A review of the film Kill Your Darlings.
Director John Krokidas' 2013 cinematic masterpiece came in the form of the biographical drama Kill Your Darlings. Based loosely on the lives of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Lucien Carr and William Burroughs, the film presents how the lives of three writers intertwined during a stint at the University of Columbia which culminated in the murder of Carr's stalker, David Kammerer.
I found this fast paced insight into the lives of the 'Beat Generation' writers intensely interesting and I quite simply adore this film. As soon as the credits rolled the entire thing was re-wound and watched again... and again... and again... and, yes, again.
While Daniel Radcliffe's American accent may be questionable at some moments, his portrayal of Ginsberg alongside co-star Dane Dehaan's role as Lucien Carr completely steals my eyes away from any continuity errors or plot holes there may be. The swift nature of the film takes nothing away from your ability to understand it; rather it aids Krokidas' aim of revealing Ginsberg's rapid descent into the whirlwind that is Lucien Carr's life.
The subject of Kammerer's unrequited affection, Carr finds a new lease of life in the "oasis in this wasteland" that is a young Ginsberg. Placing himself between 'sexual predator' Kammerer (Michael C. Hall) and unstable prey Carr, Ginsberg decides to aid his new best friend in "getting rid" of the man who has ruined Carr's life. What neither of them planned, however, was that along the way Ginsberg would fall in love with Carr and the chaotic college semester would culminate in Kammerer's murder.
No, that isn't a spoiler. These are true life events that happened seventy-one years ago.
In spite of the factual basis of the film there is some dispute as to its truthfulness. The depiction of Kammerer as an over-obsessed former lover of the sexually confused Carr is similar to the fictional account of the murder later written in the book "And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks" by Kerouac and Burroughs, though it could be argued that in reality Kammerer was far more predatory than either the book or film reveals.
The film is most observed through close-up shots of the actors which reveal every tiny expression to the audience. Vivid colours, knitted sweaters and a soundtrack of time appropriate jazz music aids your time travel straight back to the forties and also allow you heart to be more intensely broken by this tragic love story. I have no doubt that this film will be able to make me cry no matter how many times I watch it in the early hours of the morning.
With a script that is outstandingly written, Kill Your Darlings has an aura of build-up to it. Each scene seems to make me proclaim "This is it, this is the best part!" over and over again, with a weight on my heart that leaves me unable to breathe.
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Random Works
Poetry**There might be some triggers throughout this work*** Just a collection of random writings, mostly things I write during Creative Writing class
