Dead Poets Society [1989]: “But, Poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”

“Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau once said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Don’t be resigned to that. Break out!”

Dead Poets Society is a timeless, human and gushing coming-of-age classic. It’s an undeniably passionate film, an atom bomb of motivation.  It showcases a brotherhood of romantics, young men who seize the day because of their zest for life.  Smartly directed by Weir, beautifully written by Tom Schulman, and powerfully acted by its cast, Dead Poets Society is unforgettable, and stands as one of the best movies of the 1980s. 

A new semester in the gothic, aristocratic all boys-boarding school, Welton Academy. 1959. We are lured into a society brimming with Chevrolets, Buicks, and cigars. Like new student Todd Anderson, we become immersed into this alien world and watch as he struggles to adapt and make sense of it all. He starts off as a blank slate for Neil Parry, artistically-inclined and dreaming of the stage, and his friends –Knox Overstreet, a love-struck youth, and Charlie Dalton, a wild rebel who’s up for anything – to imprint upon.

With the return of a previous alumnus, a-now Professor. John Keating is introduced to us as an unorthodox teacher. Keating’s teaching methods are avant-garde and do not conform to Welton’s traditions. As soon as he’s out of sight of his peers, Keating attempts to do what few have done before him – turn these students into individuals who think for themselves. Keating quotes Walt Whitman, evoking the phrase carpe diem and encourages them to inspect photographs of previous alumni in trophy cases, to give an indication of their own mortality and inspire them to also seize the day.

Through humorous impressions, signature of Williams’ stage persona, Keating exposes the absurdity of applying regimented formulas to art, with a puissant speech; “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion […] But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”

It’s academic liberation from then on.

Inspired by Keating’s love of written word, and passion for literature, they learn of a secret poetry club to which he belonged at Welton, known as the Dead Poets Society. “A brotherhood of young men […] who met after dark at the old Indian cave off campus, and we let our favourite poetry amorously drip from our mouths like honey.” 

The endmost 30 minutes of Dead Poets Society take a considerably darker tone as the boys are forced to grow up fast when faced with a death of one of their own. They must make important choices that will ultimately change their future, as they must decide if they should stick together or save themselves. Weir takes great care to show how death affects not just the boys, but Keating as well in a deeply profound way.

In order to bond as a group, the young actors who played Keating’s students played football together and several acting exercises prior to initial filming. To get them into the spirit of their characters, Weir created an “atmosphere where there was no real difference between off-camera and on-camera – they became those people.” Weir smartly shot the film in sequence so the actors would experience the same rollercoaster of emotions as their characters.

by Rella Star.
453 words (575 including quotes).