Finding the perfect fit of a movie for the season can sometimes be hard. But there is one Robin Williams that is a must-watch every time there is a brisk to the air in the fall season.
Screenwriter Tom Schulman based the story for Dead Poets Society off his own experience in school and it has, since, left a lasting impact on audiences. Williams plays John Keating, a professor at Welton Academy. He’s the new English teacher an was a student there himself years prior. And his unorthodox teaching methods inspires a group of young men to “seize the day.”
Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) is a beautiful soul who wants nothing more than to act and share his love of literature and storytelling with others. But he has a father (Kurtwood Smith) is someone who refuses to allow his son even a bit of artistic fun. While it is, seemingly, a side plot for most of the film, the play Neil is in, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, is an important part of the third act of the film and through it all, the film weaves a beautifully tragic story of the power of stories and what we do with it.
Williams as Keating is one of his most iconic role and one of the first films to detail how talented Williams was. Prior to Dead Poets Society, he was known for his roles in shows like Mork and Mindy. In 1982, he was in the comedy/drama film The World According to Garp which let audiences see a different side to him but it was Dead Poets Society that really changed things.
If you want to cuddle up with a blanket and cry…
Neil Perry’s story is one that I think fundamentally changed me as a person and has also done the same for many others. When he gets to play Puck in Midsummer, it ignites a love for acting in him that his father is quick to snuff out. He refuses to allow his son to perform and when Neil does it anyway, his defiance is met with his father mapping out Neil’s entire life.
The ending of Dead Poets Society is a tragic one and while the last moments of the film are now etched into cinematic history and brought up frequently (often when honoring Robing Williams), it is all because of Neil Perry’s tragic story.
Which is why this movie, while perfect for the fall weather, will make you emotional about the boys of Welton Academy and their desire to be free and learn and explore the English languages and the stories we tell but are forced into this rigid idea of who they’re meant to be before they’ve figured that out for themselves.
If you want to spend time inside with John Keating and his Dead Poets Society this fall, you should. Just be aware that you’re going to end up an emotional wreck and that’s part of the beauty of this movie.
(featured image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
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