Carpe Diem

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2005)

Robin Williams' finest role is this wonderful movie that I have watched maybe a zillion times and will never grow tired of.
A simple story of a teacher who comes into the lives of young students at a boys' preparatory school and "shakes things up", this movie has been copied dozens of times since its release, and never quite as well. Robin Williams, as poetry teacher John Keating, tries to get the boys to think beyond algebra and chemistry and their acceptance to Harvard, and to start thinking for themselves. He urges them to "seize the day" and take control of their lives. And in changing the way his students think, he also had a profound effect on me... and I suspect, on the life of anyone else fortunate enough to see this film.
At once criticized for being a clichÃ© and hailed as an instant classic, Dead Poets Society is both... and neither. It is simply a film that makes you think, question, hope and dare to dream. I think most of us either knew someone who affected us in a similar way as teenagers, or wish we did. Yes, the movie is full of exaggerated clichÃ©s - but whose life isn't at that age? And yes, the movie has also achieved a sort of new classic status. Hopefully, the superlatives won't kill the essence that is this film.
I've seen this compared to a lot of movies - mostly inferior ones made since, such as The Emperor's Club - but the best comparison I could come up with is to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Not for content, but for the underlying message... and consequently, for the movie's effect on people. Specifically, on me.
If you haven't seen this, you're sorely missing out.