Brilliant Piece

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2010)

This movie, for one, is a real gem of character fruition. Set in the fictional Welton (Hell-ton) Academy for Boys we follow a few of its students and a new English teacher, Mr. Keating. One of the main themes, as propelled by Mr. Keating to the boys, is to grasp life as it is and not as it's expected and he does that through embedding an appreciation for poetry and the literary arts- not as mere text to adhere and memorize but as emotions and stories to feel. Through that Mr. Keating allowed the boys to get to know themselves and find where their passion lies, aside from what is expected of their future.
One of the main characters, Neil Perry, may have been the most influenced by this new perspective being taught and goes about to form a bastard version of the Dead Poets Society upon learning of it from Mr. Keating's past as a former student of Welton. This ushers in a flurry of self-discovery and adolescent rebellion as the boys find themselves building an appreciation for the arts and self-expression.
The villain of the movie lay with the school officials and some parents garnering the uppity appeal of authority and the 'right way' of things. The inevitable struggle with that and the boys was an awesome display of humanity as the Dead Poets Society is inevitably dismantled because of a tragic resolution of one of the characters. The process showed how selfish people can be in the face of doing the right thing as opposed to not getting chided for your own beliefs. The way it reflected how society conditions and discourages free-thinking is awesome, especially when the caged-bird syndrome is revealed with Neil Perry.
The acting in this movie, considering the ages of the characters was great. All the little nuances that you would expect from a group of teenage boys were there and they were, surprisingly, tolerable. We got to see a young Ethan Hawke, as Todd Anderson, flap his acting wings as the film's strong under-dog supporting character. The direction was great as well. The mood and the overall growth of the film was enough to put you into the world and root for the characters while not being too demanding or too taxing on the viewer. Robin Williams excelled in the dramatics of his role and it was a breath of fresh air to see him go to his comedic panache in the few moments that he did. Being a teen movie one would expect some elements of a love scene and it was there but not in the overwhelming sense for it to take away from the film, it merely supplemented the appreciation for passion and seizing the day – as was the general theme of the movie.
It's indeed a classic in its own right and one that should be watched at least once to make your life extraordinary. The life lessons scattered throughout will leave you feeling, somewhat, appreciative of the little things and will leave you chanting Carpe Diem or referring to a friend as 'Captain, My Captain.'
Standout Line: "We don't read & write poetry because it's cute. We read & write poetry because we're human beings and we're filled with passion!"