Looking Back at Dead Poets Society

Luke Buckmaster pays tribute to Dead Poets Society, made 30 years ago this year, at The Guardian, with a focus on the moment Robin Williams stood up to proclaim, "O Captain! My Captain!" "Poetry purists might turn their nose up at the idea that some people, maybe even most people, now associate Whitman’s verse first and foremost with a movie rather than a poem," writes Buckmaster. More:

But there’s a lovely synchronicity here between real-life and Keating’s objectives, given the teacher’s passion for finding ways to keep poetry relevant and exciting for younger generations.

Dead Poets Society was a hit at the box office and collected plenty of kudos – including a Bafta award for best film and an Academy award for best original screenplay (it was nominated for three others: best picture, best actor and best director). It has grown in stature over the years, spawning a spin-off stage play and novel, as well as being a common text on school curriculums and in lists of inspirational movies, such as this from the American Film Institute.

It is one of those films that means different things at different points in your life. As a high school student I remember feeling inspired by it in the obvious ways: to appreciate the creation and consumption of art, and, in my case, to continue pursuing a passion for writing. As a much older adult, Dead Poets Society affects me more as a story about the qualities of inspiration itself: the potential for our words and actions to move and motivate people around us.

Read on at The Guardian.