The boy playing Cameron was originally supposed to get up on the table at the last scene as well. But the actor playing him, refused said that would go against his character. Cameron didn't learn from the experience but stayed faithful to the "system". The director agreed and Cameron stayed in his seat.
I think, if I were in Cameron's place, I would have wanted to stand, with the others, if only to 'follow the herd,' but would feel too ashamed to do it, considering my actions. If a move were to be made, it would be for the door.
I didn’t know that the actor made that choice. It makes perfect sense, and the ending would have seemed somehow trite if Cameron had redeemed himself. In remaining seated, Cameron gave us a glimpse into his future. I imagine him as an outwardly successful but inwardly unhappy adult who may never forgive himself for that moment of shattering cowardice - and will almost certainly not forgive the other Dead Poets for making him feel small.
Older television fans may also remember him as Dr. Auschlander, the gentle and wise hospital administrator from St. Elsewhere. Such a stark contrast between two roles that truly illustrates the man's talents. He will be missed.
*clicks play* I am ready to cry again. This movie gave me such confidence as a young social outcast, and Robin Williams was and is still my all-time favorite. Shit I'm weepy just thinking about him while I'm typing this.
Ethan Hawke showed this film to his kids and three quarters into the film his son asked him, "so when do you come on dad?", he was that unrecognizable to his son.
Don't mind me, I'm just ugly crying here from just watching the abridged version from this video. I've only ever watched the film once because it hits so close to home. What an incredibly touching film.
Unpopular opinion: Good Morning, Vietnam isn't really that good a movie. I mean, I enjoyed it but it's really a lot of Robin Williams being Robin Williams....not Adrian Cronauer. I'd say Good Will Hunting would be a MUCH better choice (along with the others mentioned: Fisher King and World According to Garp).
People will almost always associate Robin Williams with being funny…for me, he was one of the finest dramatic actors ever. I was in high school when this came out and it has remained in my personal top 5 favorite movies since. Such a profound story.
I love the still shot with all the boys in frame who stood on their desks at the end and faced Mr. Keating juxtaposed to the ones who remained seated. Those are the ones he got through to and really "got it" for lack of a better phrase. Very powerful. When Robin Williams died a few years back, I used that exact image of the boys standing as my Facebook profile pic for a month.
I was 17-18 when this came out, and I worked at a movie theatre, as an usher, in the evenings.... and I slipped into the back of the theatre every night to watch the ending. This film defined me very much at that age. I had 3 teacher's like this in my life. In high school my English teacher was top notch, and helped me get a couple poems published in a local print collection. I had a different English teacher the following year, who outwardly looked like a huge jock... he would show up to class after teaching Physical Education, with the whistle around neck, and suddenly he would switch into Shakespeare mode... and the dude was AMAZING! It made it so much more interesting that this guy that doesn't look like he should be teaching Shakespeare, was making the entire class LOVE it. Then finally in University, I had a philosophy teacher that used to get so excited in his lectures, that his entire balding held would turn bright red with effort. The following few semesters I specifically designed my class load around his classes, and to this day I love the subject, even though I eventually switched majors and moved on from it.
I had a High School teacher that had the class write down on one page the thing they were most ashamed of about themselves, and told them that no one would ever read it. At the end of the class, we went out to the parking lot, the pages were collected in a wire trash can, and set on fire. This was 1990 Denver, Colorado suburb.
I remember my senior year English teacher in high school. Her name was Miss charter. I was going through a lot with my father being an alcoholic and I was a military brat and life was difficult. I remember we would have an essay to write every week. I would just vent about what was going on in my life. She would write notes of encouragement and would tell me what a good writer I was on every essay. I guess I was desperate for that positive affirmation. I will always remember her. I would love for you to also see an early Robin Williams movie that I don't know if a lot of people have seen but it also shows the range of his acting ability. It's called "The World' According To GARP". It's not a movie you're going to expect or I guess I can say it different but I really like the movie. It also stars Glenn Close who was nominated for an academy award for best actress and John Lithgow who was nominated for best supporting actor for this movie. I believe it's from 1982. It's based on the book by John Irving which I've also read. Love your reactions!
I had a brilliant teacher like Mr Keating (Mr Gill) when I was in Grade 6 (final year of primary school). Each day after lunchtime, he would read a novel (Goodnight Mister Tom, 1981) out loud to us, even though we could all read for ourselves. For those of us who had absent fathers or came from unhappy homes, it made us feel loved to have him read to us, like a bedtime story. On our last day of school, I also remember him having each of us take turns to stand at the front of the class so that he could make an encouraging speech about each of us. By the way, Goodnight Mister Tom is a brilliant book that was adapted into a TV-quality film in 1999. Although it's not the best quality film, I still recommend you get to know the wonderful story, whether by reading the book or by watching the movie.
I used to teach at a summer boarding school for genius kids. I had a brilliant 14-year-old in my class who was completely withdrawn into his shell. Worse than Todd. He actually ate paper. Really. My teaching assistant and I made it our mission to give him tons of positive feedback. Not for his work, that was always impeccable. We praised him for his creativity and his original thoughts and ideas. His transformation by the end of the summer was incredible. He was popular, happy, had a girlfriend. When we had our parent-student-teacher meeting at the end of the summer, I watched him crumple back in on himself within minutes. His parents were uninterested in hearing about how wonderful he was. His father just kept going on about how he needed to be a doctor by age 21. By the end of the 30-minute meeting I was a broken shell with a strong desire to eat paper. I grabbed the kid as he walked out and whispered to him that he only had to survive 4 more years with them and then he needed to get out! I’ve never said ANYTHING like that to a child. And I don’t regret it.
GOOD. FOR. YOU. As someone who was raised by abusive parents and didn't realise they were abusive, this experience was probably EXACTLY what he needed to see and hear to recognise that things could be different and better. MAJOR props to you.
This movie creates an odd paradox. The movie is centered around young people, but the young are more likely to dismiss it or see it as maudlin than the old. When you get old, you understand how valuable young dreams and ideals are. And how they remain a part of you, whether you 'followed your bliss' or not. Social conformity vs satisfying who you really are is the central dynamic tension in life. Meeting others' expectations or your own.
I love how the British give Americans shit about calling that soccer when the British were the ones who had came up with the term and used it for years first.
This is probably the most recognizable movie from Peter Weir's work. Four Academy Awards nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor and Best Original Screenplay. Won for the last category. Four Golden Globes nominations for the same categories, but won nothing. Better was with BAFTA's where win for Best Picture and Best Music for Maurice Jarre. Also nominated for Director, Leading Actor, Original Screenplay and Editing.
Robin Williams lost out on Best Actor wrongly twice - First with Good Morning Vietnam when Michael Douglas took home the Oscar for Wall Street. Then with Dead Poets Society when Daniel Day Lewis won the Oscar for My Left Foot! Absolutely Ridiculous!
My favourite Peter Weir film is 1975 Picnic at Hanging Rock. A lot of people outside of Australia didn’t like it as it moves slowly and the ending frustrated them, but as an Aussie it’s a classic
A few years after this movie came out, one of my high school teachers used it as part of my English/writing class. We screened the movie and then had to analyze what made the ending so powerful.
I first saw this film when I was 12. I was in a Creative writing class (I went to a liberal arts focused middle school) and the teacher played this, as well as a few other really powerful films. All of our eyes lit up when Mr. Keating taught, for we were being shown how to thrive. There wasn't a dry eye when Neal died; in fact, we were in denial while weeping. None of us liked Cameron at all. And when it was over, we all stood in salutation. Years later, when Robin Williams left us, the first thing that I and my friends who've seen the movie did was stand on a desk. This movie meant so much to me, because it helped me see that I was like Neal; I was trying to play many different roles that were contradictory to each other, and to myself.
I love how you always surprise us with these gems instead of doing reactions to very popular movies that would generate a lot of views, something that so many reactors are guilty of. Hopefully one day you'll do "The Fisher King" - one of the best Robin Williams roles in my opinion.
Dear Shan, may we refer to you as Oh Captain my Captain :) To be honest, this movie is harder to re-watch these days because I miss Robin Williams very much. We all deserve a teacher like Mr. Keating, bringing out the best in us~
Peter Weir is a great director that has made some of my all time favorites like The Truman Show, Fearless, and Witness. Would love to see your commentary on those if you haven't seen them yet.
My 3rd grade teacher didn't exactly have the same bold vibe as Robin William's character, also we were a much younger age group, but she knew how to make learning and reading very engaging. She read us many classics and would almost act them out, do an assortment of voices for the characters, she truly loved her job. I wrote a poem outside of class and showed it to her, and she was so encouraging and supportive. If the muse struck me in the middle of class and I stopped paying attention to her lesson and started writing she wouldn't say a word, or scold me. She made so many exceptions and allowances for me and my....eccentricities, never tried to make me conform, did all she could to encourage my creativity. Towards the end of the year she collected all the poetry I'd written, typed it all up for me, compiled it into a scrapbook and passed it around to all the teachers in the school, and I believe to all the other elementary schools in town, and left blank pages in the back for them to write whatever praise/encouragement they wanted to, and then gave it back to me. Also that year Patricia MacLachlan, a Newbery Medal-winning children's author, visited our school and my teacher arranged for me to have a special little introduction with her, hyping me up as our school's promising young author/poet. It was probably the most confidence-building school year of my childhood. Looking back on my poetry, much of it was pretty silly and cringeworthy, I was a little wannabe Shel Silverstein, not bad for a third grader, but certainly not the work of a literary master. But my teacher saw that little spark of interest and creativity, and likely also saw my crushing lack of self-confidence and did what all excellent teachers do, pushed me to go for it, to believe in myself, think for myself, to create, to do it with love and enthusiasm and passion, to realize how much is possible if you try and put yourself out there. She was the best. Love you, Mrs. Lawrence❤
The film already is moving and inspiring, but the arc and tragedy of Neil tears my heart out every time I've viewed this from the 80's until even this abridged reaction video of yours. I was a jock in high school, but acted in some plays and never did I anticipate how deeply it would bring me joy. Let alone that I had a natural talent for it. The simple joy of wanting Neil to be himself brings the greater pain in seeing it snuffed out. DPS portrays well the tension between groupthink and individualism, thinking vs feeling, tradition vs change, and the excess of structure. Personal Bonus: Autumnal New England setting is beautiful.
"I don't know what buttons this film is pushing in my head, but it's making me introspective" is literally the aftertaste of this entire movie wrapped up in one sentence. Well done. After **I** finished this one for the first time, I laid on my bed and sat on my roof in the dark for hours, thinking and feeling what seemed to be everything and nothing. It takes most people I know at LEAST a couple days to even digest what they just watched. Another cool thing: I'd never particularly cared at all for poetry before I watched this movie, but the passion of these boys and of Keating for it sparked the same passion in me, seemingly from nowhere! I avidly collect and read poetry now, *entirely* thanks to this film.
Robin was a rare actor who could shift seamlessly from comedy to drama and then back to drama. And he was believable in every role he played. Sometimes I saw Robin in the character in some of his more zany moments, but he could dial it down immediately and get very serious. Sure a rare talent.
You are quite literally the only person who has put their reaction up here who's understood that Neil's father coming to his show was super difficult for him, right from the get go. I have seen people feel excited about it, thinking that his father would come around and accept Neil and his choices, as most people in movies do. I remember watching DPS for the first time and a chill going down my spine when I saw his father enter the theater and I physically shrunk down just like Neil did. Definitely a result of having (over)bearing parents growing up I guess.
There's a few interviews with Ethan Hawke talking about being so angry at Robin during the shooting of this movie. Robin cracking jokes between takes and Ethan trying to be a 'serious actor'. What's awesome is after, Robin told him he was going places and told him to call his agent. And if I'm not mistaken still Ethan agent to this day. 'What Dream May Come' is another beautiful performance by Robin and I think highly underrated.
You need to watch Peter Weir's "Witness" (1985) starring Harrison Ford. It's a crime thriller set in Amish country. Nominated Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Ford) and won Best Original Screenplay! Iconic movie and one of Ford's and Weir's best films.
When Robin Williams ended his own life, I couldn’t stop thinking about this film. Imagine where he might have taken us if illness hadn’t taken his brilliant mind.
This would be a good film for people to see today, we are churning out nothing but obedient sheep who crave being told what to think. Great reaction as always.
so true...in the age of endless information, people just believe what the authorities tell them. The phrase "conspiracy theorist" is meant to discourage critical thinking. The Idiocracy is here by choice of the public thru ignorance. (heads in the sand, asses in the air, shots in the arm, durp)
School is not designed to educate or encourage critical thinking, it's designed to create the next generation of slaves for the system to use and control. It's a machine used to eradicate individuality.
Weir's underrated masterpiece is Witness. Highly recommend checking that one out for the channel as well. I think you'd love everything about this one, Shan. Especially the score!
Terrific film yes. I like The Year of Living Dangerously a bit better. Master and Commander was also wonderful. The only Weir film I didn’t love was The Last Wave.
i went to a military boarding school too for 5 years when i was 12 till i turned 17 . The best time of my life . I m 25 now with a job and if only i could relive that time
I've been on a Robin Williams kick lately, watching old Comic Relief clips and some of the tributes to him. Just watched Fallon's Oh Captain My Captain moment. I have been blessed with having quite a few out of the box, engaged teachers in both grade school and college.
I had an English and Latin teacher called Brian Stuart King (a Cambridge grad) in 1970 when I was in Grade 7 at school in South Africa. He inspired me to find my voice in writing. What a magnificent man and teacher.
A big thank you to my teacher Mr. Peyrac who not only explained things extremely well and spend endless extra hours to understand, but who also helped shape us into adults who take responsibility for their actions and have confidence in themselves. Teachers who inspire their students are so rare, they should be praised a whole lot more
It was a much better film than so many give it credit for, and as you pointed out, it really showed Robin Williams acting abilities. As for teachers, in high school I had a teacher, Mr. Stoelting, who certainly was inspirational to me. He took a different approach on teaching and got to really know students and related to them. He died in an accident between my junior and senior year, and part two of my class wasn't the same without him.
Hard to match a teacher / mentor like Robin Williams in the films Dead Poets Society and Good Will Hunting. I cried when he died, and get tears as I write this. But I had a fourth-grade teacher who was magical... especially for me, before I had a teacher who was the exact opposite, who also became violent, for three years. But the sad thing was that I only had him for a year, due to moving. Miss him even today.... 31 years later. If I had him for a longer time, my life would probably have been different.
I watched this film for the first time when I was a sophomore in high school and as a man in my 30s now I can say this film shaped me in so many profound ways and I will never forget it and its message.
I first saw this film shortly after it came out on VHS. It still brings tears to my eyes, as it really does hit close to home for me... I'm an introvert, like Todd, but I had aspirations, like Neil, and a father who'd hear none of it.
"O Captain My Captain" was Walt Whitman's honorific for Abraham Lincoln, freer of slaves. Mr Keating saw his work to be freeing the boys' minds and lives; at the end, they acknowledged that. I have to imagine that in the Matrix franchise, Neo's "slave name" of Anderson finds its origin in this film. There is an echo of the prep school's headmaster admonishing "Mr ANDERSON!" in the Matrix's Agent Smith's insistence on referring to Neo as "Mr Anderson". Ethan Hawke's character was the story. He is introduced as someone who had no voice, no value, and no belief he could influence or lead others. In the final scene he acts on impulse, his morality overcoming his meekness, and in jumping to the top of his desk, he motivates most of his classmates to join him in 'saluting' an honorable man, the Captain who freed them. Historical background: This film is set in 1959. Baby Boomers were conceived and born following the return of troops from WWII, a time when conformity and unity was necessary to winning that war. But Baby Boomers were post-war in an atmosphere where they are fed on celebration of freedom and liberty. As such, they strove to be independent, to be all they could be. Barely a year prior to the setting of this film the term "Beatnik" was coined, for a new counterculture of independence, creativity, and rule-breaking. Beatniks were the forerunners of the hippies of nearly a decade later, the two groups sharing a love of creative innovation, recreational drug use, and free love. Keating was a man of his time, preaching the fresh new gospel of independent thought and self-discovery.
I feel the cinematography was used to set the mood. Their are two lessons in this movie. 1) Stand up and be yourself, don't allow yourself to be pressed into a mold 2) if you are a parent, encourage your children to find their own way, provide them the right moral foundations to make good choices. Most importantly don't try to relive your youth vicariously through your children. My most inspirational teacher was my Band Director in Junior High, John Acosta. He set in me the drive to be the best at what I was doing. He taught me to set high expectations for people, most importantly subordinates. Many people conform to low expectations to fit in, or because that is what is expected. I set high expectations, provide support as needed, never use language the demeans someone when they make a mistake. As a supervisor and manger, when something went wrong, I took the heat from my boss and then handled the person in way that made sure they weren't set up for failure. If they lacked the knowledge, I provided it. I went through what they did, made sure they understood what they did, and how to handle it in the future. I never let my personal feelings towards a peer, or subordinate interfere with my work.
Peter Weir is an amazing and extremely personal director. These are some of my personal favorites: "The Year of Living Dangerously" (with Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver), "Witness" (for which Harrison Ford received his only Academy Award nomination), "The Mosquito Coast" (with an AMAZING Harrison Ford in his most memorable and riskiest performance) and "Green Card" (definitely one of his most underrated movies and, in my opionion, one of the last great romantic comedies, with Gérard Depardieu and Andie MacDowell). By the way: Kurtwood Smith is outstanding in this film. He should've won an Oscar for his amazing performance, but he didn't even get the nomination...
My favorite teacher was my history teacher in high school. The man was an absolute genius who devoured books and articles and always had so much to share with his students. He never married and retired the year after I graduated - he completely devoted his life to the school I went to and his students. I took his classes for two years to try to learn as much as I could. He led optional independent studies in specific historical periods and philosophy for his students. Every year, he gifted 3 students a small scholarship, always given in the name of his family members. He is a truly selfless man and a role model for anybody who’s ever taken his classes. Mr. Stuart
My HS band teacher, Mr. Joseph Acciani. We were so lucky to have him. We were a lower-middle to middle class community, so most didn't have the funds to have private lessons or the highest quality instruments. He was a University level music instructor and got the most out of us. We could hold our own against the wealthiest school districts in the state of California. He had a style of teaching that just commanded respect. We weren't scared of him, we just wanted to fulfill our potential. He believed in us, and he made us believe in ourselves. Never raised his voice, but we were scared of getting "the look" if we made a dumb mistake or screwed around. I became a Navy Musician (my dream job) because of him.
When the death of Robin Williams was announced in the news, Caren Miosga from the German public broadcaster "Das Erste" climbed the table to say the condolences.
I watch this film with my high school students as I adamantly repeat to them that they can interpret what we read any way they want, even differently from me, they just need to explain why they think that way enough and I'll okay it. I get some AMAZING thoughts that are so thought provoking and I never would have thought of. I also like to pose the question of "if someone has to be blamed, who is to blame?" Never did I think it would spark such debate among my students-- I literally just sit back and listen without getting involved myself as they handle the discussion of the question themselves.
Mr Kotowski was my 7th grade science teacher. He ran his own curriculum and it was unlike any other learning environment I ever had. We culminated the year with a jury trial where the human race were the defendants. It was unforgettable.
YES!!! There are only a few movies that I think are required watching for young men growing up (mainly because they dont make them ... ) Dead Poets Society and Fight Club are the two important ones imo. 💪💪😎🤘💔😭💘😊
Can also add "Stand By Me" to that list. I hadnt seen this since high school (grad '99) and had forgotten his speech about the temporary nature of life and to not waste the time you have (Carpe Diem) and it actually made me pretty emotional and reflective of the last two decades ...
Let me just say what a great, sensitive and intelligent reaction. There are so many bad reactions to this film out there, where people don't get the different key moments of the film, but you did. Well done and thank you.
I 100% love your dedication to such an analysis, breaking everything down in a methodical way and reflecting upon it with deeper thought than much of the surface level reaction videos of others out there. I wish they spent the time and thought on the films they watch as much as I do amd you do. Anyway, love to here your view of the films I love and I get to see you discover the awesomeness of the many films out there.
I really liked it, too. However... His thoughts about the strict father was a reflection of the father's attitude towards his son. Too strict, but without the love. Saying the father "had it coming" was just wrong To Me. Yes, he was hard and unbending. So was his love for his son and his hopes for his future. He feared for the child and his fear made him overbearing and implacable. That isn't a reason to deserve to lose the person he was hoping to shape into a man who could withstand an unforgiving world, likely as he was taught. These types of people tend to see the arts as making a person, especially a young man, too soft to bear life's burdens. The suicide only proved him right. His son was able to live with the onus of an impossible parent for 16, 17 years. He couldn't stand one more year in a military school? He didn't even give the military school a chance. One or two more years and he could tell his father to get lost and make his own way in the world. He couldn't hold on to the memory of being in the play to wait a couple more years to taste this freedom again? I'm not blaming the son. At that age, emotions are high, everything is forever, and being misunderstood is the worst thing you can be. There is no long term. Seizing the day is literal, in that it's a Day, not a series of days that extends into thousands of tomorrows. You can accuse the father of being too hard on his son; of being short-sighted about his son; and of not doing a lot more to understand his son. But, I refuse the idea that he deserved to lose his son -- not to his son going his own way in the world, because it would have served him right to lose him for some years until he came to his senses. But, to lose his son to a death by a suicide made of the fatal impatience and emotional finality of the youthful mind is nothing deserved. Parents who have done worse don't lose their sons that way. There is no second chance of future reconciliation if one or both dies. The son's death robbed them both of the possibility. This isn't meant as an opening volley for a war of words. It's just how I see the situation in this story and in life. It's one person's opinion. That's all it is. No better or worse than Shan's or any others'
Peter Jackson, when making They Shall Not Grow Old, noted from all the interviews and biographies of the soldiers, that they didn't see their situation as hopeless and as terrible as we might in hindsight. To many military life might have even been better than what they had at home. So it's possible where boarding school might seem harsh, especially in the old days, it might have been an improvement to the conditions some people would have had at home.
The first time I saw Robin Williams in a dramatic role was in The World According to Garp…… check it out, John Lithgow is amazing in it and was nominated for best supporting actor.
Love this movie. In high school my English teacher played this for us. He was very similar to Robin Williams' character, as were all the other teachers. They were about "Learn the mold, then break it."
Robin's life and death seems to be bigger than the films he was in. It would be interesting to see if they bio him in 20 years. Problem is you have to find another Robin in which can be impossible.
Seeing this posted made my day! And you did not disappoint. This was a film I had put off seeing until adulthood, not intentionally, but just never got around to it. I'm so thankful I saw it when I did, a few years ago. I was in grad school at the time. What a powerful, touching film. And we could feel your emotions through your reaction. One of my favorite moments from the final scene is when the kid who wrote the "cat" poem stood up. He gave Keating that look of "Yeah...I guess you were right."
Mr. Mandelbaum, science teacher.. sung and danced and gave out candy by throwing them across the room when we got a right answer.. He is responsible for my daughter working at John's Hopkins and she never met him . But I still know the songs , I still love science and we in my family love to learn.
Certainly, Dead Poets Society is one of Peter Weir's best films. But you must see Witness (1985) and the Mosquito Coast (1986), both with Harrison Ford, and the latter with River Phoenix. Also, Weir's earlier work: Gallipoli (1981) with Mel Gibson, a critical film in the Australian New Wave, and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), again with Mel, and with Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hunt in her Oscar winning role. The opening credits of TYoLD alone is worth the price of admission. I haven't seen a movie that immediately sets the tone as well as TYoLD does.
I did have some pretty inspirational teachers, though not to this extent, either. My German teacher (I'm from Germany, so it was mainly literature class) from 5th grade and then 11th and 12th grade was an awesome man. So kind and encouraging. He once had has write a sarcastic poem on current politics and I was the only one in class to give him mine for feedback. He basically complimented me, by comparing me to a very popular German poet and asking if I was the new Heinrich Heine (the poet's name).
Thanks for your sensible reaction to this cult masterpiece of my generation (X). Another film by Peter Weir you should check is Mosquito Coast. Much less known to the point it's been nearly forgotten, but a really engaging (and I'm afraid, depressing) story with stellar playing by Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix.
14:04 I went to a Jr. High and High School (in the '80's). that paddled. Not as hard as shown in the movie, but hard enough to make you not want to have it happen again lol. Not that I had any experience with it...
..the moment(movie) that still leaves me in chills. ..much love and mad respect to Robin Williams. - "Oh Captain, my Captain!!" ..great review, my friend
In highshool I worked on an all-county production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with a really out-of-the-box teacher from our school district. The first few weeks of rehearsals was a lot of him running these bonding exercises. Having been in several plays before; I remember, at one point, feeling a little frustrated that we weren't focusing on things like blocking or musical numbers, but I went with the flow. In the long run, it really helped develop cohesion within the ensemble and the production was one of the most extraordinary I remember being a part of.
Other Peter Weir films to check out include Witness, The Mosquito Coast, and Master and Commander. He's an exceptional director. One of the best to come from Australia.
For many of us, I think it didn't come home what a great and versatile actor he truly is until about a decade later, when he was cast as the dad on *That 70's Show.*
The movie was nominated for four Oscars: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Actor (Williams). It won for best original screenplay. Shan, you should check out The Fisher King and Awakenings. Two great Robin Williams films.
In my personal case, I can speak of a similar teacher. I studied history in a Spanish city, but one term a professor from a Mexican university came on an exchange to teach an elective subject thanks to an agreement between universities. Every one of his class hours left us with our mouths open. Only five students decided to give it a try, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Although he taught us Mexican history, he ended up giving us classes on world politics, culture, literature, geopolitics, economics, even cinema. Until that course, no teacher had penetrated me so deeply, and it was only three months. I will always remember that old-fashioned teacher, in a suit and a bow tie, who came for three months to the other side of the ocean to teach five kids, something that we weren't too interested in at first.
Robin Williams is the only celebrity that I got genuinely emotional at hearing they passed. The man was genuine, soulful, hilarious, extremely skilled, and charming. I didn't realize how much an effect he had on my life as a kid, and as an adult watching his films, until he was no longer there.
I went to an all girls boarding school in the south of England from 1990 to 2000 and I loved it. It was my home and I felt completely at sea when I left at the age of 18. My two brothers loved boarding school too, though my sister hated it. We watched this film a lot at school and really liked it (and enacted the O Captain My Captain scene many times). Although there are upsetting parts of the film, overall I found the message to be uplifting and it certainly encouraged me to pursue my interest in literature during my teenaged years.
As a Canadian, I went to boarding school in Mass. I can confirm, the division between my school and the local high school kids was huge. There was no mixing. Was like a different, isolated world.
Hi Shan if you’re interested in Peter Weir I would recommend Gallipoli starring a very young Mel Gibson, or Witness with Harrison Ford. Both are excellent.
I can no longer watch the climax of this movie without thinking of the SNL sketch "Farewell Mr. Bunting" and bursting into wildly inappropriate laughter.
As others have already suggested, What Dreams May Come is a wonderful film featuring Robin Williams. I would also like to add my personal favorite, Being Human.
I hadn't seen this one either until now, but I've seen virtually every other Robin Williams movie and have never been disappointed by his performances.
