THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLEN GINSBERG
D: Jerry Aronson (1993) ¢ ¢ ¢
These days, it's hard to imagine a poet reaching the level of acclaim and notoriety that Allen Ginsberg attained in the second half of the 20th century. As a primal figure in the Beat movement of the '40s and '50s, a queer, a Jew, a champion of psychedelics, an activist against the Vietnam War, a student of Eastern mysticism and a cohort of everybody from Jack Kerouac to Timothy Leary to Patti Smith, Ginsberg both defined and symbolized the counterculture for 50 years. This documentary digs into some of that, with William S. Burroughs, Herbert Huncke, Abbie Hoffman, Joan Baez and Ken Kesey all lining up as witnesses, and Ginsberg himself talking about his life and reading from "Howl", "Kaddish" and other works. Required viewing for fans of the Beats, and highly recommended for anybody trying to figure out how a poet could ever command that kind of public attention.
