I Need It, Bad
Not too long ago I saw James Franco portray Allen Ginsberg in Howl (available, streaming, from Netflix). Apparently, according to Franco’s November 2012 post on Huffington Post (yes, I know I’m behind the times), he led a group of NYU students in a collaborative film called Tar, based on C.K. Williams’s poems.
Last night my NYU graduate students and I presented our collaborative film Tar at the Rome Film Festival. Tar is based on C.K. Williams’ collection of poems; each student picked one of the poems and adapted it into a short.
1) I always wish I were in Rome, but more so now.
2) Maybe it’s fitting that I’m finding this out only now, a few months after the debut. What comes next after Rome? I’m assuming this thing isn’t playing at my local multiplex. Does anyone know where/how to see it? I’m fascinated. I need my Tar fix, bad.
Franco goes on to explain the project:
The final result is quite stunning. It feels unified, but not only that: It tells a story through poetry and imagery; it is not linear but a Proustian plunge into the past, and then back into the past, and back, back, back into the past, only to come up to the surface every so often to ground everything. I play the poet in his 30s, and the real C.K. makes appearances reading his work.
You can find Franco’s original post here. And, seriously, if anyone knows where this thing is showing, holla!*
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