Howl

Yesterday, being Monday, Monday being cheap movie day at Nova, I went to see this

because I love Allen Ginsberg and this is about the obscenity trial surrounding his most popular (or at least most famous) work, Howl. From the moment James Franco started talking I knew we were in for quite a treat, his diction was perfect and from my own listenings of Allen Ginsberg's recorded readings of such works as America, it is clear to see that Mr Franco has come a long way with his talent since the days of Freaks and Geeks (not that he wasn't completely charming in the high school drama, but he's Oscar nominated now, he has come a long way).
The film on a whole was interesting. The premise I found intriguing; aspects of the court case acted out as Franco drawls on in his convincingly Ginsberg way, describing his writing processes, his love affairs, growing up, experiencing the world and life, what appears to be his first public reading of Howl to a crowd of his friends and peers. This was all fine, I found the aesthetics incredibly appealing and the use of colour for the present tense of the film and black and white for the past was evocative and made the film easy to follow. Throughout the black and white sequences famous images of Allen Ginsberg were recreated and contextualised, familiarising the film for those familiar with Ginsberg.What I didn't like about the film were the intermittent animations representing the themes of the poem. I thought as an adaptation and thematically the animation worked well to break up the obscenity of the trial with a kind representation of the work on trial, but aesthetically, I didn't think that the animation was so modern and three dimensional when the rest of the film was so vintage and reminiscent of an evocative and bygone era. I imagined the animated sequence would look more like this

but it was ugly. perhaps this was because the poem was considered to be vulgar and ugly when it first arrived on the scene, but unlike the films unsuspecting and ignorant lawyer for the people, I should not like to presume the motivations of the filmmaker.
If you are interested in gaining an insight into a unique trial (reenacted from actual court records and recordings) as well as a stirring portrait of a pioneering public figure then go and see Howl, it's short, it's pretty and it's good.