Swim against the stream

What this film did for me? I found myself 'standing up on that desk' to remind myself that I should be constantly viewing the world with new perspective.

A magical film, and despite it being made in 1989, still completely and maybe even more relevant to today's society. In a world of mass conformity, largely created by social media and smart phone technology, especially among the young and teenagers, it is ever more important to be inspired by and pursue what this film teaches us.

We need to find our own voice among the crowd. Make your life extraordinary.

It renews, inspires and restores a feeling of passion for words, poems, literature and life! Passion for learning and excelling / expressing ourselves. Keeping your eyes open, looking backwards and forwards, never down. Life is not 1 dimensional. Life is about expression; expressing those many layers and dimensions which make up the fabric of life. This film completely encompasses that sentiment. Striving to find your own voice. Finding words and meanings to best depict the inner workings of your life and mind.

"We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

You can learn a lot from this movie. In society/ schools nowadays we are constantly being bombarded - told how to do things, why, and what they mean. we are filling up our brains with junk yet we have a world of knowledge, quite literally, right at our fingertips. Yet have we lost a sense of curiosity? Have we stopped asking why?

My favourite scene was the one in the dormitory room, when the boys are playing, jumping across beds and desks, chasing each other round the room, round and round in circles. I think the directing and camera work is fantastic here, with the camera positioned in the middle of the room shooting upwards and following the boys in a rather dizzying way - it completely encompasses the ultimate freedom and spirit of the film.

Powerful directing. Magical visuals- autumnal lake scenes and old New England buildings. Dead poets society made me both laugh and cry a lot. Almost a therapeutically good movie. It will stay with me for a long time to come. Robin Williams was wonderful too. RIP.

10 out of 10 and I want to watch it again already.

Remember you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

Oh, one extra thing.

Here is my inspired 5 min poem:

Your verse?

Quick fast tick tock, Skim swipe tick tock, Glowing face tick tock, Head down tick tock, Marching stomp tick tock.

Each day tick tock Faced with a question tick tock, Your verse tick tock, Two roads tick tock, Diverging

Follow your path tick tock, Open your eyes tick tock, Face the world tick tock, Seize the day tick tock, Listen

One day tick tock, Lie with the daffodils. Food for the worms. Forever, Tick. Tock.

Thank you for reading my short verse. Post a reply in the message boards if you too felt inspired.

(Oh also I'm not claiming to be Tennyson here....just an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning reflecting on this wonderful film I watched last night. Think of those boys at the front of the class before you choose tear it apart! :-) )

Personal Rating: 9/10

This movie shattered me. There's the expression that something "tugs at your heartstrings," well this movie ripped mine out.

I'll be honest, I could find things to critique about this film, the instance of a scene that was used twice and felt sloppy perhaps; but this movie never claimed to be perfect, just to be emotionally moving, and that it certainly is. This review is written by a boy who also finds himself on the edge of adolescence and adulthood, does that mean I'm biased, absolutely, but everyone who watches this film is, everyone can relate. Your feelings I can assure you will be the same as mine when the credits start rolling, rolling like the tears down your cheeks.

This movie makes you think. Conformity is easy, conformity is comfortable, conformity gets you good grades, trust me you're listening right now to a past perfect GPA teacher's pet. The thing conformity doesn't give you though, is a life, one worth living. For something to be beautiful it must also have a side of danger, and that's what freedom of thought is, as is mentioned in the movie "we must constantly look at things in a different way," and that's beautiful! Yes, it means at times we don't agree, yes it means you might give this movie a 4/10 but I'll be damned if that changes my opinion of it.

The themes this movie explores such as, never letting a moment slip by where you don't think for yourself, where you don't seize an opportunity, it does so beautifully. Robin Williams was not acting he was believing, everything in this movie comes across as genuine, a slice of reality, a harsh but beautiful one at that.

Will I watch this movie again, I don't think so. But please, please watch it just once, you won't ever regret it.

Carpe Diem.

It was with a sad reason that I re watched Dead Poets Society, as we lose yet another talent and an all round good person in Robin Williams. This being my favorite Williams film, I took it upon myself to honor his memory by remembering his best body of work, in my opinion. Mr. Keating is the teacher that I wish I had, and granted this might be a mixed opinion within the film's context, but the matter of the fact is that he was no ordinary teacher, and that's something you don't see very often.

The thing about this film is that it doesn't shorten its importance to Williams's performance. The supporting cast is one that balances the film like no other. Every one of those students that revived the DPS is, in one way or another, influenced by Mr. Keating, be that positively or, unfortunately, negatively. The story being an Oscar winning screenplay, is one that I think mostly resonates with younger people, and with this movie being part of my 10th grade Portuguese course, I, personally, embraced its essence and of course its driving message of seizing the day.

As I've seen here on IMDb, this movie might not gather nearly uncontested praise, but it is very much highly regarded today as it was 25 years ago. The final scene still gives me chills to this day, and in the midst of our sad goodbye to Mr. Williams I just wanna say Thank You My Captain. It was a pleasure learning to become my own motivated person. May we all Carpe Diem

Rating: 9/10