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Dead Poets Society
At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.
1989 · Directed by Peter Weir · 129 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 56 frames
Tagline
He was their inspiration. He made their lives extraordinary.
Plot
In the fall of 1959, Todd Anderson begins his junior year of high school at Welton Academy, an Episcopal all-male preparatory boarding school in Vermont. He is assigned one of Welton's top students, Neil Perry, as his roommate, and meets Neil's friends: Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, Gerard Pitts, and Charlie Dalton.
On the first day of classes, the boys meet John Keating, their new English teacher. Keating teaches them the Latin expression carpe diem, encouraging them to "seize the day". During his classes, he has the students take turns standing on his desk to demonstrate ways to look at life differently, tells them to rip out the introduction of their poetry books that explains a mathematical formula for rating poetry, and invites them to make up their own style of walking in a courtyard to form their individualism. These unusual methods attract the attention of strict headmaster, Gale Nolan.
Upon learning that Keating had been a member of the unofficial Dead Poets Society during his time as a student, Neil restarts the club. He and his friends sneak off campus to a cave to read poetry. Keating's lessons and the conversations in the club encourage them to live on their own terms.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Tom Schulman
- Cinematography: John Seale
- Edited by: William M. Anderson
- Music: Maurice Jarre
- Production design: Wendy Stites
- Produced by: Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas
Cast
- Robin Williams as John Keating
- Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry
- Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson
- Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet
- Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton
- Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron
- Allelon Ruggiero as Steven Meeks
- James Waterston as Gerard Pitts
- Norman Lloyd as Mr. Nolan
- Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Perry
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Latin
- Studios: A Steven Haft Production, Witt/Thomas Productions, Silver Screen Partners IV, Touchstone Pictures
- Budget: $16,400,000
- Box office: $235,860,116
- Themes: individual, friendship, philosophy, poetry, literature, professor, coming of age, teacher, school play, new england
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