Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society

Theatrical poster
Directed by Peter Weir
Produced by Steven Haft
Paul Junger Witt
Tony Thomas
Written by Tom Schulman
Starring Robin Williams
Robert Sean Leonard
Ethan Hawke
Kurtwood Smith
Gale Hansen
Norman Lloyd
Music by Maurice Jarre
Editing by William M. Anderson
Distributed by Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s) June 2, 1989 (1989-06-02) (U.S. limited, Toronto, Canada)
June 9, 1989 (1989-06-09) (U.S. wide)
July 20, 1989 (1989-07-20) (AUS)
September 22, 1989 (1989-09-22) (UK)
Running time 128 minutes
Language English
Budget $16,400,000
Gross revenue $235,860,116[1]

Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film starring Robin Williams and directed by Peter Weir. Set in 1959 at a conservative and aristocratic boys prep school, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students to change their lives of conformity through his teaching of poetry and literature.

The story is set at the fictional Welton Academy in Vermont, and was filmed at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware. The script, written by Tom Schulman, is based on his life at Montgomery Bell Academy, an all-boys preparatory school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Contents

Plot

Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles), Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen), Richard Cameron (Dylan Kussman), Steven Meeks (Allelon Ruggiero) and Gerard Pitts (James Waterston) are senior students of the Welton Academy prep school, whose ethos is defined by the headmaster Gale Nolan (Norman Lloyd) as "tradition, honour, discipline and excellence". Both Neil and Todd are under harsh parental pressure to become a doctor and a lawyer respectively, but Todd wants to be a writer.

The teaching methods of the staff are narrow, but those of their new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), are unorthodox by Welton standards, whistling the 1812 Overture and taking them out of the classroom to focus on the idea of carpe diem. He tells the students that they may call him "O Captain! My Captain!" (the title of a Walt Whitman poem) if they feel daring. In another class, Keating has Neil read the introduction to their poetry textbook, prescribing a mathematical formula to rate the quality of poetry which Keating finds ridiculous, and he instructs his pupils to rip the introduction out of their books, to the amazement of one of his colleagues. Later he has the students stand on his desk in order to look at the world in a different way.

The boys secretly revive a school literary club that Keating had belonged to, the Dead Poets Society, meeting in a cave in the school grounds.

Due to self-consciousness, Todd fails to complete a writing assignment and Keating takes him through an exercise in self-expression, realizing the potential he possesses.

Charlie publishes an unauthorized article in the school flyer, asserting that girls should be allowed at Welton. At the resulting school inquisition, he offers a phone call from God in support, incurring the headmaster's wrath.

When Keating is lectured by Headmaster Nolan about the DPS meetings, Keating tells the boys to "be wise, not stupid" about protesting against the system.

Knox meets a girl named Christine and falls in love with her, using his flair for poetry to woo her. He presents one of these poems in class as an assignment, and is applauded by Keating for writing a heartfelt poem on love. Knox travels to Christine's public school and recites his poem to her, convincing her to go to a play with him.

Neil, without his father's permission, auditions for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He wants to be an actor but knows his father (Kurtwood Smith) will disapprove. Neil's father learns what he has been up to and orders Neil to withdraw from the play. Neil goes to Keating for advice and is advised to talk to his father and make him understand how he feels, but Neil cannot muster the courage to do so. Instead he goes against his father's wishes, performing as Puck. Neil's father shows up at the end of the play, furious. He takes Neil home and tells him that he intends to enroll him in a Military School to prepare him for Harvard University and a career in medicine. Unable to cope with the future that awaits him or to make his father understand his emotions, Neil commits suicide.

At the request of Neil's parents, the headmaster launches an investigation. Richard meets the school governors and board of regents. Later, under vigorous questioning from Charlie, Richard admits that he squealed on them and turned Keating into a scapegoat. Charlie punches Richard and is expelled, but Richard urges the rest of them to let Keating take the fall.

Neil's father holds Keating responsible. Todd is called to Nolan's office, where his parents are waiting. Nolan forces Todd to admit to being a member of the Dead Poets Society, and tries to make him sign a document blaming Keating for abusing his authority, inciting the boys to restart the Dead Poets Society and encouraging Neil to flout his father's authority. Todd sees Richard's, Knox's, Steven's and Gerald's signatures already on the document. Keating is fired without references, to the regret of many of the other staff.

The boys return to English class, now being taught by Nolan, who has the boys read the essay only to find that they had all ripped it out earlier. Keating enters the room to retrieve a few belongings. Todd reveals to Keating that the boys were intimidated into signing the denunciation. Nolan orders Todd to be quiet and demands that Keating leave. As Keating is about to exit, Todd for the first time breaks his reserve, calls out "O Captain! My Captain!" and stands on his desk. Nolan warns Todd to sit down or face expulsion. Much of the class, including the members of the Dead Poets Society except Richard, climb onto their desks and look to Keating, ignoring Nolan's orders for them to sit down until he gives up and slumps against his desk, angry and emotionally defeated. Keating happily leaves with tears in his eyes.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The critical reaction to this film has been generally favorable. It received positive reviews from 84% of critics cited by Rotten Tomatoes,[2] as well as a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 from 14 mainstream critics registered on Metacritic.[3] The Washington Post reviewer called it "solid, smart entertainment", and praised Robin Williams for giving a "nicely restrained acting performance".[4] Vincent Canby of The New York Times also praised Williams' "exceptionally fine performance", while noting that "Dead Poets Society... is far less about Keating than about a handful of impressionable boys".[5]

Awards and nominations

Dead Poets Society won the Academy Award for Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) (Tom Schulman). Peter Weir received several nominations for best director and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture of 1989. Robin Williams received his second Best Actor in a Leading Role nomination and it has since been widely recognized as one of the actor/comedian's best roles. It also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film (the first Touchstone Pictures release to receive a best picture nomination).

The movie's line "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." was voted as the 95th greatest movie quote by the American Film Institute. Also, the film was voted one of the 100 Most Inspiring Films of All Time by the AFI.

This movie ranks number 20 on Entertainment Weekly''s list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[6]

Soundtrack

  1. Carpe Diem
  2. Neil
  3. To the Cave
  4. Keating's Triumph

Tracks composed by Maurice Jarre.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deadpoetssociety.htm
  2. ↑ "Dead Poets Society Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dead_poets_society. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  3. ↑ "Dead Poets Society reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/deadpoetssociety. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  4. ↑ "'Dead Poets Society'". The Washington Post. 1989-06-09. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/deadpoetssocietypghowe_a0b21e.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  5. ↑ "Movie Review - Dead Poets Society - NYTimes". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=950DE0DE1F31F931A35755C0A96F948260. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
  6. ↑ "50 Best High School Movies" Entertainment Weekly'

Further reading

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
The Last Emperor		 BAFTA Award for Best Film
1989		 Succeeded by
Goodfellas
Preceded by
Dangerous Liaisons		 César Award for Best Foreign Film
1991		 Succeeded by
Toto the Hero (Toto le héros)
Films directed by Peter Weir
1970s
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) • Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) • The Last Wave (1977) • The Plumber (1979)
1980s
Gallipoli (1981) • The Year of Living Dangerously (1983) • Witness (1985) • The Mosquito Coast (1986) • Dead Poets Society (1989)
1990s
Green Card (1990) • Fearless (1993) • The Truman Show (1998)
2000s
2010s
The Way Back (2010)