Wednesday, October 17, 2007

The New Bohemians 1959



Silent footage of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Lucien Carr, and others in New York, Summer 1959. The location is in and around the Harmony Bar & Restaurant at E 9th St. and 3rd Ave. Others seen are Mary Frank (wife of film-maker Robert Frank, who made Pull my Daisy with Kerouac, Ginsberg and Corso the same year) and children Pablo and Andrea, as well as Lucien's wife Francesca Carr and their three sons, Simon, Caleb and Ethan.
I think it is interesting to read the body langauge between the figures in this film. Kerouac the slouched smoker whose eyes seem to move constantly but whose body is already bloated and sagging. Ginsberg a wire like pivot to the whole arrangement, around him the small crowd rotates on the hot street corner. Women who do not seem to be the accomadating mothers/saints/whores of Beat Generation mythology, rather they seem to be taking issue with the males, responding sharp and quick to their words and leading the talk and action.
Another nice Beat related video is HERE.

1 comment:

meika said...

I found the children at the scene fascinating, one rarely sees children at any equivalent scenes now, they just seem to be standing around the adult who seem to be hanging out, mine ouwldn't put up with that, not unless I brought along some paper and pencils...