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Howl at the moon
GREAT STEAK
Solid, documentary celebrates queer poet
and counterculture hero Allen Ginsberg
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includes in a 1955 reading by the author. (Curi­
personality as colorful and powerful as
ously, it doesn’t go into the banning of “Howl”
Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) might seem
at first glance an ideal, easy subject for a
and subsequent obscenity trial. With lines like
“who let themselves be fucked in the ass by
filmmaker.
There are many obvious markers on which
saintly motorcyclists, and screamed with joy,”
to hang an exciting narrative—the publication
the censorship was no surprise.) He was also
of his seminal poem “Howl” in 1955, his role
well out of the closet by now, taking “a vow of
as the merry prankster of the Beats, his
celestial heavenly fidelity” with Orlovsky.
If the 1950s saw Ginsberg as Beat superstar,
unabashed advocacy of LSD before Congress,
his assumption of the mantle of Walt Whit­
the 1960s brought him new fame as a counter­
man as the poet laureate of homosexuality, his
culture guru. Rare footage shows him testifying
well-publicized nonviolent
protests and his eventual can­
onization as the patron saint of
freethinkers and a closet-free
life. And unlike Whitman,
there’s an enormous amount of
filmed material available, from
Ginsberg’s innovative 1950s
poetry readings to quirky tele­
vision appearances in the ’60s
and ’70s.
But, as Jerry Aronson’s The
Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
shows, Ginsberg was more
complex than the popular
image of a prankster and provo­
cateur. (An updated director’s
cut of the 1994 documentary is
now playing at HollywtxxJ
Theatre.) Aronson spent 10
years working on the film,
gaining the cwperation of
Ginsberg’s family and friends
and excavating a wealth of rare
footage. His purpose was to
remind us of Ginsberg’s impor­
The patron saint of freethinkers and a closet-free life, Allen
tance as a poet and cultural fig­ Ginsberg is remembered in an informative documentary now
ure. The film sometimes errs
playing at Hollywood Theatre
t<x) much on that side, losing
some of the wild man in the process of redeem­
before Congress about the salutary effects of
ing him. But that’s a minor complaint given
LSD, inspiring Timothy Leary to tune in and
what Aronson has accomplished overall.
drop out (Leary calls him “the cosmic public
The film is structured by decades—an
defender”) and deftly demolishing William
appropriate decision given that Ginsberg
Buckley’s curdled pose in an interview in w’hich
seemed to reinvent himself every 10 years or so.
Ginsberg plays the harmonium and giddily
It begins with a bittersweet portrait of his
describes writing poetry “under the influence.”
beginnings as the grandchild of Russian Jewish
The ’60s also sparked Ginsberg’s political
immigrants. Young Ginsberg is seen in photo­
consciousness, bringing him to protests in
graphs wearing a crown of leaves, an early hint
Prague, and most notably to the infamous 1968
of the eccentric self to come.
Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
He was devoted to his parents, which must
Ginsberg was unwavering in adv<x:ating peace­
have been difficult in the case of his mother,
ful protest, refusing to march with the Yippies,
Naomi, a paranoid who was institutionalized
who planned violent disruptions. He also
for much of her life. Ginsberg’s stepmother calls
reveals himself an astute political observer
him a “cheerful” kid but adds, “Allen bore the
when he says that the left didn’t vote in 1968
bnint of his mother’s illness.” Yet Ginsberg was
“and Nixon squeaked in by half a million
able to reconcile this tragedy decades later,
votes, and the war went on for another six
making Naomi rhe centerpiece of his brilliant
years, with more murder and devastation than
long poem “Kaddish.”
ever before."
By the 1940s, Ginsberg found a group of
The film continues more or less chronologi­
simpatico souls with whom he formed a kind of
cally, vividly highlighting Ginsberg’s tragedies
second family: William Burroughs, Neal
and triumphs. Among the former are the death
Casady, Jack Kerouac and the Beats. Ginsberg
of his beloved father, Lxiis, and his attempts to
was still finding his way as a gay man, trapped
deal with his lover’s alcoholism.
in the closet and filled with a sense of solitude.
But Ginsberg’s last years appear to be gixxl
But not to worry—he ended up in bed with
ones, filled with art, friendship and widespread
the decidedly hetero Casady, whom, he says mis­
acclaim as one of the leading postwar voices in
chievously, “gave me love.” Such were the times.
poetry. He had gallery shows, published Kx>ks
Eventually he would find his lifelong lover
of photographs, traveled and continued to write
among this group, the painter Peter Orlovsky,
and read his poetry. His stepmother recalls that
and begin to create his role as probably the most
Louis “died a happy man,” and the film gives us
important pre-Stonewall gay liberationist.
every reason to believe that Allen did, too. jrn
Ginsberg became famous—and notorious—
in the 1950s, hammering the sexual and philo­
G ary M orris is a Portland free-lance writer
sophical status quo of that decade with his
who recalls many a mad night sitting on
groundbreaking “Howl,” which the film
Ginsberg’s... knee.
A