This docudrama combines funky animation with live acting and an interview with Allen Ginsberg to relate the genesis of his famous poem and the obscenity trial that resulted in California of the late 1950s. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Freidman it stars an excellent James Franco as beat-poet Ginsberg and Jon Hamm as Jake Ehrlich, his lover of many years. Recounting Ginsberg's coming to terms with his homosexuality and the creation of Howl, the film works on every level. The use of animation to convey Ginsberg's poem is fabulous and the trial scenes add a real level of drama - and well-written drama at that. Treat Williams co-stars as Mark Schorer, Mary-Louise Parker appears as Gail Potter and Jeff Daniels plays Professor David Kirk. The film, like the poem itself, resonates even today as being ahead of its time and emblematic of literature that started a revolution.
My rating 9 out of 10.
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