“The city inspired him. But there was one building in particular that stood out. These days, people enjoy spending the afternoon at Bryant Park, next to the New York Public Library. But what few know, is that this was once the site of a magnificent building, covering nearly five acres. Built in 1853, it was called The Crystal Palace,and was one of Walt Whitman’s favorite places to visit.” – Andrew D. Kaplan
Number of Times Seen – 1 (3 Dec 2021)
Brief Synopsis – Documentary about the first half of the life of Walt Whitman, the famous American Poet.
My Take on it – I am by all means not a fan of poetry, but who hasn’t heard of Walt Whitman?
Some of his most famous poems are recited in Dead Poet’s Society (1989) and seeing this documentary available to watch intrigued me to learn more about his life.
This is the first part of a two part documentary that chronicles his life and his work and they do a great job of giving the viewer an in depth view of what helped shape the views, thoughts and life of the man known as being one of the first great American Poets.
The film explains his early life in detail and how his work as a newspaperman and later as a civil servant helped cull his views of the American way of life for him to write both essays and poems about it.
This is quite a fascinating look at his life and the interviews with modern scholars help give so much more meaning to his works even more than 150 years later.
REcommended!
MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman’s major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money and became well known. (From IMDB)
Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)
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