Alessander's Mad Poets (AMP!) Forum Bring Out Ur Popcorn! Films Ba..

This is a cool subject. Okay, off hand. I seen "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle". A film about Dorothy Parker played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. She recites the poem "Resume". I've been impressed with that poem since I first read it years ago and found Leigh's quoting of it highly inspiring. Get a chance check it out her performance is remarkable. Okay, Anthony Hopkins gives a memorable and powerful performance as CS Lewis in Shadowslands. Definately worth a look. Oh yes, and really quick Mickey Rourke in "Barfly" gives a must see portrayal of Charles Bukowski. It's been a while, however I do remember scenes of him quoting and writing poetry throughout. Definately worth the time with this one. Very humorous as well. Ahh yes and real quick this is not a movie about a writer yet Ruger Hauer in Blade Runner paraphrases William Blake's America a Prophecy. This one scene for poetry lovers has the punch of an entire movie. Movies where actors quote or paraprase poetry is always inspiring. Well that's about it off hand. Inspiring blog subject. Thanks for posting.

.     i'm not too familiar with films made there but i'll catch up ... i am a huge fan of Satyajit Ray's films that depicted Rabindranath Tagore ... especially ... Ghare Baire ... meaning ... 'the home and the world' ... Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 ... if i remember correctly ... and Satyajit Ray is one of the greatest film-makers ever ... thanks for this thread ... i hope others join in and make recommendations that i'll benefit from ... :) ...

best movies based on writers:

does david cronenberg's adaptation of burroughs' Naked Lunch count?

Steven Soderbergh's Kafka is probably my favourite film about a writer. Has it put's Kafka inside his writing much like what he did with his own writing. It's a very well made film. Jeremy Irons brings him to life really well. Quills and Stranger Than Fiction are worth watching. Stranger than Fiction for bringing a character to life with a narrator amusingly inside his head. And Quills for Geoffrey Rush's performance of the Marquis De Sade and having to write on walls, clothes and himself whilst imprisoned. Total Eclipse, Sylvia and Wilde are other favourites merely for the writers they depicted. 

One interesting one i've seen is called Pandemonium. It is about Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. It makes Wordsworth out to be a pretty despicable character. It shows how him and wordsworth started off as best friends but that wordsworth got jealous of coleridge's talent and felt inferior to him. It goes on to show how Wordsworth tries to sabotage coleridge's career and how he almost convinces Coleridge to burn "Kubla Khan" rather than publish it.   Whether that is factually true I can't say. But I find it hard to believe that the man who wrote "Ode to Intimations on Immortality" could be jealous of anybody's talent, especially to the point where he would want to sabotage them.   Another movie about writers worth noting is "Henry and June" about Henry Miller. Though it has it's slow moments, it is very well acted and interesting. It portray how Henry Miller, June Miller, and Anais Nin all get involved in this complex love triangle.    

"A Man Within" is technically a doc, which came out in 2010, I would strongly recommend esp if you like William Burroughs.



It covers a lot of his life... his drug addiction, gun love, gay impact, punk ties, beat aspects, wife killing, etc...

Also, if ur in a "beat" mode, "Howl" ca 2009 is OK.

I can't think of a single movie that I've seen depicting a poet's life. Maybe I should turn in my degree. I'm not the English nerd I thought I was.

I just recently came across an Auden documentary which is compelling.

"W.H. Auden - Tell Me the Truth about Love"

It's about an hour long, and I think can be found on Netflix.  If not, here's a link.

I would probably have to say Before Night Falls based on the Cuban Arenas....