Brainy's Talk

The Proposal

Dead Poets Society

"He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary."
--The tagline of this movie, as John Keating would say, might sound "simple" but is not "ordinary".
Set at the Welton Academy of 1959,America, the plot of this movie is essentially about a group boys, each with his own temperament, likes, dislikes, aspirations and conduct.There is the charming Neil Perry(Robert Sean Leonard),with a knack for being an artist, the meek Todd Anderson(Academy Award nominated Ethan Hawke),who is intimidated from the very first by being told that he has some "very large shoes to fill" after his academically successful brother, then the bold Charlie Dalton(Gale Hansen) born of well-off parents, the Latin genius, Steven Meeks and the Welton rule-abider, Cameron. Welton(preferrably called "Hell-ton" by students) is headmastered by the conservative Mr.Nolan whose immense pride and prestige lies in bloating about the Four Pillars of the Academy-Tradition, Honour, Discipline, Excellence. What changes their lives is
the arrival of Mr.John Keating(Robin Williams), an ex-"Hell-ton" student, the new English teacher at the school. Keating, an unorthodox man, stands in stark contrast to Mr.Nolan and the teaching methods of literature followed at the Academy--like announcing in the class that his students should get a responce only if they boycott the use of "Sir" and resorted to calling him "O Captain! My Captain!". Inspired by the ' Dead Poets' Society' which Mr."K" headed during his school-days, the boys reconvene the unauthorized organization,gathering outside school, in a dark cave, at the dead of night, taking turns in reading poetry-"letting it drip from their tongues like honey".
"We dont read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry beacuse we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with a passion.Medicine, Business, Law, Engineering-these are
noble pursuits, necessary to sustain life. But poetry, romance, beauty, love-this is what we stay alive for" ---His aim was not to make them Shakepeares or Mozarts, but to make "freethinkers" out of them, or
more specifically as he said-" Boys, in my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again."
Each and every scene of the movie enthralls and stirs me. Be it the one where he tells his class to rip out the entire introduction from their texts books which contains instructions regarding the task of "measuring" poetry
or the one where he brings out the poet from the fastened oyster-Anderson, Robin William gives evidence of the 'actor' inside him.Robert Sean Leonard is as charismatic as the character of Neil Perry, and Hawke catches up with the sub-zero-confidence possessor, Todd Anderson. The rest of the cast is equally endearing and their feelings and aspirations, contagious. My two favorite scenes happen to be the ones nearing the end-one in which Todd cries in mental agony, following the unfortunate and forced end of Perry and the one in which the class gives its final tribute to the dismissed Mr. K by the choric shout of "O Captain!My Captain!".
My writing an epic-long review for this Oscar Winning cinematic beauty might be because of the fact that it inspired a lover of poetry and literature to this great an extent that in the last 7 days i have feasted my eyes
on this movie for about 20 times. Yes! It is my ultimate favorite now. Even if you are not an avid poetry lover, this one piece of work is bound to shake up your soul, and drive you with the force to pursue your own dreams, for it is to be remembered that the people around you might say that -
"Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and i will show you a happy man."
--but truth is--
"Only in their dreams can men be truly free, 'twas always thus, and thus always will be."--Keating.