The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation (1999)

Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic ... See full summary »

Director:

Chuck Workman

Writer:

Chuck Workman

Stars:

Johnny Depp, John Turturro, Dennis Hopper

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Jack Kerouac
Dennis Hopper	...	William S. Burroughs
John Turturro	...	Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg	...	Self
Philip Glass	...	Self
Robert Creeley	...	Self
Ann Charters	...	Self
George Steade	...	Self
David Amram	...	Self
William S. Burroughs	...	Self
Ed Sanders	...	Self
Gregory Corso	...	Self
Kyle Roderick	...	Self - Corso biographer
Lawrence Ferlinghetti	...	Self
Ken Kesey	...	Self (archive footage)

Storyline

Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chronicles their friendships, their arrival into American consciousness, their travels, frequent parodies, Kerouac's death, and Ginsberg's politicization. Their movement connects with bebop, John Cage's music, abstract expressionism, and living theater. In recent interviews, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kesey, Ferlinghetti, Mailer, Jerry Garcia, Tom Hayden, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders, and others measure the Beats' meaning and impact.

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Plot Keywords:

kerouac | writer | public television | poet | poetry | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Broadcast in the UK in 2001 as part of the BBC's prestigious Arena (1975) series.

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Connections

Features One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

User Reviews

The masters of words

They were called the Beatniks.The Source (1999) tells how Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac met at Columbia University in 1944, and started an era of the Beats then.Many others joined the group, like William S. Burroughs.Kerouac died in 1969, Ginsberg and Burroughs in 1997.There are three famous actors playing these three and speak the words of these geniuses.The legendary Dennis Hopper is Burroughs.The brilliant John Turturro is Ginsberg.And Johnny Depp, who's only the hottest actor today, is Kerouac.There are some great people talking about the Beat movement and seen in archive footage, like Steve Allen, Amiri Baraka, Lenny Bruce, Walter Cronkite, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Philip Glass, Billie Holiday, Bob Hope, Robert F. Kennedy, Ken Kesey, Martin Luther King, John Leguizamo, Norman Mailer, Steve Martin, Groucho Marx and Henry Rollins.There's a clip from Happy Days with Tom Bosley, Marion Ross and Ron Howard discussing about the whole Beat thing at the table.The Source is a fascinating documentary.It's also very educational telling you everything you ever wanted to know about the topic.So all of you that have some interest for the Beat, open your eyes and watch The Source.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Fonte

Box Office

Gross USA:

$362,649

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$362,649

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beat Productions, Calliope Films, WNET Channel 13 New York

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Black and White Color