Celebrating National Poetry Month normally begins by reading or listening to poetry, but one recent film which distills the vivid imagery conjured by poetry into a distinct and celebratory narrative is the film Howl. Howl tells the story of the famous poem created by Allen Ginsberg and the following obscenity trial which was brought against the poem's publisher. In the film James Franco, from 127 Hours and Pineapple Express, plays the famous poet Allen Ginsberg who recounts his inspiration for the poem while the movie cuts back and forth between an animated sequence, which illustrates the narrative of the poem, and the obscenity trial brought against City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Every word in the film was taken from actual interviews and court transcripts, and provides Mad Men's Jon Hamm with enough rousing dialogue as the publisher's defense attorney, to communicate the importance of Ginsberg's use of language in the poem. While the animation feels unnecessary due to the potency of the poem's language, the film still provides an important testament to the power of poetry. You can check out the original Allen Ginsberg poem from our library here, along with a reading of the poem by Ginsberg, or see if the film is available here.