Source (The)
Original Title
The Source: The Story of the Beats and the Beat Generation- Director: Chuck Workman
- Writer: Chuck Workman
- Producer: Mark Apostolon; James Cady
CGiii Comment
The Beat - it looks and sounds rather silly nowadays.
This is just another film of reminiscent dalliances - by those involved.
Ginsberg may have been a great writer - then...but, is he still relevant today?
Burroughs? Kerouac? Any of them?
This is just nostalgia - it is debatable as to whether they really did change things...in their small, insular sphere, perhaps...
The film asks no difficult questions - just a bunch of old men luxuriating in their own self-importance.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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 & Characters
Johnny Depp as Jack Kerouac;
Dennis Hopper as William S. Burroughs;
John Turturro as Allen Ginsberg;
Allen Ginsberg as Himself;
Philip Glass as Himself;
Robert Creeley as Himself;
Ann Charters as Herself;
George Steade as Himself;
David Amram as Himself;
William S. Burroughs as Himself;
Ed Sanders as Himself;
Gregory Corso as Himself;
Kyle Roderick as Himself - Corso biographer;
Lawrence Ferlinghetti as Himself;
Ken Kesey as Himself