Kill Your Darlings (2013)

A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs.

Director:

John Krokidas

Writers:

Austin Bunn (screenplay), Austin Bunn (story)

Stars:

Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHaan, Michael C. Hall

5 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Radcliffe	...	Allen Ginsberg
Dane DeHaan	...	Lucien Carr
Michael C. Hall	...	David Kammerer
Jack Huston	...	Jack Kerouac
Ben Foster	...	William Burroughs
David Cross	...	Louis Ginsberg
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Naomi Ginsberg
Elizabeth Olsen	...	Edie Parker
John Cullum	...	Professor Steeves
Brenda Wehle	...	Permissions Librarian
Erin Darke	...	Gwendolyn
Craig Chester	...	Businessman
Lenore Harris	...	DA Secretary
Mark Ethan	...	Campus Guard
Zach Appelman	...	Luke Detweiler

Storyline

In the early 1940s, Allen Ginsberg is an English major at Columbia University, only to learn more than he bargained for. Dissatisfied by the orthodox attitudes of the school, Allen finds himself drawn to iconoclastic colleagues like Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. Together, this gang would explore bold new literary ideas that would challenge the sensibilities of their time as the future Beat Generation. However, for all their creativity, their very appetites and choices lead to more serious transgressions that would mark their lives forever.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | 1940s | year 2005 | year 1944 | reference to tulane university | 

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Taglines:

A true story of obsession and murder

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R16

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jesse Eisenberg was originally attached to the project. After he completed The Social Network (2010), he contacted director John Krokidas and apologized that he didn't want to play another student.

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Goofs

Jack Kerouac, upon his arrest, contacts his father and we hear an American accent on the line. Kerouac's parents were French-speaking Quebecois and it took Jack until his late teens to fully master English, which he spoke with a slight Québec lilt; it is thus unlikely his father and he would have spoken in English, much less in a General American accent.

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Quotes

Allen Ginsberg: [upon William Burroughs offering him a joint] Uhm, no thanks, I don't do the cannabis.
William Burroughs: Show me the man who is both sober and happy, and I will show you the crinkled anus of a lying asshole.

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Crazy Credits

The first part of the end credits run over the top of photographs of the real Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Lucien Carr and William S. Burroughs.

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Connections

Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Daniel Radcliffe/Mary Berry/Harry Hill/Andrew Lloyd Webber/Sir Cliff Richard (2013)

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Soundtracks

Andante Non Troppo e Con Molto Espressione
Written by Johannes Brahms
Performed by Idil Biret
Courtesy of Naxos of America Inc.

User Reviews

not the best but....

maybe it is not the best. but it is touching, nuanced and realistic. and confirms the talent of few actors, discover new possibilities for the other. a film about few young men in search of deep sense of life. a friendship story and a literature history fragment. an interesting performance , at different level, by each actor. and the feeling to discover a sketch who gives to you possibility to imagine its versions. a biographic subject who escapes by status of a case. because it reflects a common emotions experience. and reminds the heart of things.a useful film against the possibility of disappointment. because it presents a piece of world who is present in each of us. not the best. but, surely, useful.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 November 2013 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

Kill Your Darlings

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$53,452, 20 October 2013

Gross USA:

$1,030,064

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,877,924

Company Credits

Production Co:

Killer Films, Benaroya Pictures, Outpost Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1