SPOTLIGHT
underwear,burning their money in wastebaskets“who cowered in unshaven rooms in and listening to the Terror through the wall”
We’ve long wanted to do a scripted, narrative film working with actors so this seemed like a wonderful opportunity for us.
Rage: It’s beautifully done and emotionally draining at times because you feel like “what’s going to happen to Allen Ginsberg next?” Rob: Thank you. Yeah, we specialize in emotionally draining (laughter).
Rage: The artistic expression to go into animation when Ginsberg begins typing…who thought of that? Jeffrey: Allen Ginsberg came up with that initially. He started a collaboration with Eric
Drooker, the illustrator and they published a book together called Illuminated Poems. That’s how we discovered Eric’s work. We met Eric and learned that he was a friend of Allen’s. He grew up in the neighborhood where Allen lived. So, we started working with him on the idea of bringing his images to life.
Rage: The art goes so brilliantly with the poem. Jeffrey: One of the first pieces of direction that we gave to Eric when we were working with him…actually when we pitched the idea to him, is that we wanted it to play like we were in Allen’s head, in the mind’s eye of Allen in a more contemporary vernacular. So, the literal transition of him at the typewriter and then going into the typewriter pages and the characters getting animated on the page, that was just taking that idea and finding a way to make it work in cinema language.
Rage: What do you believe audiences will enjoy about this film? Rob: You know…the poem is a cry for frankness and openness. It came at a time when
we think of society being very closed and conformist. It’s inspiring to us to think of this artist making this bold statement about who he was and what his experiences were, in a way that woke people up. He made them see the world in a new way and really helped start the counter-culture movement that followed in the 1960s and 1970s.
Rage: The ability to learn more about the man Allen Ginsberg through his poem is so well done in Howl and in this feature film, you also are so adept at presenting actual history. Jeffrey: Yeah, I think as documentarians, that was what really interested us is to figure
out “how can we dramatize this history?” Not to dramatize the documentary elements but make them play as they would in a narrative feature film.
Rage: The defense attorney portrayed by Jon Hamm and the whole court scenes, was that verbatim to the actual transcripts of the trial? Rob: Yes, it was all verbatim from the actual transcripts. We edited and reconstructed
for dramatic purposes and thematic purposes but it was all taken from the court tran- scripts.
Rage: There are several excellent acting moments provided by James Franco as Ginsberg. Please tell me about some of the joy in working with James Franco? Jeffrey: You know…we had a blast with James. We had a really good time. I think we ended the project as friends. Just as an actor, he’s a brilliant actor. He’s incredibly com- mitted to the process and in finding truth about the character. Finding truth in every situation. If we were performing a scene and something wasn’t quite right for him, he would
let us know. Not in any kind of fitful way but always in a creative way so we could collec- tively find the answers to what wasn’t working and how to get it working. For example, there’s a scene where he is taking a picture of Peter in bed while he’s sleeping and he then crawls into bed. We wanted James to come and express his affection as Allen for Peter in that moment. James was trying it and it just didn’t feel right because he felt…
Aaron Tveit as Peter Orlovsky and James Franco as Allen Ginsberg in HOWL
he said, “I feel like a vampire.” (laughter) It wasn’t uncomfortable for him to kiss Peter it was just because he didn’t feel like it was a real moment yet. So, he found the real moment. He found the way to make it feel like that was happening at that moment in that way where it felt truthful. That’s just the way it was working with James…really a pleasure.
Rage: Thank you. The film is really worth seeing. Rob: It was good talking with you.
HOWL opened October 1 in West Hollywood and opens October 10 in Long Beach and October 22 in San Diego.
Jon Hamm as Jake Ehrlich in HOWL
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RAGE monthly | OCTOBER 2010
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