Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin
Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959, it tells
the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.
The film was critically acclaimed and was nominated for many awards.
The script was written by Tom Schulman, based on his life at the Montgomery Bell Academy
in Nashville, Tennessee. Filming took place at St. Andrew's School in Middletown, Delaware.
Plot Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet,
Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks and Gerard Pitts are senior students of the
Welton Academy, an elite prep school, whose ethos is defined by the headmaster Gale Nolan
as "tradition, honor, discipline and excellence". The teaching methods of their new English
teacher, John Keating, are unorthodox by Welton standards, including whistling the 1812 Overture
and taking them out of the classroom to focus on the idea of carpe diem. He tells the students
that they may call him "O Captain! My Captain!", in reference to a Walt Whitman poem, if they
feel daring. In another class, Keating has Neil read the introduction to their poetry
textbook, which prescribes a mathematical formula to rate the quality of pieces of poetry;
Keating finds this ridiculous, and he instructs his pupils to rip the introduction out of
their books, to the amazement of one of his colleagues. Later he has the students stand
on his desk in order to look at the world in a different way. The boys discover that
Keating was a former student at Welton and decide to secretly revive the school literary
club, the Dead Poets Society, to which Keating had belonged, meeting in a cave off the school
grounds. Due to self-consciousness, Todd fails to complete
a writing assignment and Keating takes him through an exercise in self-expression, realizing
the potential he possesses. Charlie publishes an unauthorized article in the school newspaper,
asserting that girls should be admitted to Welton. At the resulting school inquiry, he
offers a phone call from God in support, incurring the headmaster's wrath. After being lectured
by Headmaster Nolan about his teaching methods, Keating tells the boys to "be wise, not stupid"
about protesting against the system. Knox meets and falls in love with a girl named
Chris, using his new-found love of poetry to woo her. He presents one of these poems
in class, and is applauded by Keating. Knox travels to Chris' school and recites his poem
to her, later convincing her to go to a play with him. Neil wants to be an actor but knows
his father will disapprove. Without his father's knowledge, he auditions for the role of Puck
in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His father finds out and orders Neil to withdraw.
Neil asks Keating for advice and is advised to talk to his father and make him understand
how he feels, but Neil cannot muster the courage to do so. Instead he goes against his father's
wishes. Midway through Neil's performance, his father enters the auditorium, but remains
unimpressed. Visibly irritated, he confronts Keating, demanding he leave Neil alone. He
takes Neil home and tells him that he intends to enroll him in a military school to prepare
him for Harvard University and a career in medicine. Unable to cope with the future that
awaits him, Neil commits suicide. At the request of Neil's parents, the headmaster
launches an investigation. Cameron meets the school governors and board of regents. Later,
confronted by Charlie, Cameron admits that he "finked", making Keating the scapegoat,
and urges the rest of them to let Keating take the fall. Charlie punches Cameron and
is later expelled. Todd is called to Nolan's office, where his parents are waiting. Nolan
forces Todd to admit to being a member of the Dead Poets Society, and makes him sign
a document blaming Keating for inciting the boys to restart the club, and encouraging
Neil to flout his father's wishes. Todd sees the other boys' signatures on the document,
and is ordered by his father to sign it. Keating is fired.
The boys return to English class, now being taught by Nolan, who instructs the boys to
read the introductory essay only to find that they had all ripped it out. Keating enters
the room to retrieve a few belongings. Todd reveals that the boys were intimidated into
signing the denunciation. Nolan orders Todd to be quiet and demands that Keating leave.
As Keating is about to exit, Todd calls out "O Captain! My Captain!" and stands on his
desk. Nolan warns Todd to sit down or face expulsion. Much of the class, including Knox,
Meeks and Pitts, climb onto their desks and look to Keating, ignoring Nolan's orders until
he gives up. Keating, visibly touched, thanks the students and then leaves.
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 "Nuanda" Dalton
Norman Lloyd as Headmaster Gale Nolan Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Perry
Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron James Waterston as Gerard Pitts
Allelon Ruggiero as Steven Meeks Leon Pownall as McAllister
Alexandra Powers as Chris Noel Kevin Cooney as Joe Danburry
Welker White as Tina Debra Mooney as Mrs. Anderson
George Martin as Dr. Hager Alexandra Powers as Chris Noel
Reception The critical reaction to this film has been
favorable; it received positive reviews from 85% of critics cited by Rotten Tomatoes, as
well as a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 from 14 mainstream critics registered
on Metacritic. The Washington Post reviewer called it "solid,
smart entertainment", and praised Robin Williams for giving a "nicely restrained acting performance".
Vincent Canby of The New York Times also praised Williams' "exceptionally fine performance",
while noting that "Dead Poets Society... is far less about Keating than about a handful
of impressionable boys". Roger Ebert's review was mixed, two out of
four stars. He criticized Williams for spoiling an otherwise creditable dramatic performance
by occasionally veering into his onstage comedian's persona, and lamented that for a movie set
in the 1950s there was no mention of the Beat Generation writers. Additionally, Ebert described
the movie as an often poorly constructed "collection of pious platitudes [...] The movie pays lip
service to qualities and values that, on the evidence of the screenplay itself, it is cheerfully
willing to abandon." Awards and nominations
Dead Poets Society won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Peter Weir received
a nomination for Best Director and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture of 1989.
Robin Williams received his second Best Actor in a Leading Role nomination and it has since
been widely recognized as one of the actor/comedian's best roles. It also won the BAFTA Award for
Best Film. The film's line "Carpe diem. Seize the day,
boys. Make your lives extraordinary." was voted as the 95th greatest movie quote by
the American Film Institute. Also, the film was voted one of the 100 Most Inspiring Films
of All Time by the AFI. Academy Awards 1990Won: Best Original Screenplay
Nominated: Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated: Director
Nominated: Best Picture
BAFTA Awards 1989Won: Best Film Won: Best Original Film Score
Nominated: Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated: Best Achievement in Direction
Nominated: Best Editing Nominated: Best Original Screenplay
César AwardsWon: Best Foreign Film
David di Donatello AwardsWon: Best Foreign Film
Directors Guild of AmericaNominated: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Golden Globe AwardsNominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Nominated: Best Director – Motion Picture Nominated: Best Motion Picture – Drama
Nominated: Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Writers Guild of AmericaNominated: Best Screenplay – Original
Soundtrack "Carpe Diem"
"Neil" "To the Cave"
"Keating's Triumph" "Football Training"
Versions There is a director's cut of the movie with
additional scenes that are not in the theatrical version. An overview of these scenes is at
Peter Weir Cave and Movie Censorship. References
Further reading Munaretto, Stefan. Erläuterungen zu Nancy
H. Kleinbaum/Peter Weir, 'Der Club der toten Dichter'. Hollfeld: Bange. ISBN 3-8044-1817-1.
External links Dead Poets Society at the Internet Movie Database
Dead Poets Society at Box Office Mojo Dead Poets Society at Rotten Tomatoes
Dead Poets Society at Metacritic