Filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman celebrate an important part of San Francisco history with this multifaceted film about Allen Ginsberg's groundbreaking poem Howl and the obscenity trial for its publication that became a landmark First Amendment case. James Franco stars as the young Ginsberg, in this hybrid of drama, documentary and animation, in which we are present at the first reading of Howl in 1955 as well as the 1957 trial, while the poem itself is interpreted through animated sequences. Franco's Ginsburg recounts the road trips, love affairs and the personal search for liberation that formed the path to Howl, while the trial is enacted by a host of distinguished performers: David Strathairn, Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker, Bob Balaban, Jeff Daniels, Treat Williams, Alessandro Nivola. As a film, Howl sets out to be as adventurous as the work it eulogizes. Writers/Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman. (US 2010) 84 min.
