Hollywood meets poetry
Hollywood loves biopics about writers--Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis, Iris Murdoch, Truman Capote, Henry Miller, Harvey Pekar, Gustave Flaubert, Hunter S. Thompson and, more recently, Leo Tolstoy. Poets? Not so much.
The just-released “Howl,” is the rare poet biopic. Despite tepid reviews, fans of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and his epic poem of the same title will see it. James Franco’s performance as Ginsberg has been lauded, and the movie’s depiction of the landmark obscenity trial following its publication is a draw.
I suspect the reason for the dearth of poet biopics is audience size. Go into any bookstore and the poetry section is tucked away in a corner, surrounded by bookshelves bursting with prose. But still. Poets’ lives are no less fascinating than writers’. They too have been marked by scandal, family struggles, substance abuse, political strife, writer’s block and other difficulties—all of which seem like perfect fodder for a biopic.
Consider these cinematic takes, some of them award-winning, on the lives of well-known poets:
"Before Night Falls" (2000) tells the story of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990), beginning with his childhood in Cuba and his life under Fidel Castro and ends with his death in New York City. He was struggling with AIDS at the time of his suicide. (You can read his suicide note here, which he mailed to several newspapers.) The movie is based on his memoir of the same title.
"Sylvia" (2003) is a biopic about American poet Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) and her marriage to British poet laureate Ted Hughes (1930-1998). Many blamed Hughes for her death, and he remained silent about their stormy relationship until late in his life. (On Wednesday, the literary world was abuzz with the news of a previously unpublished poem by Hughes that chronicles the days before her suicide and the moment he heard about her death.)
"Il Postino" (1994) tells the story of how exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) befriends a postman in Italy and changes his life.
The biopic "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle" (1994) takes audiences back to the 1920's Algonquin Round Table in New York City, when the witty, often drunk Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, exchanged bon mots with fellow writers. The movie cuts to Leigh's recitation of Parker's poetry here and there.
"The Edge of Love" (2008) depicts a love triangle between poet Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) and two women in London during World War 2. From LionsGate Films: "By no means a biopic in the traditional vein, the story explores the collision of the bohemian underworld of war-torn London, and the intimate complexities of two young couples whose lives and loves become dangerously intertwined.”
And of course, "Howl," which opened last week in Boston:
Are there more poet biopics out there? I chose ones for which I could find movie trailers. Feel free to list your faves.
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About the author
Delia Cabe's work has appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine, Boston Magazine, Self, Prevention, Scientific American Presents, and other publications. In between posts, you can read Cabe's tweets at http://twitter.com/#!/DeliaCabe, More »Recent blog posts
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