Screenwriter Tom Schulman after winning a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar for “Dead Poets Society” at the 1990 Academy Awards ceremony.
Stand on your desk and “seize the day” with this week’s episode of The Road to Cinema Podcast. We explore the 1989 drama “Dead Poets Society” which earned 3 Oscar nominations and won a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar for our special guest, screenwriter Tom Schulman.
Professor Keating, played by Oscar nominee Robin Williams, inspires his class of repressed high school boys at a late 1950s prep school to find their voice and go against the conservative grain of their parents and teachers. “Carpe diem”, a latin phrase meaning “seize the day”, became part of the cultural zeitgeist upon the film’s release. See the cinematic roots of “Carpe diem” from this scene below from “Dead Poets Society.”
This scene conveys the valuable lessons of Professor Keating that continue to inspire viewers of “Dead Poets Society” more than 20 years after the film’s release. “Even when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way.”
Screenwriter Tom Schulman shares with us his inspiration behind the creation of Professor Keating as well as his connection with Ethan Hawke’s character, the shy and reserved student Todd Anderson.
Professor Keating inspires Todd Anderson to open himself up in this scene from “Dead Poets Society.” You’ll learn on the podcast how legendary Group Theatre director Harold Clurman was an inspiration behind the creation of Keating.
Screenwriter Tom Schulman’s credits also include the Disney blockbuster “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” and the off-kilter, black comedy “What About Bob?” which stars Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss as a patient and a therapist pitted against one another. If you haven’t seen “What About Bob?”, check out this hilarious scene below. One of Bill Murray’s best comedic performances. Schulman discusses the development of this classic comedy which never fails to make me laugh after countless repeat viewings.
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The final scene of “Dead Poets Society” still pulls on my heart strings. Not only is it brilliantly written by Oscar winner Tom Schulamn but Oscar nominated director Peter Weir takes us into the point of view of both the departing Professor Keatting and the formerly withdrawn student Todd Anderson played by a young Ethan Hawke. The currently 100 year old Norman Lloyd makes an appearance as the formidable foe, Mr. Nolan.