Dead Poets Society
Short description
Set in 1959 at Welton, a strict boys' boarding school in New England, Dead Poets Society follows John Keating, a new English teacher whose unconventional methods encourage his students to think for themselves rather than conform to the school's traditions and their parents' expectations. His lessons, centred on poetry and the idea of living fully in the present, inspire a group of students to revive a secret club and to pursue interests their families and the school disapprove of. The conflict between the boys' newfound independence and the pressures placed on them leads to tragedy, and Keating is held responsible.
Peter Weir directed the film, the eighth of the thirteen features he has made, following The Mosquito Coast and preceding Green Card, from a screenplay by Tom Schulman. Robin Williams plays Keating, with Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles and Gale Hansen among the students.
Released in June 1989, the film was made for about 16 million dollars and took roughly 236 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. It holds an 8.1 rating on IMDb from around 645,000 votes and an 8.3 on TMDB from far fewer, while the critics' rating stands at 7.2 from 66 reviews, leaving audiences more favourable than reviewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- The original script had Professor Keating dying of leukemia, but the director decided to abandon this and focus the story on the school's students.
- The author of the now-famous Latin phrase “Carpe diem” was the Roman poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, who lived from 65 to 8 BC.
- Film director Peter Weir attended The Scots College, a private boys' school in Sydney, Australia, in his youth. The school uniform, strict discipline, and overall atmosphere of this school were largely reflected in his film.
- According to the initial plans, Jeff Kanew was to direct the film, and Liam Neeson was to play the lead role. Bill Murray and Dustin Hoffman were also considered as candidates for the role of Professor Keating.
- When the boys show Professor Keating his photograph in the old school yearbook, we actually see a real photograph from Robin Williams' school years, when he was a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur, near San Francisco.
- Filming took place primarily at St. Andrew's School, a private school in Delaware, and its surroundings from November 14, 1988, to January 15, 1989. Berry College, a private arts school in Georgia, was initially considered as a location, but the climate was too warm for the winter scenes, and creating a large amount of artificial snow would have incurred significant additional costs.
- The film's plot is partly based on the relationship between students at one of the private schools in Nashville and Professor Samuel Pickering Jr. For Professor Keating’s mannerisms and individual character traits, actor Robin Williams based his performance on his high school history teacher, John Campbell.
- In 2008, former technology teacher Walter Skould, inspired by the film, created the "American Dead Poets Society," whose mission was to locate the abandoned graves of American poets. By October 2011, Skould had visited the graves of 225 Americans who had once been a national pride.
- The film's phrase “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary” was ranked 95th on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.
- To better convey the development of the relationship between Professor Keating and his students, director Peter Weir decided to shoot all the scenes in chronological order.
- All scenes featuring actress Lara Flynn Boyle were cut from the final version of the film, and she was only informed of this on the day of the premiere.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
