"that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think"

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2007)

had there been a "15 (hundred) stars out of 10", i wouldn't have hesitated in giving them all to "dead poets". i have seen many movies try to do what this one achieves: "the emperors club" tried it, and ended up like nothing more than a misguided blot on kevin kline's stellar career; "mona lisa smile" tried it, but cute as that film was, it kept flashing big "stolen from dead poets! stolen from dead poets!" signs in my head. why, even "sister act 2" tried it, and the fact that that is probably one of the least boringly derivative attempts at tackling the theme of inspirational education, should say something.
i was first shown "dead poets" back in high school, about 5/6 years ago. by the end, tissues were being surreptitiously passed round, as even the boys had got something in their eyes. me, i continued crying throughout the following hour, completely oblivious to whatever sterile notion the next lecture was striving to drive home - yes, i was *that* stirred. i know it's nigh impossible these days to utter the words "life-changing" without sounding corny; but there you go: it is.
a film about what education should be and do but sadly often isn't and doesn't, "dead poets" has it all: lofty ideals, glorious yet believable lines, and characters you actually care about. it is the year 1959, and welton "hellton" school for boys, the best preparatory school of i know not what USA state, enlists the services of one of its best ex-pupils, professor john keating, to teach English literature. what the school does not know is that he plans to teach them about the ephemeral notion of time, and consequently about that foremost among duties: always being true to yourself and your dreams.
you could think that, in a world that regulates the appreciation of poetry as you would "lay pipe", keating's "talking free thinkers" must ultimately prove to be a losing battle. and if you stop at the surface of facts, if you consider nothing but the toll of expulsion and redundancy and suicide; then it will have been a lost battle, for you will have understood absolutely nothing of the film. if you've got any soul in you, the affection and gratitude with which the boys will bravely choose to salute their "captain" will move you, and make you reflect about the truth spoken by byron when he said: "WORDS ARE THINGS; AND A SMALL DROP OF INK, FALLING LIKE DEW UPON A THOUGHT, PRODUCES THAT WHICH MAKES THOUSANDS, PERHAPS MILLIONS, THINK." for, like professor keating says, "no matters what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world". so can films: this is one of them.