Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chronicles their friendships, their arrival into American consciousness, their travels, frequent parodies, Kerouac's death, and Ginsberg's politicization. Their movement connects with bebop, John Cage's music, abstract expressionism, and living theater. In recent interviews, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kesey, Ferlinghetti, Mailer, Jerry Garcia, Tom Hayden, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders, and others measure the Beats' meaning and impact.

Starring:

Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Ann Charters, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bob Hope, David Amram, Deborah Norville, Dennis Hopper, Diane Di Prima, Dizzy Gillespie, Ed Sanders, Gary Snyder, Gregory Corso, Groucho Marx, Henry Rollins, J Edgar Hoover, Jack Kerouac, Jerry Garcia, John Cage, John Leguizamo, John Turturro, Johnny Depp, Ken Kesey, L

Genre:

Biography, Documentary, History