to cast their ballot with eternity“who threw their watches off the roof outside of time...”
Proving that when done right, filmmaking is one of the most creative art forms of expression. Such is the case with the new feature film called Howl. The movie recounts renowned poet Allen Ginsberg, his creation of what some consider a masterpiece of writing in poetry titled Howl and how in 1957, his book of poems was banned from a San Francisco bookstore and put to trial for containing what some felt was obscene text. Filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman created their first feature film to tell Ginsberg’s story. The two men are masters of documenting gay history with honors bestowed on them for The Times of Harvey Milk and Common Threads: Stories From the AIDS Quilt. Exploring the talent, mind and vision of Allen Ginsberg [por- trayed byJames Franco] in Howl, the talented team and cast have made a monumental tribute to Ginsberg and his work. The Rage Monthly spoke with Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Fried- man to get the back story on the film.
Directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
The Rage Monthly: It was a different world in 1955 when Allen Ginsberg wrote his four-part poem called Howl. I read that James Franco was enamored with Allen Ginsberg and was already a fan of the poem. Was the rest of the cast familiar with the poem when they came on board for the film? Rob Epstein: Most of them were. Mary-Louise Parker said that her brother read Howl to her baby when she was pregnant.
Rage: That’s interesting. Rob: Certainly, they all responded to the script. Each of them came on because they
really dug the screenplay and wanted to be a part of it. They certainly didn’t do it for the money.
ur Muse:
Rage: For both of you, what was the research part like in putting this film together and were you able to speak with anyone that personally knew Allen Ginsberg? Jeffrey Friedman: Yes. We spoke with Lawrence Ferlinghetti who published the poem
and was on trial for obscenity when it was published. We spoke with Peter Orlovsky, Allen’s life partner…
Rage: Oh wow. Jeffrey: He’s living in Vermont. We actually filmed interviews with these people, which will all be on the DVD. We interviewed Al Bendick, who was a lawyer on the defense team at the trial. We spoke with Tuli Kupferberg, who just died recently. He was a radical poet and founding member of The Fugs rock band. He’s mentioned in Howl as jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. That was the first thing we did when we started thinking about making the movie.
Rage: As award-winning documentarians, what was the initial impetus for doing this film? Rob: We were excited about it on so many different levels. First of all is the poem itself
and everything that the poem had to say. We were surprised to understand the degree to which it was a queer manifesto and so revolutionary in its day and still so resonant today. Also, so many of the global themes that the poem talks about. Then, creatively just trying to figure out how to make a film about a poem cinematic
and have a narrative story. Ginsberg, himself, is such a fascinating character. All of that just seemed like really rich material to do something new, different and original.
r crazy and publishing obscene odes on OCTOBER 2010 | RAGE monthly 37
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