Dead Poets Society

He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary.

DEAD POETS SOCIETY (PG)

D: Peter Weir

Touchstone/Silver Screen Partners IV (Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas & Steven Haft)

USA 🇺🇸 1989

128 mins

Drama

W: Tom Schulman

DP: John Seale

Ed: William Anderson

Mus: Maurice Jarre

PD: Wendy Stites

Cos: Marilyn Matthews

Robin Williams (John Keating), Robert Sean Leonard (Neil Perry), Ethan Hawke (Todd Anderson), Josh Charles (Knox Overstreet), Gale Hanson (Charlie Dalton), Dylan Kussman (Richard Cameron), Allelon Ruggiero (Steven Meeks), James Waterson (Gerard Pitts), Norman Lloyd (Mr. Nolan), Kurtwood Smith (Mr. Perry)

A slow-boiling drama set at a script boarding school where new poetry teacher John Keating, a former student himself, unshackles his students from the rigorous routine of their studies to discover a more beautiful meaning to their lives, encouraging them to 'seize the day' and have more confidence within themselves.

Robin Williams delivers one of his greatest screen performances, but it's little more than a supporting role, with the members of the 'Dead Poets Society' taking centre stage.

A handful of scenes feel mawkish and manipulative with a couple of one- dimensional characters who lack depth, but the film makes up for this with it's more memorable scenes, most of which take place in Williams' classroom, including one of the greatest cinema endings of all time.

An Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay and Bafta's choice for Best Film of the year.

It's not as powerful now as it was upon release, but this is due to the amount of copycats which have emerged in its wake.

8/10