Buy Howl on DVD

Howl (James Franco)

DVD More Info Close Caption: Yes Region Code: 1 UPC: 896602002265 Catalog #: DV3099372 Languages: English (Primary)	In stock and ready to ship	$12.99 (13% off) List Price: ~~$14.99~~
Blu-ray More Info Close Caption: Yes Region Code: 1 UPC: 896602002951 Catalog #: DB3099373 Languages: English (Primary)	Usually ships in 5-10 days	$29.99 (14% off) List Price: ~~$34.99~~

When new special editions or price reductions are announced.

Synopsis

Assembling an all-star cast, directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman take viewers on a kaleidoscopic journey through the evolution of Allen Ginsberg’s classic four-part poem "Howl," and the obscenity trial that ensued over its content.

Review

In Howl, James Franco throws himself into the personage of Allen Ginsberg with passionate abandon, cementing his status as an alternative gay icon.

Dismissing the contrived conventions of your average biopic, directors Epstein and Friedman focus on a specific two year period in the writer’s life and manage to capture the essence of Ginsberg, the man, while presenting the poetry and ensuing events that transformed him into a countercultural legend.

Based on transcripts of interviews given by Ginsberg, as well as records of the 1957 obscenity trial over his seminal work, Howl employs archival footage and photographs, selective black and white cinematography that lends beat-era authenticity, and absorbingly inventive animation that illustrates Ginsberg’s words in both literal and abstract ways. We’re present for the moment when he first begins writing “Howl,” his first public reading at Six Gallery in San Francisco, and the obscenity trial where an impressive cast – including Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Treat Williams, Jeff Daniels and Mary-Louise Parker — portray the legal representatives and “expert” academics who enthrallingly debated the literary merit of Ginsberg's poem. Most engrossing, though, are the scenes in which Ginsberg talks about the evolution of his writing and his journey of self-discovery. Proudly honest, he reminisces about his mother’s tragic death, his 8-month period in a mental institution, his coming-out to Jack Kerouac, his sexually-charged relationship with notorious lothario Neal Cassady, his loving relationship with long-term partner Peter Orlovsky, and how his natural homosexuality served as a catalyst for self-examination.

Though the film depicts a specific time in American history when blue blood social conformity defined the status quo, Ginsberg’s struggle for legitimacy and his desire to express himself openly in 1957 is emblematic of our current struggle for equal rights. Howl examines and celebrates one influential gay artist who challenged heteronormative conventions and the suppression of free speech.

-- Robert O'Neill

Product Format Information

DVD : $12.99

Availability: In stock and ready to ship
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 896602002265
Catalog #: DV3099372

Studio : Oscilloscope Pictures

Languages: English (Primary)
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
Features:
Audio commentary: James Franco in conversation with directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.
Behind-the-scenes footage: Holy! Holy! Holy!: The Making of Howl.
Interview(s): Original interviews with Ginsberg's friends and collaborators Eric Drooker, Peter Orlovsky, Tuli Kupferberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Steven Taylor.
Bonus footage: Allen Ginsberg reads Howl: Never before seen footage from a performance in 1995 at the Knitting Factory in New York.
Audio commentary: James Franco reads Howl.

---------------------------------------------------

Blu-ray : $29.99

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 896602002951
Catalog #: DB3099373

Studio : Oscilloscope Pictures

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (Primary) , English Dolby Digital Stereo , English Subtitles , French Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
Features:
Audio commentary: James Franco in conversation with directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.
Behind-the-scenes footage: Holy! Holy! Holy!: The Making of Howl.
Interview(s): Original interviews with Ginsberg's friends and collaborators Eric Drooker, Peter Orlovsky, Tuli Kupferberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Steven Taylor.
Bonus footage: Allen Ginsberg reads Howl: Never before seen footage from a performance in 1995 at the Knitting Factory in New York.
Interview(s): Q&A with directors Epstein and Friedman moderated by John Cameron Mitchell at the Provincetown Film Festival.

Keywords

Animation/Comic, Biographical/Autobiographical, Drama, Friendship, Gay Icon, Gay Male, Gay/Lesbian, Legal, Literary Adaptation, Politics, Romance, Writer/Writing

Genres

Animation, Drama

Customer Reviews

Franco as Ginsberg

Amos Lassen wrote on 08/02/2010:

“Howl”
Franco as Ginsberg
Amos Lassen

James Franco is poet Allen Ginsberg in “Howl”, a new film by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Franco’s performance is amazing as he becomes the poet.
Franco’s readings from the then-infamous, now-landmark, poem, “Howl” are very but sometimes there is animation on the screen and this takes away from the depth of the poem. Ginsberg’s poem is a highly personal and transcendent poem that speaks to each person differently. Franco’s interpretation of it is powerful and it probably would have been the most effective if the camera was just on him. Even with the animation, this is one of those movies that you do not want to end. When I finished watching I immediately began to look up information on Ginsberg. I wanted to know more about his relationships with other men and how he and his lover Peter Orlovsky (played by Aaron Tveit) got along. Orlovsky, incidentally, died not long ago.
The film is made in four segments—interviews, the trial, the coffeehouse scene, and animation. This is more than a film, it is an experience and it shows how language can affect people. “Howl”, the poem, certainly did that when it was published in 1956 and an obscenity trial soon followed and the dialog in the film comes from the court transcripts and we get to see actors like Jon Hamm and Treat Williams, Jeff Daniels and Mary-Louise Parker. However this is Franco’s film. Franco is good at portraying gay men as we saw in “Milk” and here in “Howl”. At the time that Ginsberg lived, the closet was home to many and homosexuality was considered to be a mental disease. Ginsberg, himself, was in a mental treatment facility. Ginsberg became a champion of the lonely and the marginalized. Because he was labeled as different, he appealed to all those who could not find their places. He was a hero even though he did not fit in a world where he was not considered to be “normal”.