Dead Poets Society

The 1989 American coming-of-age drama, Dead Poets Society, feels like such a typical Hollywood movie, with all the tropes and tricks associated with flicks that want to appease the Academy. The story of a group of male students at a boarding school by reading poetry, feels like a premise as old as time, and the way the film was constructed, acted, filmed and even advertised, has all the trademarks of a picture that would please the industry, mainly its high profile Academy voters (which is the exact audience this film was hoping to appeal to). This classic format still proved effective, as it was very well received upon release, thrived at the box office with $235.9 million against a $16.4 million budget, and even took home an Oscar for Best Screenplay (after being nominated for other major categories like Director, Picture and Actor). While no surprise for the time, films have evolved since then, so the thought occurs as to whether this movie still holds up all these years later?

In 1959 Vermont, Todd Anderson (played by Ethan Hawke) is enrolled into Welton Academy, an all-male boarding school, and has one of the school’s most promising students, Neil Perry (played by Robert Sean Leonard) as his roommate. Being a learning establishment that favors order and authority, the boys are expecting a safe semester, but that changes when they meet their new English teacher, John Keating (played by Robin Williams), whose unorthodox teaching methods and vigorous passion for poetry inspires the boys to be a little more active in and outside of their studies. After learning that Keating also attended Welton and created a secret club known as the Dead Poets Society (where a group of students would sneak out at night and read poetry together), Neil, Todd and several of their friends decide to restart the club and in doing so, learn to be a little more independent. This comes as a shock to the school’s strict headmaster, Gale Nolan (played by Norman Llyod) and even Neil’s father, Thomas Perry (played by Kurtwood Smith), who fear Keating’s actions are causing the students to act out, and with the threat of future punishment, will any of the students be willing to continue being part of this society?

Dead Poet Society is a passable movie with good direction, effective atmosphere, and solid performances, but this style of film is a tad outdated by today’s standards with a melodramatic tone, underdeveloped characters, and a slightly ineffective script, highlighting how what once pandered to the old may not always benefit the new.

The origins of this film came from a place of truth, as the original spec script written by the film’s screenwriter, Tom Schulman, originated from his real-life experiences at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee (even the character of Keating was based on one of Schulman’s teachers, Samuel Pickering). With this in mind, Dead Poets Society does effectively capture the feeling of being in a boarding school, from the cramped moments of travelling from classroom to classroom while trying not to be crushed in the commotion, the hyperactive and child-like interactions the students have within their dorm rooms where they simultaneously do and don’t act their age, to even small things like a church bell signalling a change in period or a trumpet tune acting as a wake-up call, they showcase the strict and ordeal nature of this place of learning, but add a sense of peaceful atmosphere as well. This slight authenticity does help the film out, but the actual script doesn’t feel as genuine. It’s not bad on a surface level, and its win at the Oscars proves it clicked with some people, but the entire film operates on a very sappy, even hoaky tone that not only makes the picture feel slightly fabricated for cinematic purposes, but it gets in the way of the film’s overall message.

The movie is quite blatant on its stance around the ineffectiveness and hypocrisy of private schools, as despite looking like a prestigious place of learning, they’re nothing more than a phony badge of honor meant to bully kids into adopting a rigid, snobbish, and authoritative lifestyle under the pretence of ‘’respectability’’. When this is mixed with the film’s overall theme of walking to the beat of your own drum, there are good ideas here that work with the location and time period, but the writing isn’t in-depth enough to make these points as strong as they could’ve been. The film jumps between plot points and characters a little too often to let any singular moment feel developed, effectively starting something without ever letting them finish. That along with a sudden tragedy injected into the final act that, while well-acted and appropriately sad, is quickly brushed aside to the point that it feels like a tagged-on footnote just to create a bleak mood, it could’ve been written much smoother. On the flip side, the direction by Peter Weir does feel like it brings something that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed. He commands the movie in a way that still leads to some sappiness and traditional tropes, but there is also a balance created that makes what once felt accidental now feel purposeful. The overly jovial and whimsical element of the film is brought to a halt after said tragedy, showing how it intentionally played up its stirring atmosphere in order for the eventual downfall to be more apparent, so while it still feels backhanded and even a little pointless, it does work around it well enough.

Despite what the advertising and general reception around the film may lead you to believe, Robin Williams actually isn’t the lead of the film, with more attention going towards the boys at the school whilst he’s just the supportive teacher. Since he was nominated for Best Actor despite his role being the size equivalent to supporting, it shows that Touchstone (who helped distribute the film) clearly wanted him to be the face of the picture. Considering how many people rave about his portrayal in this movie as a ‘’new form of acting for him’’, you’d be surprised to find that he isn’t all that different from how he’s been portrayed in the past. He acts the same, has the same kind of energy, even finds time to inject his usual comedic impressions and attitude, it’s nothing new for Williams, but what is different is that the film uses his familiar routine in a situation that isn’t comedy-leaning. They use his energy as a manner of eccentric inspiration rather than for laughs, and in that regard, it does feel a little different and would’ve helped him get similar roles in the future.

Even though they don’t get as much attention, the rest of the cast is still fairly good and match the film’s personality in a way that sucks you in without coming across as too phony. Robert Sean Leonard is very charming as the lead, and despite not going on to anything that big later in his career, he’s able to carry the film quite easily as he’s one of the few roles that has some sense of backstory. Ethan Hawke (in one of his first film roles) has a nice dynamic with the lead and does shine within the last act where he’s given centre stage, but his minimal dialogue and almost unexplained backstory leave him as a pretty limp role, which can also be said for most of the other boys. Outside of Josh Charles and Gale Hansen who get small secondary arcs, none of the other side characters really stand out, and even the ones that do have to deal with awkward writing and underwritten storylines that can border on creepy at times (Charles’ character kisses a girl while unconscious, stalks her to her school, and refuses to leave her alone unless they date and it’s played up like a romantic gesture).

The film’s visual style does a good job at capturing the personality of the school and how it changes over time depending on what’s going on in the character’s lives. During the first act, the classrooms are bristling with light and colors, the camera work by John Seale is mobile and active, the music by Maurice Jarre is preppy and lively, and there are several shots that portrays the scale of the school in a majestic and even atmospheric manner, it’s well-constructed in a way that builds an environment. This is proven even further when the film reaches the final act where all of these qualities are flipped on their head and produce the exact opposite approach.

The tone drastically changes and turns bitter, the area is wintry and overwhelmingly white and blue, the camera work is still and plainly angled, the music is completely dropped and allows moments to play out in complete silence, the acting feels much more real and aggressive, and while the ending is pretty self-indulgent and counterproductive to the film’s message, it at least uses its technical qualities in a manner that’s smarter than it needs to be. A lot of the dialogue can still feel very orchestrated and movie-esque (every line Williams has feels ripped out of a philosophy book and placed in solely for a trailer line), but it’s also kept at a very timeless manner, and for a movie that was made in the 90s starring a bunch of teen boys in what is essentially a less vulgar, more sophisticated college movie, they thankfully don’t include any modern slang or time-appropriate humor, allowing the movie to authentically feel like something from a past era.

Dead Poets Society is ironically like how many people would view a private school; containing a presentable and highly acclaimed pedigree with established talent both in front of and behind the scenes, and enough recognition from high establishment peers to showcase a strong reception, but underneath all of the accolades, is a product that doesn’t provide anything that a regular less-polished film couldn’t also provide (and in some cases, could do much better). To the film’s credit, it doesn’t feel mindless or intentionally manipulative (although that ending is pretty rough) and it does have a few crowning elements that are worthy of praise like a lot of the cast, some choice moments of atmosphere, and solid direction that takes what could’ve been a stale and very predictable film and make it just a tad bit more impactful, but the scripting, characters and overall schmaltzy feel do pull the fancy sheets out from over its eyes and only show an otherwise standard table top. You’ll get a decent watch out of this but nothing that will echo throughout time.