2h 8m
Director: Peter Weir

John Keating (Robin Williams) is the new english teacher and he has an unothodox approach, you see he doesn't believe you can measure human emotion with any metric except perhaps with the heart and he is passionate about it.

His passion is infectious and soon spreads to his students who discover he was once a member of a secret club at Welton called the Dead Poets Society. Inspired by the captivating John Keaton his students restart the club and through their association with it, begin to experience a greater depth of emotion in their own lives. The whole film becomes a coming of age ceremony and we witness the characters grow by enriching their lives through art.

Neil finds himself interested in acting and gets himself a part in 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'. His father finds out, doesn't like his son doing acting and blackmails him to drop the part or be punished by being enlisted in the military. Neil defiantly ignores his father and plays the role. His father admonishes him and applies the punishment. Neil takes his own life.

At school the students reluctantly decide to blame Mr Keating to deflect any blame from themselves and to provide the school with the scapegoat they are looking for.

Mr Keating is subsequently fired. He seems to take it solemnly and in his stride.

There is an innocence to this movie which very much leaves you with the impression that you've witnessed a right of passage, an awakening of the human spirit. John Keating is like the flame to the lamps which are his students, ready to carry on the fire to the other people in their lives.

If you've never seen it, definitely give it a go, it's an amazing movie. The 1959 period backdrop which seems dull on the surface, adds greater contrast to the vibrant emotions you see on the screen.

There is a very famous final scene where John Keating returns to the class and Todd (Ethan Hawke) whose character had struggled with self confidence early on opts to stand on his desk in defiance to let Mr Keating know that his teaching had been received, his other class mates quickly follow his example out of respect. It's a lovely scene and a beautiful film, held together with a very human and rather magical performance by Robin Williams. "Oh captain, my captain"...



Trailer: