped to herald the West Coast literary revolution that became known as the San Francisco Renaissance.The readings by the other four Six Gallery poets are not recreated in the film. In addition, parts of the poem are interpreted through animated sequences. Finally, these events are juxtaposed with color images of the 1957 obscenity trial of San Francisco poet and City Lights Bookstore co-founder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was the first person to publish "Howl" in Howl and Other Poems.

Cast

James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, a central figure of the Beat Generation{{cite web | url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/movies/news/article_1460659.php/Indie_studio_Werc_Werk_Works_to_produce_Howl_with_James_Franco | title=Indie studio Werc Werk Works to produce 'Howl' with James Franco | publisher=MonstersAndCritics.com | access-date=February 20, 2009 | archive-date=October 2, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002142913/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/movies/news/article_1460659.php/Indie_studio_Werc_Werk_Works_to_produce_Howl_with_James_Franco | url-status=dead }}
Aaron Tveit as Peter Orlovsky, fellow poet and Ginsberg's life partner for over forty years{{cite web | url=http://www.papermag.com/?section=article&parid=3230 | title=Catch him if you can: These are busy times for actor Aaron Tveit. | publisher=PaperMag.com | access-date=April 24, 2009}}
Jon Hamm as Jake Ehrlich, Ginsberg's prominent defense attorney, whose slogan was "Never plead guilty" and whose life inspired the TV series Perry Mason{{cite web | url=http://www.cinematical.com/2009/03/25/jon-hamm-puts-on-legal-briefs-for-howl/ | title=Jon Hamm puts on legal briefs for 'Howl' | work=Cinematical.com | access-date=March 25, 2009}}
David Strathairn as Ralph McIntosh, prosecuting attorney{{cite web | url=http://movieblog.ugo.com/movies/david-strathairn-interview | title=David Strathairn Interview | publisher=MovieBlog.Ugo.com | access-date=May 5, 2009}}
Alessandro Nivola as Luther Nichols, literary critic/book editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and defense witness
Mary-Louise Parker as Gail Potter, radio personality and prosecution witness{{cite web | url=https://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/mary-louise-parker-joins-the-exceptional-cast-of-howl.php | title=Mary-Louise Parker joins the exceptional cast of 'Howl' | publisher=FilmSchoolRejects.com | access-date=September 10, 2008 | archive-date=September 11, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911072603/http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/mary-louise-parker-joins-the-exceptional-cast-of-howl.php | url-status=dead }}
Bob Balaban as Judge Clayton W. Horn{{cite web | url=http://www.wercwerkworks.com/news?module=news&showitem=12 | title=Jon Hamm rounds out final all-star cast of 'Howl' | publisher=WercWerkWorks.com | access-date=March 24, 2009}}
Jeff Daniels as Professor David Kirk{{cite web | url=http://www.buzzsugar.com/1964545 | title=Allen Ginsberg biopic, 'Howl', gets stellar cast and crew | publisher=BuzzSugar.com | access-date=September 9, 2008 | archive-date=October 3, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003222541/http://www.buzzsugar.com/1964545 | url-status=dead }}
Jon Prescott as Neal Cassady{{cite web | url=http://www.wercwerkworks.com/projects/howl | title=Howl In Postproduction | publisher=werkwerkwerks.com | access-date=October 10, 2009}}
Treat Williams as Mark Schorer{{cite web | url=http://www.reserveresult.com/2009/06/james-francos-allen-ginsberg-howl-1st.html | title=James Franco's Allen Ginsberg @ 'Howl'--1st look | date=9 June 2009 | publisher=ReserveResult.com | access-date=June 9, 2009}}
Todd Rotondi as Jack Kerouac
Andrew Rogers as Lawrence Ferlinghetti{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/23/lawrence-ferlinghetti-poet-activist-dies-471233|title = Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet and activist, dies at 101|website = Politico| date=23 February 2021 }}

Production

Principal photography of the film took place in New York City.{{cite news |title = Werk Works to produce 'Howl' |first = Dave |last = McNary |url = https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/werk-works-to-produce-howl-1118000365/ |work = Variety |publisher = Reed Business Information |date = February 19, 2009 |access-date = June 19, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429064524/https://www.variety.com/article/VR1118000365.html?categoryid=13&cs=1 |archive-date=Apr 29, 2009 }} Animation was produced by John Hays, Monk Studios, and designed by Eric Drooker, a former street artist who had collaborated with Ginsberg on his final book of poetry, Illuminated Poems.{{cite web |last=D'Andrade |first=Hugh |date=Feb 1, 2011 |url=http://laughingsquid.com/eric-drooker-the-art-of-animating-howl/ |title=Eric Drooker – The Art of Animating HOWL |website=Laughing Squid}}

Reception

=Critical response=

Howl received an overall approval rating of 63% from critics at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "James Franco gives it his all as beat poet Allen Ginsberg, but Howl never develops enough of a focus to do his performance justice."{{cite web |title = Howl |url = https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1211483-howl/ |work = Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date = March 20, 2018 }} On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.{{cite web |title = Howl |url =https://www.metacritic.com/movie/howl|work = Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date = October 4, 2010 }}

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars and stated that actor James Franco portrays Allen Ginsberg with "restraint and care."{{Cite web |date=September 29, 2010 |title=Howl Movie Review & Film Summary |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100929/REVIEWS/100929980 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222015656/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/howl-2010 |archive-date=Feb 22, 2014 |website=Roger Ebert}} David Edelstein of New York magazine noted that "Since the Sundance opening of James Franco's take on Allen Ginsberg in Howl, I'd heard the movie was howlingly bad — which makes me think that some of the best critical minds of my generation have been destroyed by cynicism. The film... is an exhilarating tribute from one form (cinema) to another (poetry). It takes Ginsberg's momentous, paradigm-changing poem as its launching pad and landing place; its beginning, middle, and end. You could call it a deconstruction except that sounds too formal. It's a celebration, an analysis, a critical essay, an ode."{{Cite web |last=Edelstein |first=David |date=2010-09-27 |title=Movie Review: Howl Is an Exhilarating Trip Back in Time |url=https://www.vulture.com/2010/09/movie_review_howl.html |website=Vulture |language=en}} A.O. Scott of the New York Times noted that {{" '}}Howl' is an exemplary work of literary criticism on film, explaining and contextualizing its source without deadening it."{{cite news |title=Leaping Off the Page, a Beatnik's Poetic Rant (Published 2010) |work=The New York Times |date=23 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616102506/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24howl.html |archive-date=2023-06-16 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24howl.html |last1=Scott |first1=A. O. }} Damien Magee of 702 ABC Sydney gave the film three and a half stars out of five and argued that "James Franco is, in a word, perfect" in the role of Ginsberg. Whilst Magee expressed misgivings about the film's tone, he insists that "there is more than enough that is truly great about Howl for me to recommend it highly".{{cite web | url=http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2010/06/howling-at-the-sff.html?site=sydney&program=702_city_life | title='Howl'(ing) at the SFF | publisher=Blogs.ABC.net.au | access-date=April 6, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325020126/http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2010/06/howling-at-the-sff.html?site=sydney&program=702_city_life | archive-date=March 25, 2012 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle found it to be a film of "passion and ambition" but also suggested that its "success is intermittent at best."[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/23/MV9C1FI64M.DTL San Francisco Chronicle Film Review]

=Criticism=

Dismay has been expressed that a characterization of Shig Murao was left out of the film. According to his biographer, Patricia Wakida, Murao was "the one who was actually arrested by the San Francisco police for selling Howl and actually goes to jail. Ginsberg was in Tangier and Ferlinghetti was in Big Sur. Shig was the one who took the fall".{{Cite web |url=http://www.nikkeiwest.com/index.php/the-news/past-articles/145-murao-is-missing-bookseller-left-out-of-howl-movie- |title=Murao Is Missing: Bookseller Left Out of 'Howl' Movie |access-date=2011-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009185925/http://www.nikkeiwest.com/index.php/the-news/past-articles/145-murao-is-missing-bookseller-left-out-of-howl-movie- |archive-date=2010-10-09 |url-status=dead }}[http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-forgetting-shig.html Not forgetting Shig]

=Accolades=

Won: Central Ohio Film Critics Association - Actor of the Year, James Franco (2011)
Won: National Board of Review, USA - Freedom of Expression Award (2010)
Nominated: International Cinephile Society Awards - Best Animated Film (2011)
Nominated: GLAAD Media Awards - Outstanding Film - Limited Release (2011)
Nominated: Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Berlin Bear (2010)
Nominated: Sundance Film Festival - Grand Jury Prize (2010)
Nominated: World Soundtrack Awards - Soundtrack Composer of the Year (2010)
Nominated: Dorian Awards - Performance of the Year, James Franco (2010)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049402/awards HOWL Awards]