A truly beautiful movie

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2012)

Remember how I said that there are always films that will change your perceptions, get under your skin, and never come out? I've marked Precious as one such film. I've found yet another that has fallen in the same category - Dead Poets Society.
Dead Poets Society explores going against the status quo and not being afraid of embracing the arts. Todd (Ethan Hawke), an extremely shy boy, has been sent to a school where he makes friends with Neil (Robert Sean Leonard), an intelligent and popular boy. Neil, who has a flair for acting, is under his father's overbearing rule. With the help of their English teacher, Mr Keating (Robin Williams), and a handful of their schoolmates, Todd and Neil learn that being different isn't all that bad.
This movie is ideally juxtaposed to conformism, and that's what I absolutely love about it. Right now, everyone wants to earn O level grades, get into a good JC, end up in a good university, get a good job, start a good life, and be good until they day we die. We are so caught up in being 'good' and comfortable, that being different irks us.
This movie emphasises the great pleasure of life, and that we have a basic moral obligation to making the best of it. Ultimately, the world is our oyster. The only thing standing in our way to greatness is us. We set our standards, our limitations, our capabilities. This is why we have to break out of our comfort zones in order to "seize the day, and make our lives extraordinary". Rising up against the norm is what we have to do; to treasure what makes us happy, and to get rid of what doesn't.
Dead Poets Society is a true gem, an exhilarating masterpiece, a movie that has made me want to live, laugh and love more. A truly beautiful movie, 10/10.
Carpe diem. Seize the day, dear readers, make your lives extraordinary.