Dead Poets Society (1989)

Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.

(Liz Jordan)

The impression I got from this film was in one word: romance. Not the sort of romance in cheap novels or sappy movies; no, the sort of romance one gets with ideas and dreams. The setting is one that I'm known to have a weakness for: prep school. The film was a profusion of plaids and cable-knits, old wood and white-washed walls. There wasn't much to be said for the cinematography or style of the movie- it was more centered around the plot, but the plot was compelling. It was so inspiring to see a teacher come in and inspire students, to see them want to read poetry and actually be passionate about things and speak seriously about their ideas. It made me yearn for a "dead poet's society" at my school, for people with whom I could recite poetry and discuss ideas, be passionate about beliefs with, because there is a large part inside of me that wants to do that. I suspect there is a large part like that in many people, yet the problem is that none of us show it, preoccupied as we are with maintaining the superficiality that keeps everything passively pleasant in our social lives. I'll say that the ending of the film came as a bit of a shock to me: I won't give spoilers but the ending kept the film from being too cheesy and inspirational. I don't have too much to say- although some of the ideas were inspiring in the movie, there wasn't too much I really connected with, or that made the movie stand out. I feel like this idea has been done in the past, and has been done again- teaching the younger generation that there is rebellion in free thought. Watching Dead Poets Society brought to mind the movie Les Choristes, which follows the same sort of storyline, except with a music teacher and set in France. I much preferred Les Choristes to this: it was much more atmospheric and the soundtrack lent an air of beauty that wasn't there in this movie. 

2.5/5 stars

As a last note, something I was sort of annoyed by was how the ideas were just outright stated by the characters rather than illustrated in the story- it almost seemed like cheating to me. It's my belief that in movies the ideas should be shown rather than told; it makes them that much more potent. It just seems lazy to have a character say everything.

If you liked this movie you should watch Les Choristes.