The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg is a 1993 film by Jerry Aronson chronicling the poet Allen Ginsberg's life from his birth and early childhood to his thoughts about death at the age of 66. The film has been completed and released a number of times due to changing technologies and world events. The first release of the film was in 1993 at the Sundance Film Festival after which it enjoyed an international festival run and USA theatrical run. At the time, Allen was still alive. When Mr. Aronson showed the film to Ginsberg, the poet is reported to have nodded his head thoughtfully and said, "So, that's Allen Ginsberg."
When Allen passed in 1997, Jerry Aronson decided to update the ending of the film to include the poet's passing, one shot of Ginsberg's headstone in New Jersey and a new recording of Paul Simon singing Allen's "New Stanzas for Amazing Grace" for closing credits.
The new DVD, released on July 2007 by New Yorker Video, includes interviews with Bono, Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, Johnny Depp, Hunter S. Thompson, Andy Warhol, Patti Smith, Joan Baez, Michael McClure, Norman Mailer, Amiri Baraka, Ken Kesey, William S. Burroughs, Anne Waldman and Timothy Leary - all of whom considered Allen a good friend.
In addition to the documentary, the DVD release contains a number of bonus features. These include behind-the-scenes footage with the likes of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and Neal Cassady; excerpts from a Ginsberg memorial; and extended and updated interviews.
Famous quotes containing the words allen ginsberg, life and, life, times and/or ginsberg:
“I have a new method of poetry. All you got to do is look over your notebooks ... or lay down on a couch, and think of anything that comes into your head, especially the miseries.... Then arrange in lines of two, three or four words each, don’t bother about sentences, in sections of two, three or four lines each.”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“If youth is the period of hero-worship, so also is it true that hero-worship, more than anything else, perhaps, gives one the sense of youth. To admire, to expand one’s self, to forget the rut, to have a sense of newness and life and hope, is to feel young at any time of life.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“There are only two sorts of people in life you can trust—good Christians and good Communists.”
—Joe Slovo (b. 1926)
“There are times when parenthood seems nothing but feeding the mouth that bites you.”
—Peter De Vries (b. 1910)
“Groan thru breast and neck, a great Oh! to earth heart”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)