Movies About Poets

The list of movies about poets is surprisingly short. Considering the importance of poetry to our culture there are very few movies about poets out there...

Poetry and poets have been central to the culture of the western world for centuries. Going all the way back to Homer and the poets of the Old Testament Bible, poetry has been a touchstone and a voice of the human condition.

Shakespeare, Milton, Dante and Keats are famous enough to go by one name. Their works have inspired, communicated, and shaped the growth of our world.

The writers who gave us some of the great works of history have been immortalized in legend, outside of their own works, presented to the 21^st century as characters in many works of biography and fiction.

Some of them have even made it into the movies.

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Perhaps the most renowned person to put pen to paper, William Shakespeare's biography is not fully known, so narrative films about Shakespeare have free-reign to ad-lib the life of the bard.

To date, "Shakespeare in Love" may be the best known movie about a poet. The film features Gwyneth Paltrow, Judi Dench and Ben Afleck.

Sylvia (2003)

Sylvia Plath, poet and novelist, died an early death. Plath is famous for writing one great novel (The Bell Jar) as well as the great poetic works of Ariel. Her story, in contrast to Shakespeare's, is well-documented though not completely understood. This is the first of two movies about this poet, with another Sylvia Plath film released in 2009.

Plath's husband, the poet Ted Hughes, figures as a large character in the film Sylvia, played here by Daniel Craig.

Sylvia features Gwyneth Paltrow as Sylvia Plath. (Yes, Gwyneth Paltrow is in this one too.)

Howl (2010)

The famous American poet Allen Ginsberg was a public figure until his recent death in 1997. Controversial, lively, bisexual and political, Ginsberg put it all on display from the 50s to the 90s, writing great works of poetry along the way.

The film Howl takes the title of Ginsberg's biggest breakthrough and most renowned long poem.

James Franco stars as Allen Ginsberg in a film that is certain to become the best known movie about a poet yet produced.

Bright Star (2009)

The English Romantic poet John Keats has long been known as a poetic heart-throb, a man over-flowing with romantic qualities, passions, and a love of life. His odes famously celebrated these qualities.

Adding to the mystique of John Keats was his early death at age 25. The film Bright Star follows the young Keats through an extended love affair.

Abbie Cornish and Ben Wishaw star in this film about the English poet. Perhaps the fact that this movie was made abroad explains the discrepency between the high praise the film has received and the lack of reputation it suffers. It is fair to wonder if "Bright Star" may be the best feature movie about a poet yet produced.

Tom & Viv (1994)

T.S. Eliot, a modernist poet, is one of the 20^th centuries most well-known literary figures. He was born in the United States and lived his adult life working at a bank in England.

Maintaining a work-a-day life-style in one way, Eliot managed to write some of the most iconic poetry of the century while also carrying on an a difficult marriage to Vivian Haigh-Wood.

Willem Dafoe and Miranda Richardson take the main roles in this drama.

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Movies Better Than the Book

Sources:

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