Overview
Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chronicles their friendships, their arrival into American consciousness, their travels, frequent parodies, Kerouac's death, and Ginsberg's politicization. Their movement connects with bebop, John Cage's music, abstract expressionism, and living theater. In recent interviews, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kesey, Ferlinghetti, Mailer, Jerry Garcia, Tom Hayden, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders, and others measure the Beats' meaning and impact.
Cast
- Johnny Depp as Jack Kerouac
- Dennis Hopper as William S. Burroughs
- John Turturro as Allen Ginsberg
- Allen Ginsberg as Self (archive footage)
- William S. Burroughs as Self (archive footage)
- Philip Glass as Self
- Robert Creeley as Self
- Ann Charters as Self
- George Steade as Self
- David Amram as Self