Poetry at the Movies: Dead Poets Society

Robin Williams starred in Dead Poets Society in which he portrayed an inspirational, unconventional English teacher at a well-to-do prep school. Here is an memorable scene in the movie in which William's character, John Keating  talks to his students about the importance of poetry.

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Movie Notes: The Poetry of Paterson

A friend of mine recommended the film, Paterson a while back. I noticed that it was available on DVD at one of the public library branches, so I checked it out last week. I found it to be an enjoyable film with a thoughtful pace. It does not delve deeply into the art or the impact of poetry but does create a sense of liminal space which is for me the kind of quiet space where creativity can take place.

Paterson, by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, portrays a week in the life of a bus driver named Paterson, who lives in the town of Paterson, NJ. He is a quiet fellow who goes about his day writing poetry about the things he sees, hears, and feels. He has no thought of sharing his poetry, though his wife tries to encourage him to make copies that he can show to others.

A Town for Poets

The fact that Paterson is also the hometown of the poet William Carlos Williams serves to further underscore the role of poetry in this ordinary town. Williams, in fact, was a physician who wrote his poetry during the course of the day and wrote about everyday life, just as our bus driver protagonist does in the film.

Ron Padgett wrote the poetry for the movie. His poems are placed on the screen as Paterson writes them. All in all, Paterson is a film that quietly celebrates the role of poetry and art for ordinary people in ordinary times. English film critic, Mark Kermode, describes the movie as essentially a tone poem, which I think if a very apt description.

Subtle Symbolism

One thing I found interesting was the recurrence of twins in the movie, and I wondered what the filmmaker intended by that. There were three sets of twins making cameo appearances, as it were. One the sets of twins included a young schoolgirl who was herself a poet. Could it be that the twin idea is pointing to a creative counterpart within each of us?

There is symbolism to be found here in terms of doorways to the arts. For example, we see the marriage of poetry and visual art, illustrated by the fact that Paterson’s wife is an artist who spends her day designing and painting her own dresses, drapes, shower curtains, and living décor. Her art then leads her to move into music as she becomes driven to learn to play the guitar. Her character also added a more light-hearted whimsical touch of comic relief.  

One last aside, and speaking of twins, I couldn’t help noticing that the bartender, Doc, who Paterson talks to every night, bears a strong resemblance to his dog, Marvin. 

If you are in the mood for a quiet film that celebrates poetry and the wonders of ordinary life, check out Paterson. It is well written and well crafted with excellent acting and character portrayal. The acting is understated, which takes talent to pull off, and it lends to the poetic pace of the film. You will be inspired and may want to find a quiet corner, a cup of coffee, and a book of poetry so engaging that your coffee gets cold.

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Here are some added attractions:

Ron Padgett’ s poem, “How to be perfect,” can be found online at Poetry Foundation. 

PBS NewsHour offered a segment which includes a brief interview with the filmmaker, Jim Jarmusch along with poet Ron Padgett. You can see that here. 

A brief talk by Ron Padgett can be seen on YouTube in which he talks about his own poetic inspirations and influences. To view that, go here.

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The Play Is the Thing

There is something about a good drama. Live theater can have a remarkable effect upon members of the audience. The power of drama and its influence was brought home to me recently while watching a film biography of Pope John Paul II. I learned that the young Karol Wojtyla was a member of an underground drama company (called the Rhapsodic Theater) in Poland before he began considering the priesthood. His mentor had been encouraging him toward the priesthood when at one point young Wojtyla realized the he could make a positive change in the world by being a priest. Prior to that point he had been assuming that drama would be the way to effect positive change in his world.

Upon hearing that drama had been Pope John Paul’s first choice for positive change, I tried to imagine what drama must have meant to him and his colleagues living in Poland under Nazi occupation. Immediately I remembered hearing about an acting company in Serajevo during the Bosnian War in Yugoslavia. Even amid the fighting and bombing that completely disrupted that once grand city, the actors were determined to continue, and the people were determined to see that the plays went on. Furthermore, consider Czechoslovakia. When the communist Soviet Bloc fell apart, whom did the Czechoslovakians choose as their first democratically elected president? It was a playwright, Vaclev Havel.

What is it about a play? Why is drama so important? I think that a good play helps us to visualize what life can be like. It is one thing to talk about how things are, or how they could be, but it is another thing to illustrate life with a good drama. For the ancient Greeks, drama was a central act of community religious life. Their plays provided both instruction and catharsis (Now it’s making more sense that a noble young aspiring actor would eventually become Pope).
Drama has a universal appeal. Every culture has its own unique forms of dramatic re-creation. When Black Elk, the Lakota medicine man, was young, he had dream that was a visionary message to his people. As was the shamanic custom among his people, Black Elk staged a play. He called the community together and directed the people in acting out his dream in order to bring the power of the vision into the world. It seems that everyone knows that the play is the thing.

Even today in modern U.S. society, drama plays a vital role. While we have an abundance of live theater, perhaps most people are more familiar with the drama in film and television. We have seen how drama can highlight social concerns and can illustrate our hopes and values. A few years back, it was said of the TV drama West Wing, “This is the President we wish we had.”

I think we can still find instruction and catharsis in our modern drama. There is still that hope that through dramatic illustration, we can make a positive change in the world. There remains the idea that if we act out the vision, we can make it a reality. The medium still works for us today. Unfortunately, whereas in the past drama may have been used to illustrate the tragedy of hubris or misplaced honor, today on our TV sets we often use drama to illustrate the tragedy of carrying cash instead of traveler’s checks.




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