Dead Poets Society (1989)

English teacher John Keating inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day.

Director:

Peter Weir

Writer:

Tom Schulman

Stars:

Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke

Won 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	John Keating
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Neil Perry
Ethan Hawke	...	Todd Anderson
Josh Charles	...	Knox Overstreet
Gale Hansen	...	Charlie Dalton
Dylan Kussman	...	Richard Cameron
Allelon Ruggiero	...	Steven Meeks
James Waterston	...	Gerard Pitts
Norman Lloyd	...	Mr. Nolan
Kurtwood Smith	...	Mr. Perry
Carla Belver	...	Mrs. Perry
Leon Pownall	...	McAllister
George Martin	...	Dr. Hager
Joe Aufiery	...	Chemistry Teacher
Matt Carey	...	Hopkins

Storyline

Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.

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Plot Keywords:

english teacher | teacher | professor | poet | student | 

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Taglines:

He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

La sociedad de los poetas muertos

Filming Locations:

Everett Theatre - 47 West Main Street, Middletown, Delaware, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,400,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$95,860,116 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Norman Lloyd was a bit put out when he had to audition for Mr Nolan. He made the decision while playing a tennis match, because he said it heightened his receptivity. When he won the match, he agreed to audition.

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Goofs

When Neil first learns that Todd Anderson is rooming with him and that Todd's brother went to Wellton. Neil says, 'oh, so you're that Henderson.'

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Quotes

John Keating: I SOUND MY BARBARIC YAWP OVER THE ROOFTOPS OF THE WORLD.

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Connections

Referenced in Friends: The One with the Fake Monica (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Piano Concerto No. 5 in E Flat Major, OP. 73 'Emperor'"
Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Wilhelm Kempff with Berliner Philharmoniker (as The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
Conducted by Ferdinand Leitner
Courtesy of Deutsche Grammophon GmbH
A Division of PolyGram Classics

User Reviews

A powerful antidote to conformism

There are certain films that get under your skin, never to come out. They change your life, subtly altering your perceptions of reality, almost always for the better.

Dead Poets Society is one of those few films.

I saw the movie back when I was in High School. I had a teacher who told us that we really needed to watch it; in fact, it was our "homework" for the day. We didn't need to bring back a report, or talk about it in class. All he asked from us was to watch it, make up our own mind about it, and that was it. As you can imagine, many friends of mine didn't watch it at all; I did. And yes, I feel I changed a bit from there on.

Back when you are young, you never really stop to think what in the world you are doing with your life. You simply live for the day, hope your grades will be enough to pass, and that's it. Long term thinking involves maybe flirting with a girl. Nothing more. What this film showed me was that we have the responsability and the joy of being alive in this planet. That we are dust, and we will go back to it, so we have precious little time to make a difference. That we have a moral obligation to "seize the day, and make our lives extraordinary" (my favorite quote in all movie history). That the world, basically is ours. That the only limitations are within ourselves, and that we owe it to us to fight, to rebel against conformity, to change what we hate and keep what we love. That living in this world is a beautiful responsability, and that only cowards dare not to change it for the better.

The fact that the cast was basically my age, and was passing through the same dilemmas and situations I was facing made it all so much more powerful.

So here I sit, 12 years from that day. I still don't think I have seized the day completely. But I keep on trying; I always will. I wonder how many people were transformed by this gem of a movie; I hope many.

10 out of 10. A definitive masterpiece.