"Sucking all the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone."

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2007)

Australian director Peter Weir's third picture in Hollywood, 'Dead Poets Society (1989),' doesn't really explore any territory that has not been covered before. For most of the film, we can pretty much predict exactly where Tom Schulman's screenplay is heading, and so there are few surprises to set it apart from other movies of its kind. However, despite his film's hint of unoriginality, Weir hardly puts a foot wrong, and 'Dead Poets Society' proves a thoughtful, funny, haunting and inspirational drama that'll certainly stay with you once you've seen it. Accompanying a cast of bright, young actors {some of whom you'll recognise from their later successes, including Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard} is comedy veteran Robin Williams, whose warmth and passion forms the emotional core of the story.
The prestigious Welton Academy prep school ("Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence"), as they're four-pillar motto suggests, has a long-standing history of success and high reputation. The young male students of the college are expected, at all times, to respect rules and authority, and to continually strive for greater and greater academic achievements. Into the school comes former student, now English teacher, John Keating (Williams), whose unorthodox approach to lessons, and vigorous passion towards literature and poetry, inspires many of his impressionable young students, and severely ruffles the feathers of Welton Academy's management. Keating's rousing motto of "carpe diem" (a Latin phrase meaning "pluck/seize the day," borrowed from Horace's "Odes 1.11") inspires the young boys to make the most of every opportunity, and to look within themselves to discover the correct path for their lives.
The film proved quite successful at the 1990 Academy Awards, acquiring an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and nominations for Best Actor (Robin Williams), Best Director (Weir's second nomination in that category) and Best Picture. Perhaps because of the preparatory school setting and the cast of young actors, 'Dead Poets Society' seems as though it would be most effective with young teenage boys, who will relish the film's opposition towards conformity and strict authority. Nevertheless, the film also boasts a more important moral from which we can all take something: always seize the opportunities that are presented to you, and make every day of your life count.