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.
Chuck Workman
Director
Johnny Depp
Jack Kerouac
Dennis Hopper
William S. Burroughs
John Turturro
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Self (archive footage)
William S. Burroughs
Self (archive footage)
Philip Glass
Self
Robert Creeley
Self
Ann Charters
Self
George Steade
Self
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