Dead poet society
Executive Summary
Poster

Overview
Genres: Drama, Comedy, Coming-of-age, Romance, Family
Setting: 1980s, Welton Academy, a prestigious all-boys preparatory school in Vermont
Overview: Set in the conservative Welton Academy, 'Dead Poets Society' follows a group of boys, including Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, and Knox Overstreet, as they navigate the pressures of academic excellence and parental expectations. The arrival of the unconventional English teacher, Mr. John Keating, inspires them to embrace individuality and seize the day ('Carpe Diem'). As they form the secretive Dead Poets Society, the boys explore their passions through poetry and rebellion against the rigid traditions of their school. However, the story takes a tragic turn when Neil's pursuit of acting leads to a devastating confrontation with his father, culminating in a heartbreaking decision that profoundly impacts all the boys and their relationships with authority. The narrative weaves through themes of friendship, loss, and the struggle for self-discovery, ultimately challenging the characters to confront the consequences of their choices.
Themes: Individuality vs. Conformity, Seizing the Day ('Carpe Diem'), The Pressure of Parental Expectations, Friendship and Support, Loss and Consequences
Conflict and Stakes: The central conflict revolves around the students' struggle for individuality and self-expression against the oppressive authority of their parents and the school, particularly focusing on Neil's passion for acting and the consequences of his father's control.
Overall Mood: Inspirational and poignant, with moments of humor and deep emotional resonance.
Mood/Tone at Key Scenes:
- Scene 14: A mix of nostalgic reflection and youthful excitement as the boys revive the Dead Poets Society.
- Scene 49: Triumphant and joyful during Neil's performance, contrasted with underlying anxiety as he faces his father's disapproval.
- Scene 52: Somber and tense as Neil prepares for a tragic decision, leading to a profound emotional climax.
- Scene 54: Profoundly somber and melancholic as Keating grapples with grief over Neil's death, highlighting the impact of loss.
Standout Features:
- Unique Hook: The concept of a group of boys forming a secret society to explore poetry and self-expression in a repressive academic environment.
- Major Twist: Neil's tragic decision to take his own life, which serves as a pivotal moment that impacts all characters and themes.
- Innovative Ideas: The use of poetry and literature as a means of self-discovery and rebellion against societal norms.
- Distinctive Setting: The contrast between the rigid, traditional environment of Welton Academy and the boys' secretive, liberating meetings in the cave.
- Unique Characters: A diverse group of boys, each representing different responses to authority and personal aspirations.
Comparable Scripts:
- Dead Poets Society
- The Breakfast Club
- A Separate Peace
- Good Will Hunting
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Freedom Writers
- The Dead Poets Society (play adaptation)
- The Catcher in the Rye
- Stand and Deliver
Writing Style:
The screenplay exhibits a dialogue-heavy style that emphasizes intellectual discourse, character-driven narratives, and the exploration of complex themes. The writing frequently delves into moral dilemmas, power dynamics, and the tension between individual aspirations and societal expectations, often within institutional settings like schools or theaters. The scenes are characterized by sharp, witty banter and thought-provoking exchanges that propel the narrative forward, often blending humor with deeper emotional depth.
Style Similarities:
- Aaron Sorkin
- John Hughes
- Charlie Kaufman
Pass/Consider/Recommend
Highly Recommend
Explanation: This screenplay is a richly textured coming-of-age drama with a crystalline central theme (Carpe Diem) and a powerful emotional through-line anchored by three principal characters: Mr. Keating, Neil Perry, and Todd Anderson. Its strengths lie in memorable set pieces, distinct character voices, and steady escalation from playful rebellion to tragic consequence. The script is dramatically coherent and cinematic, yet a few compression issues and under-explored adult perspectives slightly blunt the resolution. Overall, it is a well-crafted, emotionally resonant feature with strong commercial and awards potential.
USP: The screenplay's unique selling proposition lies in its authentic exploration of adolescent awakening against institutional oppression, combining poetic sensibility with raw emotional truth. Unlike typical school dramas, it treats teenage characters with intellectual respect while delivering a timeless message about the importance of finding one's voice. The integration of poetry as both theme and narrative device creates a distinctive literary quality that elevates the material beyond conventional genre expectations.
Market Analysis
Budget Estimate:$20-30 million
Target Audience Demographics: Young adults and adults aged 15-54, particularly those interested in coming-of-age stories, drama, and themes of rebellion and self-discovery.
Marketability: The screenplay's themes of rebellion and self-discovery resonate with a broad audience, and its strong character arcs and emotional depth can attract both young adults and older viewers.
The film's exploration of the pressures of conformity and the importance of pursuing one's passions is timely and relevant, appealing to audiences seeking meaningful narratives.
The strong performances from a talented cast and the potential for critical acclaim can enhance its appeal, especially among fans of dramatic storytelling.
Profit Potential: High, due to its universal themes, potential for awards recognition, and appeal to both young and adult audiences, which can lead to strong box office performance and home media sales.
Analysis Criteria Percentiles
Writer's Voice
Summary:The writer's voice is characterized by a blend of wit, intellectual depth, and emotional resonance, skillfully navigating the complexities of teenage life, rebellion, and self-discovery within a structured academic setting. It balances sharp, witty dialogue with poignant introspection, creating a compelling narrative that explores themes of individuality, conformity, and the transformative power of human connection. There's a consistent use of naturalistic dialogue, subtext, and vivid (though sometimes sparse) descriptions to paint a clear picture of the characters' internal struggles and the dynamics of their relationships.
Best representation: Scene 7 - Seizing the Day. This scene is the best representation because it perfectly encapsulates the writer's unique blend of humor, intellectualism, and emotional depth. It showcases the writer's ability to craft sharp, witty dialogue that is both thought-provoking and engaging. The scene also effectively introduces the central themes of the screenplay—Carpe Diem, challenging norms, and embracing individuality—through Keating's unconventional teaching methods and the students' varying reactions. The combination of humor, philosophy, and emotion creates a powerful and memorable moment that captures the essence of the story's themes and characters, and showcases the writer's ability to seamlessly weave these elements together.
Memorable Lines:
- Keating: Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary. (Scene 7)
- Keating: What will your verse be? (Scene 11)
- Todd: O Captain! My Captain! (Scene 58)
- Keating: But only in their dreams can man be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be. (Scene 12)
- CHARLIE: Damn it, Neil. The name is Nuwanda. (Scene 35)
Characters
John Keating:An unconventional English teacher who inspires his students to appreciate poetry and seize the day.
Neil Perry:A passionate student who struggles against his father's authoritarian control and seeks to pursue acting.
Todd Anderson:A shy and introverted student who grapples with self-doubt and the pressure of conformity.
Knox Overstreet:A romantic student who pursues a girl named Chris, often facing challenges due to his infatuation.
Charlie Dalton:A rebellious student who embodies the spirit of the Dead Poets Society and often challenges authority.
Cameron:A more cautious student who often worries about the consequences of the group's actions.
Story Shape
Screenplay Story Analysis
Note: This is the overall critique. For scene by scene critique click here
Story Content | Character Development | Scene Elements | Audience Engagement | Technical Aspects | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Click for Full Analysis | Tone | Overall Grade | Concept | Plot | Originality Score | Characters | Character Changes | Internal Goal | External Goal | Conflict | Opposition | High stakes | Story forward | Twist | Emotional Impact | Dialogue | Engagement | Pacing | Formatting | Structure | |
1 - Ceremony of Tradition and New Beginnings | Formal, Inspirational, Prestigious | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
2 - New Beginnings at Welton Academy | Formal, Serious, Light-hearted | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
3 - Confrontation and Compromise | Serious, Defiant, Resentful | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
4 - School Day Chaos | Serious, Academic, Authoritative | 7.5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
5 - Classroom Rigor: Latin and Math Lessons | Formal, Authoritative, Serious | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | |
6 - A Whistle of Authority | Humorous, Uncertain, Rebellious | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
7 - Seize the Day: A Lesson in Mortality | Inspirational, Humorous, Reflective | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
8 - Seizing the Day | Reflective, Casual, Annoyed | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
9 - An Awkward Introduction | Inquisitive, Awkward, Nervous | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
10 - Late Night Revelations | Humorous, Light-hearted, Dramatic | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
11 - Seizing the Moment: A Lesson in Individuality | Inspiring, Rebellious, Passionate | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
12 - A Graceful Debate | Philosophical, Reflective, Contentious | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
13 - Secrets of the Past | Reflective, Nostalgic, Curious | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
14 - Reviving the Dead Poets Society | Inspirational, Rebellious, Youthful | 8.7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
15 - The Art of Language and Laughter | Humorous, Educational, Engaging | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
16 - A New Perspective | Motivational, Reflective, Inspirational | 9.2 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
17 - Carpe Diem Chaos | Excitement, Defiance, Friendship, Playfulness | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
18 - A Day of Disappointment | Disillusionment, Yearning, Disappointment | 8.2 | 8 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
19 - Inspiring Excellence on the Field | Motivational, Reflective, Inspirational | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
20 - Poetry in Motion | Motivational, Encouraging, Energetic | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7.5 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
21 - Neil's Bold Deception | Excitement, Playfulness, Tension | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
22 - Finding Voice and Inspiration | Encouraging, Inspirational, Supportive, Playful | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8.5 | |
23 - Cave Confessions | Playful, Lighthearted, Chaotic | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
24 - A Call to Courage | Excitement, Anxiety, Hope, Friendship | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
25 - Marching to the Beat of Individuality | Motivational, Reflective, Inspirational | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7.5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
26 - A Birthday Break | Melancholic, Light-hearted, Reflective | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
27 - Nuwanda's Bold Introduction | Playful, Lighthearted, Interactive | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7.5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
28 - Anxious Encounters at Chet's Party | Anxious, Excited, Disappointed | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
29 - Toasting to Mutt: A Night of Misunderstanding | Humorous, Casual, Light-hearted | 8.2 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
30 - Poetic Flirtations in the Cave | Playful, Romantic, Humorous | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
31 - A Night of Chaos | Tense, Melancholic, Dramatic | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
32 - Rebellion in the Cave | Humorous, Rebellious, Reflective | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
33 - Authority vs. Rebellion | Serious, Humorous | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
34 - Discipline and Defiance | Serious, Authoritative, Tense | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
35 - Defiance in the Hallway | Defiant, Rebellious, Defiant, Humorous | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6.5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
36 - Clash of Ideals | Serious, Authoritative, Tense | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
37 - A Lesson in Daring | Defiant, Reflective, Sarcastic | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
38 - Rehearsal Dynamics | Reflective, Serious, Instructional | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
39 - Parental Authority and Artistic Aspirations | Confrontational, Authoritative, Defiant | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
40 - Confronting the Future | Serious, Reflective, Emotional | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
41 - Unrequited Pursuit | Romantic, Regretful, Yearning | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
42 - Seize the Day | Reflective, Hopeful, Defiant | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
43 - A Moment of Hope | Serious, Reflective, Supportive | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
44 - Grooming and Grit: The Red Lightning Bolt | Light-hearted, Playful, Sarcastic | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7.5 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
45 - Midnight Encounter | Tense, Intimate | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
46 - Snowy Confrontation and Reluctant Affection | Tense, Emotional, Defiant, Yearning | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
47 - A Night of Mischief and Magic | Whimsical, Romantic, Humorous | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | |
48 - A Night of Performance and Hidden Fears | Tense, Romantic, Emotional | 8.7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
49 - Theater Triumph and Tension | Emotional, Reflective, Supportive | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
50 - Confrontation in the Snow | Tense, Emotional, Confrontational | 8.7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
51 - Confrontation of Dreams | Tense, Emotional, Authoritative | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
52 - Tragic Discovery | Tense, Emotional, Tragic | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | |
53 - A Winter's Grief | Tragic, Emotional, Intense | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |
54 - A Somber Reflection | Tragic, Reflective, Somber | 9.2 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
55 - Betrayal in the Cloakroom | Tense, Confrontational, Dramatic | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7.5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.5 | 8 | 8 | |
56 - Tension in the Dormitory | Tense, Emotional, Confrontational | 8.5 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
57 - The Pressure to Conform | Serious, Confrontational, Emotional | 9.2 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |
58 - O Captain! My Captain! | Tense, Emotional, Defiant, Authoritative | 8.7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Scene 1 - Ceremony of Tradition and New Beginnings
A young boy, dressed in a school uniform and cap, fidgets as his mother
adjusts his tie.
MOTHER
Now remember, keep your shoulders back.
A student opens up a case and removes a set of bagpipes. The young
boy and his brother line up for a photograph
PHOTOGRAPHER
Okay, put your arm around your brother.
That's it. And breathe in.
The young boy blinks as the flash goes off.
PHOTOGRAPHR
Okay, one more.
An old man lights a single candle. A teacher goes over the old
man's duties.
TEACHER
Now just to review, you're going to
follow along the procession until you
get to the headmaster. At that point
he will indicate to you to light the
candles of the boys.
MAN
All right boys, let's settle down.
The various boys, including NEIL, KNOX, and CAMERON, line up holding
banners. Ahead of them is the old man, followed by the boy with the
bagpipes with the two youngest boys at the front.
MAN
Banners up.
The boys hoist the banners and the bagpipes begin to play loudly. The
small group marches out of the room and down a set of stairs into a
church. The pews are filled with students and parents while the
teachers, all dressed in robes, are seated at the front of the church
behind the headmaster.
The boys break off to either side at the front of the church. The
bagpipes cease and the headmaster, MR. NOLAN, walks over to the old
man carrying the candle.
MR NOLAN
Ladies and gentlemen, boys, the light
of knowledge.
An organ begins to play as the old man goes forward with shaking hands
to the young boys in the front pew. Each boy is holding a candle and
he bends over to light the first one. Each boy in turn lights the
candle of the boy next to him.
MR NOLAN
One hundred years ago, in 1859, 41 boys sat in this
room and were asked the same question that greets
you at the start of each semester. Gentlemen, what
are the four pillars?
All throughout the pews, uniformed boys rise to their feet. TODD, who
is not wearing a uniform, is urged by his father to stand with them.
BOYS
Tradition, honor, discipline, excellence.
The boys quickly return to their seats.
MR NOLAN
In her first year, Welton Academy graduated five
students. Last year we graduated fifty-one. And
more than seventy-five percent of those went on to
the Ivy League. This, this kind of accomplishment is
the result of fervent dedication to the principles taught
here. This is why you parents have been sending us
your sons. This is why we are the best preparatory
school in the United States.
Mr. Nolan soaks up the applause from the audience.
MR NOLAN
As you know, our beloved Mr. Portius of the English
department retired last term. You will have the
opportunity later to meet his replacement, Mr. John
Keating, himself a graduate of this school. And who,
for the past several years, has been teaching at the
highly regarded Chester School in London.
The crowd applauds once again.
Ratings
Scene 2 - New Beginnings at Welton Academy
The school lawn is a filled with luggage, students, and parents mulling
about in every direction.
INT CHURCH ENTRANCE - DAY
Mr Nolan stands by the entrance, speaking with each family as they leave.
MR NOLAN
Glad you could come by.
MR ANDERSON
Thrilling ceremony as usual Dr. Nolan.
MR NOLAN
You've been away too long.
MRS ANDERSON
Hello Dr. Nolan.
MR NOLAN
Good to have you back.
MRS ANDERSON
This is our youngest, Todd.
MR NOLAN
Mr. Anderson.You have some big shoes to fill,
young man. Your brother was one of our finest.
TODD
Thank you.
Todd and his parents leave while others file past Mr. Nolan.
WOMAN
Lovely ceremony.
MR NOLAN
Thank you. So glad you liked it.
MR PERRY approaches with his son Neil. He shakes Mr. Nolan's hand.
MR PERRY
Gale
MR NOLAN
Tom
MR PERRY
Good to see you again.
NEIL
Hello Mr. Nolan.
MR NOLAN
Neil. We expect great things from you this year.
NEIL
Thank you, sir.
MR PERRY
Well he won't disappoint us. Right Neil?
NEIL
I'll do my best sir.
EXT SCHOOL GROUNDS - DAY
A bell tolls. Parents begin wishing their boys farewell.
FATHER
Hey, come on son.
MOTHER
Chin up.
FATHER
No tears now.
BOY
Okay.
MOTHER
Chin up.
Another boy hugs his mother.
BOY
I don't want to go here.
MOTHER
You be a good boy and do your lessons.
EXT SCHOOL GROUNDS - DAY
Neil emerges from a building and sees Todd.
NEIL
Hey, I hear we're gonna be roommates.
He shakes Todd's hand.
NEIL
I'm Neil Perry.
TODD
Todd Anderson.
NEIL
Why'd you leave Balincrest?
TODD
My brother went here.
NEIL
Oh, so you're that Anderson.
INT DORMATORY - DAY
DR. HAGER is standing in his room doorway while SPAZ and his father are
going over some last minute precautions over the boy's allergies. Spaz's
father hands Hager various bottles.
FATHER
This is for sinuses. Oh, and if he can't swallow you
give him one of these. And if he had trouble breathing
you can give him some of those.
HAGER
All right fine.
Dr. Hager takes the bottles and quickly backs into his room, shutting
the door.
FATHER
(to son)
Did you remember your vaporizer?
SPAZ
Yes, I put it in my room.
Spaz's father tries to say something else to Dr. Hager but realizes he
has already gone.
INT HALLWAY - DAY
Neil pushes his way through a crowd of boys, carrying two suitcases. As
he enters his room, Knox quickly passes by.
KNOX
Hey, how's it going Neil?
NEIL
Hey Knox.
Cameron comes by and leans against the doorway.
CAMERON
Neil, study group tonight?
NEIL
Yeah, sure.
CAMERON
Business as usual, huh? Hey, I hear you got the new
kid. Looks like a stiff!
He begins laughing when he notices Todd coming into the room.
CAMERON
Oops!
Cameron quickly leaves. Neil tries to keep from laughing as Todd enters
the room and sets his luggage down on his bed.
NEIL
Listen, don't mind Cameron. He was born with his
foot in his mouth. You know what I mean?
He pulls some papers from his blazer pocket and playfully whacks Todd
across the back with it.
CHARLIE comes to the door with a smug expression on his face. Knox and
MEEKS are close behind him. He points at Neil
CHARLIE
Rumor has it, you did summer school.
NEIL
Yep. Chemistry. My father thought I should get ahead.
How was your summer Slick?
CHARLIE
Keen.
The boys enter the room. Charlie turns around and looks at Meeks who is
just entering.
CHARLIE
Meeks. Door. Closed.
MEEKS
Yes sir.
NEIL
Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?
BOYS
Travesty. Horror. Decadence. Excrement.
Charlie makes himself comfortable on Neil's bed and lights up a cigarette.
Meanwhile, Todd is by his bed unpacking his luggage.
CHARLIE
Okay, study group. Meeks aced Latin. I didn't quite
flunk English. So, if you want, we've got our study
group.
NEIL
Sure. Cameron asked me too. Anyone mind
including him?
CHARLIE
Hmm, what's his specialty, boot-licking?
NEIL
Come on, he's your roommate.
CHARLIE
That's not my fault.
Meeks seems to notice Todd for the first time.
MEEKS
Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Steven Meeks.
Neil quickly gets up from his spot by the window.
NEIL
Oh, this is Todd Anderson.
Todd turns around and shakes hands with Meeks.
MEEKS
Nice to meet you.
TODD
Nice to meet you.
CHARLIE
Charlie Dalton.
Charlie continues to lay on the bed, looking smug. Knox extends a hand.
KNOX
Knox Overstreet.
NEIL
Todd's brother was Jeffrey Anderson.
CHARLIE
Oh yeah, sure. Valedictorian. National merit scholar.
MEEKS
Oh well, welcome to Hell-ton.
CHARLIE
It's every bit as tough as they say, unless you're a
genius like Meeks.
MEEKS
He flatters me. That's why I help him with Latin.
CHARLIE
And English, and Trig.
Charlie begins coughing. There is a knock at the door. Charlie quickly
stamps out his cigarette on the floor and Neil tries to wave the smoke
from the air.
NEIL
It's open.
The door opens and Mr. Perry walks into the room. Neil quickly rises from
the window.
NEIL
Father, I thought you'd gone.
The other boys stand up when he enters.
BOYS
Mr. Perry.
MR PERRY
Keep your seats fellows, keep your seats. Neil, I've
just spoken to Mr. Nolan. I think that you're taking
too many extra curricular activities this semester, and
I've decided that you should drop the school annual.
NEIL
But I'm the assistant editor this year.
MR PERRY
Well I'm sorry Neil.
NEIL
But Father, I can't. It wouldn't be fair.
MR PERRY
Fellas, would you excuse us for a moment?
Mr. Perry walks towards the door and Neil hesitantly follows. Mr. Perry
pauses by the door and smiles to the other boys.
Ratings
Scene 3 - Confrontation and Compromise
The smile has gone from Mr. Perry's face. He grabs a hold of Neil's arm.
MR PERRY
Don't you ever dispute me in public. Do you
understand?
NEIL
Father, I wasn't disputing-
MR PERRY
After you've finished medical school and you're on your own, then you
can do as you damn well please. But until then, you do as I tell you.
Is that clear?
NEIL
Yes sir. I'm sorry.
MR PERRY
You know how much this means to your mother,
don't you?
NEIL
Yes sir. You know me, always taking on too much.
MR PERRY
Well, that's my boy. Now listen, you need anything,
you let us know, huh?
NEIL
Yes sir.
Mr. Perry slaps his son on the shoulder and leaves. Neil leans his head
back against the wall as the other boys emerge from the room.
CHARLIE
Why doesn't he let you do what you want?
KNOX
Yeah Neil, tell him off. It couldn't get any worse.
NEIL
Oh, that's rich. Like you guys tell your parents off, Mr.
Future Lawyer and Mr. Future Banker.
CHARLIE
Okay, so I don't like it any more than you do.
NEIL
Well just don't tell me how to talk to my father. You
guys are the same way.
KNOX
All right, all right, Jesus. So what are you going to do?
NEIL
What I have to do. Drop the annual.
CHARLIE
Well I wouldn't lose much sleep over it. It's just a
bunch of jerks trying to impress Nolan.
NEIL
I don't care. I don't give a damn about any of it.
MEEKS
Well, uh, Latin, eight o' clock in my room?
NEIL
Yes.
MEEKS
Todd, you're welcome to join us.
KNOX
Yeah, come along pal.
Todd looks up from his desk where he is setting his alarm clock.
TODD
Thanks.
Ratings
Scene 4 - School Day Chaos
A clock bell chimes five o'clock. Enormous flocks of birds, apparently
disturbed by the noise, take to the sky.
INT. STAIRCASE - DAY
The sound of squawking birds merges into the sound of noisy boys as they
descend the stairs in a long spiralling line.
MR. MCALLISTER tries to make it upstairs against the steady stream.
MCALLISTER
Slow down boys, slow down you horrible
phalanx of pubescense.
INT CHEMISTRY LAB - DAY
A teacher walks up and down the aisles, handing out books.
TEACHER
Pick three laboratory experiments from
the project list and report on them every
five weeks. The first twenty questions at
the end of chapter one are due tomorrow.
The students let out a collective groan.
Ratings
Scene 5 - Classroom Rigor: Latin and Math Lessons
Mr. McAllister paces back and forth in front of the blackboard and gets
the students to repeat everything he says.
MCALLISTER
(students repeat after each word.)
Agricolam. Agricola. Agricolae.
Agricolarum. Agricolis. Agricolas.
Agrilcolis.
Again, please.
Agricola.
INT. MATH CLASSROOM - DAY
Dr. Hager walks up the classroom aisles with his arms behind his back.
HAGER
Your study of trigonometry requires absolute precision.
Anyone failing to turn in any homework assignment will
be penalized one point off their final grade. Let me urge
you now not to test me on this point.
Ratings
Scene 6 - A Whistle of Authority
Students enter Keating's classroom, talking and acting up. Keating
glances out from his room off to one side.
KNOX
Hey Spaz, Spaz.
Spaz turns around in time to be hit by a ball of crumpled up paper
while Cameron smacks him on the shoulder.
CAMERON
Brain damage.
The students quickly quiet down as Keating emerges from the other room,
whistling the 1812 Overture. He walks up the length of the classroom and
out the door without a word. The students look around at one another,
uncertain of what to do. Keating pokes his head back in the doorway.
KEATING
Well come on.
He gestures them to follow and the students, after some hesitation, grab
their books and follow Keating out into the main entranceway.
Ratings
Scene 7 - Seize the Day: A Lesson in Mortality
Keating stands before the school's trophy cabinets and waits until all
the boys arrive.
KEATING
"Oh Captain, My Captain" who knows where
that comes from?
Todd looks up as if he knows the answer, but says nothing. Spaz blows his
nose a little too close to Meeks for his liking.
KEATING
Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt
Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in
this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or,
if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain,
My Captain.
The students laugh slightly.
KEATING
Now let me dispel a few rumors so they
don't fester into facts. Yes, I too
attended Hell-ton and survived. And no,
at that time I was not the mental giant
you see before you. I was the intellectual
equivalent of a ninety-eight pound
weakling. I would go to the beach and
people would kick copies of Byron in my
face.
The boys laugh once again, while Cameron, obviously trying to write all
this down, looks around confusedly. Keating looks down at papers in his
hand.
KEATING
Now, Mr… Pitts. That's a rather
unfortunate name. Mr. Pitts, where are
you?
Pitts raises his hand while everyone around him snickers.
KEATING
Mr. Pitts, would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first
stanza of the poem you find there?
PITTS
"To the virgins, to make much of time"?
KEATING
Yes, that's the one. Somewhat appropriate,
isn't it.
PITTS
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old
time is still a flying, and this same
flower that smiles today, tomorrow will
be dying."
KEATING
Thank you Mr. Pitts. "Gather ye rosebuds
while ye may." The Latin term for that
sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now who knows
what that means?
Meeks immediately puts his hand up.
MEEKS
Carpe Diem. That's "seize the day."
KEATING
Very good, Mr.-
MEEKS
Meeks.
KEATING
Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the
day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
Why does the writer use these lines?
CHARLIE
Because he's in a hurry.
KEATING
No, ding!
Keating slams his hand down on an imaginary buzzer.
KEATING
Thank you for playing anyway. Because we
are food for worms lads. Because, believe
it or not, each and every one of us in
this room is one day going to stop
breathing, turn cold, and die.
Keating turns towards the trophy cases, filled with trophies, footballs,
and team pictures.
KEATING
Now I would like you to step forward over
here and peruse some of the faces from
the past. You've walked past them many
times. I don't think you've really looked
at them.
The students slowly gather round the cases and Keating moves behind them.
KEATING
They're not that different from you, are
they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones,
just like you. Invincible, just like you
feel. The world is their oyster. They
believe they're destined for great things,
just like many of you. Their eyes are full
of hope, just like you. Did they wait until
it was too late to make from their lives
even one iota of what they were capable?
Because you see gentlmen, these boys are
now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen
real close, you can hear them whisper their
legacy to you. Go on, lean in.
The boys lean in and Keating hovers over Cameron's shoulder.
KEATING
(whispering in a gruff voice)
Carpe.
Cameron looks over his shoulder with an aggravated expression on his face.
KEATING
Hear it?
(whispering again)
Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys,
make your lives extraordinary.
The boys stare at the faces in the cabinet in silence.
EXT. SCHOOL STEPS - DAY
The boys emerge from the school, loaded down with numerous books.
PITTS
That was weird.
NEIL
But different.
KNOX
Spooky if you ask me.
CAMERON
Think he'll test us on that stuff?
CHARLIE
Come on Cameron, don't you get anything?
CAMERON
What? What?
Ratings
Scene 8 - Seizing the Day
A coach sticks his head around the corner into the room.
COACH
Let's go boys, hustle up in here. That
means you Dalton.
Meeks emerges from the showers, drying himself off.
MEEKS
Okay, who's up for a trig study group
tonight guys?
PITTS
Me.
NEIL
Me.
CHARLIE
(still annoyed by what the coach said)
What?
KNOX
I can't make it guys. I have to have
dinner at the Danburry's house.
PITTS
The Danburry's? Who are the Danburry's?
CAMERON
Big alumns. How'd you swing that?
KNOX
Friends of my Dad's. They're probably in
their nineties or something.
CHARLIE
Ooh!
NEIL
Anything's better than Hell-ton hash.
CHARLIE
I'll second that.
KNOX
Yeah we'll see.
Neil approaches Todd, who's been sitting by the window staring down at the
floor. Neil snaps his fingers to get Todd's attention.
NEIL
Hey, you coming to the study group tonight?
TODD
Uh, no, no I, uh, I've got some history I
wanna do.
NEIL
Suit yourself.
INT. TODD'S ROOM - EVENING
Todd is seated at his desk. He scrawls "CARPE DIEM" across a blank page
of his notebook. He looks at it for a few moments before crumpling it up
and opening up his Chemistry book.
Ratings
Scene 9 - An Awkward Introduction
Hager comes down the stairs. Knox is looking at one of the old class photos
on the walls.
HAGER
Ready Overstreet?
Knox reluctantly follows after Dr. Hager.
KNOX
Ready to go sir.
EXT. ROAD - NIGHT
The car leaves Welton and drives towards the Danburry's house.
INT / EXT DANBURRY'S HOUSE - NIGHT
The doorbell rings.
MRS DANBURRY (O.S.)
Chet, can you get that?
CHET (O.S.)
I can't, Mom.
CHRIS (O.S.)
I'll get it.
The door opens and Knox is awe-struck by the beautiful girl (CHRIS) who
has answered the door.
CHRIS
Can I help you?
Knox manages to break out of his daze.
KNOX
Hi. Knox Overstreet. Uh, Dr. Hager.
CHRIS
Hi.
KNOX
This is the Danburry's, right?
CHRIS
Are you here to see Chet?
KNOX
Mrs. Danburry?
Chris begins to laugh as Mrs. Danburry arrives behind her.
CHRIS
No.
MRS DANBURRY
Sorry. Thank you Chris. I'm Mrs. Danburry.
You must be Knox.
KNOX
Yes.
MRS DANBURRY
(to Dr. Hager)
Back by nine.
(to Knox)
Please come in.
CHET (O.S.)
Chris, come on, what are you doing?
CHRIS
Chet, I'm coming.
Knox enters the house, his mind still hung up on Chris as MR DANBURRY
comes out of the living room to meet him.
MR DANBURRY
Knox. How are you? Joe Danburry.
KNOX
Nice to meet you sir.
MR DANBURRY
Well he's the spitting image of his father,
isn't he. How is he? Come on in.
CHET (O.S.)
Chris!
KNOX
He's great. He just did a big case for GM.
CHRIS (O.S.)
I'm coming.
MR DANBURRY
I know where you're headed, like father
like son, huh?
Ratings
Scene 10 - Late Night Revelations
Several students are throwing darts at a small rubber skeleton hanging
from the bulletin board. Various students are studying and playing games.
Meeks and Pitts are sitting at one table working on their "hi-fi system".
Meeks is waving an antenna around with no luck. Pitts points out to him
that he forgot to plug it in. Neil, Cameron, and Charlie are working on
their trig homework.
CAMERON
Just replace these numbers here with "x",
for "x" and "y".
NEIL
Of course.
CAMERON
Of course, so what's the problem?
Charlie enters the room and closes the door behind him, leaning up
against it heavily.
CHARLIE
How was dinner?
KNOX
Huh?
CHARLIE
How was dinner?
KNOX
Terrible. Awful.
He leaves the door and sits down with the other boys.
CHARLIE
Why? What happened?
KNOX
Tonight, I met the most beautiful girl
in my entire life.
NEIL
Are you crazy? What's wrong with that?
KNOX
She's practically engaged. To Chet Danburry.
CHARLIE
That guy could eat a football.
PITTS
That's too bad.
KNOX
Too bad? It's worse than too bad Pitsie,
it's a tragedy. A girl this beautiful in
love with such a jerk.
PITTS
All the good ones go for jerks, you
know that.
CAMERON
Ahh, forget her. Open your trig book and
try and figure out problem five.
KNOX
I can't just forget her Cameron. And I
can't think about trig.
The radio Meeks and Pitts were working on begins letting out a high
pitched hum.
PITTS
We got it.
MEEKS
Holy cow.
Mr. Hager walks into the room.
HAGER
All right gentlemen, five minutes. Let's
go.
The students quickly pack up their gear and prepare to leave. Pitts tries
to hide the radio in his lap. Charlie leans in close to Knox.
CHARLIE
Did you see her naked?
KNOX
Very funny Dalton.
HAGER
That wouldn't be a radio in your lap,
would it Mr. Pitts?
PITTS
No sir. Science experiment, radar.
Meeks holds up the antenna as if demonstrating it.
Ratings
Scene 11 - Seizing the Moment: A Lesson in Individuality
Keating sits at his desk at the front of the classroom and opens up one
of his books.
KEATING
Gentlemen, open your text to page
twenty-one of the introduction. Mr.
Perry, will you read the opening
paragraph of the preface, entitled
"Understanding Poetry"?
NEIL
Understanding Poetry, by Dr. J. Evans
Pritchard, Ph.D. To fully understand
poetry, we must first be fluent with
its meter, rhyme, and figures of speech.
Then ask two questions: One, how artfully
has the objective of the poem been
rendered, and two, how important is that
objective. Question one rates the poem's
perfection, question two rates its
importance. And once these questions have
been answered, determining a poem's
greatest becomes a relatively simple
matter.
Keating gets up from his desk and prepares to draw on the chalk board.
NEIL
If the poem's score for perfection is
plotted along the horizontal of a graph,
and its importance is plotted on the
vertical, then calculating the total
area of the poem yields the measure of
its greatness.
Keating draws a corresponding graph on the board and the students
dutifully copy it down.
NEIL
A sonnet by Byron may score high on the
vertical, but only average on the
horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on
the other hand, would score high both
horizontally and vertically, yielding a
massive total area, thereby revealing the
poem to be truly great. As you proceed
through the poetry in this book, practice
this rating method. As your ability to
evaluate poems in this matter grows, so
will - so will your enjoyment and
understanding of poetry.
Neil sets the book down and takes off his glasses. The student sitting
across from him is discretely trying to eat. Keating turns away from
the chalkboard with a smile.
KEATING
Excrement. That's what I think of Mr. J.
Evans Pritchard. We're not laying pipe,
we're talking about poetry.
Cameron looks down at the graph he copied into his notes and quickly
scribbles it out.
KEATING
I mean, how can you describe poetry like
American Bandstand? I like Byron, I give
him a 42, but I can't dance to it.
Charlie suddenly appear to become interested in the class.
KEATING
Now I want you to rip out that page.
The students look at Keating as if he has just gone mad.
KEATING
Go on, rip out the entire page. You heard
me, rip it out. Rip it out!
Charlie looks around at the others. He then looks down at his own notes,
which consists of drawing breasts.
KEATING
Go on, rip it out.
Charlie rips the page out and holds it up.
KEATING
Thank you Mr. Dalton. Gentlemen, tell you
what, don't just tear out that page, tear
out the entire introduction. I want it
gone, history. Leave nothing of it. Rip
it out. Rip! Begone J. Evans Pritchard,
Ph.D. Rip, shred, tear. Rip it out. I
want to hear nothing but ripping of Mr.
Pritchard.
Meeks looks around reluctantly and then finally begins tearing out pages.
KEATING
We'll perforate it, put it on a roll.
Keating sees Cameron still hesitating.
KEATING
It's not the bible, you're not going to
go to hell for this. Go on, make a clean
tear, I want nothing left of it.
Keating goes over to his room. Cameron turns around to Neil.
CAMERON
We shouldn't be doing this.
NEIL
Rip, rip, rip!
Neil makes Cameron turn back around.
KEATING (O.S.)
Rip it out, rip!
From outside the classroom, Mr. McAllister hears all the noise and sees
all the students ripping out the pages. He bursts into the room.
MCALLISTER
What the hell is going on here?
The boys all turn around in shock. Charlie stuffs a crumpled page into his
mouth. Keating emerges from his room with a waste paper basket.
KEATING
I don't hear enough rips.
MCALLISTER
Mr. Keating.
KEATING
Mr. McAllister.
MCALLISTER
I'm sorry, I- I didn't know you were
here.
KEATING
I am.
MCALLISTER
Ahh, so you are. Excuse me.
Mr. McAllister slowly backs out of the classroom.
KEATING
Keep ripping gentlemen. This is a battle,
a war. And the casualties could be your
hearts and souls.
Keating holds out the basket to Charlie who spits out a wad of paper.
KEATING
Thank you Mr. Dalton. Armies of academics
going forward, measuring poetry. No, we
will not have that here. No more of Mr.
J. Evans Pritchard. Now in my class you
will learn to think for yourselves again.
You will learn to savor words and language.
No matter what anybody tells you, words and
ideas can change the world. I see that look
in Mr. Pitt's eye, like nineteenth century
literature has nothing to do with going to
business school or medical school. Right?
Maybe. Mr. Hopkins, you may agree with him,
thinking "Yes, we should simply study our
Mr. Pritchard and learn our rhyme and meter
and go quietly about the business of
achieving other ambitions." I have a little
secret for ya. Huddle up. Huddle up!
The boys get up from their seats and gather around Keating in the center
of the class.
KEATING
We don't read and write poetry because
it's cute. We read and write poetry
because we are members of the human race.
And the human race is filled with passion.
Medicine, law, business, engineering,
these are all noble pursuits, and necessary
to sustain life. But poetry, beauty,
romance, love, these are what we stay alive
for. To quote from Whitman: "O me, o life
of the questions of these recurring, of the
endless trains of the faithless, of cities
filled with the foolish. What good amid
these, o me, o life? Answer: that you are
here. That life exists, and identity.
That the powerful play goes on, and you
may contribute a verse. That the powerful
play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
Keating looks up at Todd.
Keating
What will your verse be?
Ratings
Scene 12 - A Graceful Debate
The cafeteria is filled with students and teachers standing before the tables
saying grace.
ALL
For what we are about to receive, may the
Lord make us truly grateful. Amen.
Mr. Keating and Mr. McAllister are seated next to one another at the table.
MCALLISTER
Quite an interesting class you gave today,
Mr. Keating.
KEATING
I'm sorry if I shocked you, Mr. McAllister.
MCALLISTER
Oh, there's no need to apologize. It was
very fascinating, misguided though it was.
KEATING
You think so?
MCALLISTER
You take a big risk by encouraging them to
be artists John. When they realize they're
not Rembrandts, Shakespeares or Mozarts,
they'll hate you for it.
KEATING
We're not talking artists George, we're
talking free thinkers.
MCALLISTER
Free thinkers at seventeen?
KEATING
Funny, I never pegged you as a cynic.
MCALLISTER
(taken aback by the comment)
Not a cynic, a realist. Show me the heart
unfettered by foolish dreams, and I'll
show you a happy man.
KEATING
But only in their dreams can man be truly
free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus
will be.
MCALLISTER
Tennyson?
KEATING
No, Keating.
Keating winks and Mr. McAllister can't help but laugh.
Ratings
Scene 13 - Secrets of the Past
Neil joins the others at the table. He pulls out a yearbook.
NEIL
Hey, I found his senior annual in the
library.
He hands the annual over to Cameron who laughs at the younger picture of
Keating.
NEIL
Listen to this, captain of the soccer team,
editor of the school annual, Cambridge
bound, Thigh man, and the Dead Poets Society.
CAMERON
(reading from the annual)
Man most likely to do anything.
CHARLIE
Thigh man. Mr. K was a hell-raiser.
KNOX
What's the Dead Poets Society?
NEIL
I don't know.
MEEKS
Is there a picture in the annual?
NEIL
Nothing. No other mention of it.
MR. NOLAN (O.S.)
That boy there, see me after lunch.
Cameron quickly puts the annual away and the others all return to their meal.
Ratings
Scene 14 - Reviving the Dead Poets Society
Keating is walking down towards the lake, whistling the same tune as before.
The boys emerge from the building and chase after him.
NEIL
Mr. Keating? Mr. Keating? Sir? Oh Captain,
My Captain?
Keating immediately turns around.
KEATING
Gentlemen.
NEIL
We were just looking in your old annual.
He hands Keating the annual and Keating looks at his old photograph.
KEATING
Oh my God. No, that's not me. Stanley
"The Tool" Wilson-
Keating crouches down and continues looking through the book.
KEATING
God.
Neil crouches down next to Keating.
NEIL
What was the Dead Poets Society?
KEATING
I doubt the present administration would
look too favorably upon that.
NEIL
Why? What was it?
KEATING
Gentlemen, can you keep a secret?
NEIL
Sure.
The other boys crouch down around Keating.
KEATING
The Dead Poets were dedicated to sucking
the marrow out of life. That's a phrase
from Thoreau that we'd invoke at the
beginning of each meeting. You see we'd
gather at the old Indian cave and take
turns reading from Thoreau, Whitman,
Shelley; the biggies. Even some of our
own verse. And in the enchantment of the
moment we'd let poetry work its magic.
KNOX
You mean it was a bunch of guys sitting
around reading poetry?
KEATING
No Mr. Overstreet, it wasn't just "guys",
we weren't a Greek organization, we were
romantics. We didn't just read poetry,
we let it drip from our tongues like honey.
Spirits soared, women swooned, and gods
were created, gentlemen, not a bad way to
spend an evening eh? Thank you Mr. Perry
for this trip down amnesia lane. Burn that,
especially my picture.
Keating hands the annual back and walks away, whistling once again. Neil
remains crouched.
NEIL
Dead Poets Society.
CAMERON
What?
The school bells begin ringing and everyone heads back towards the school.
Neil stands up.
NEIL
I say we go tonight.
CHARLIE
Tonight?
CAMERON
Wait a minute.
PITTS
Where's this cave he's talking about?
NEIL
It's beyond the stream. I know where it
is.
PITTS
That's miles.
CAMERON
Sounds boring to me.
CHARLIE
Don't go.
CAMERON
You know how many de-merits we're talking
Dalton
CHARLIE
So don't come, please.
CAMERON
Look, all I'm saying is that we have to
be careful, we can't get caught.
CHARLIE
No shit, Sherlock.
HAGER
(yelling)
You boys there, hurry up.
Neil turns around and faces the other boys.
NEIL
All right, who's in?
CAMERON
Come on Neil, Hager's right-
NEIL
Forget Hager, no. Who's in?
CHARLIE
I'm in.
HAGER (O.S.)
I'm warning you, move.
CAMERON
Me too.
PITTS
I don't know Neil
NEIL
What? Pitts-
CHARLIE
Pitsie, come on.
MEEKS
His grades are hurting Charlie.
NEIL
You can help him Meeks.
PITTS
What is this, a midnight study group?
NEIL
Forget it Pitts, you're coming. Meeks,
are your grades hurting too?
MEEKS
I'll try anything once.
CHARLIE
Except sex.
MEEKS
Ha ha ha.
CAMERON
I mean as long as we're careful.
The boys run into the building.
CHARLIE
What about you Knox?
KNOX
I don't know Charlie.
CHARLIE
Come on Knox, it'll help you get Chris.
KNOX
Yeah? How?
CHARLIE
Women swoon.
Charlie laughs and runs inside. Knox chases after him.
KNOX
But why do they swoon? Charlie, tell me
why they swoon. Charlie!
INT LIBRARY - DAY
The boys are all gathered around one of the tables with a map laid out
on it.
NEIL
(whispering)
Okay, follow the stream to the waterfall.
It's right there. It's got to be on the
banks.
CAMERON
I don't know, it's starting to sound
dangerous.
CHARLIE
Well, why don't you stay home?
MCALLISTER
For God's sake stop chattering and
sit down.
The boys take their seats once again and Neil goes over and sits next to
Todd, who is sitting by himself.
NEIL
Todd, are you coming tonight?
TODD
No.
NEIL
Why not? God, you were there. You heard
Keating. Don't you want to do something
about it?
TODD
Yes, but-
NEIL
But? But what?
TODD
Keating said that everybody took turns
reading and I don't want to do that.
NEIL
Gosh, you really have a problem with
that, don't you?
TODD
N- no, I don't have a problem. Neil,
I just- I just don't want to do it,
okay?
NEIL
All right. What if you didn't have to
read? What if you just came and
listened?
TODD
That's not how it works.
NEIL
Forget how it works. What if - what if
they said it was okay?
TODD
What? What are you gonna do, go up and
ask them?
Neil shrugs.
TODD
No. No, Neil.
NEIL
I'll be right back.
TODD
Neil, Neil!
Neil gets up and rejoins the others. McAllister hears the boys whispering
again.
MCALLISTER
Oh shut up, will you.
INT BATHROOM - NIGHT
Various boys are crowded around the sinks getting ready for bed. Someone
is playing snake charmer music on a kazoo while someone else is bothering
Spaz with a red sock puppet acting like a snake.
SPAZ
That's my- that's for my asthma, okay.
Could you give that back please? Could
you give that back?
BOY
What's the matter? Don't you like snakes?
Neil enters and taps Todd on the shoulder.
NEIL
You're in.
SPAZ
Get away from me, okay?
BOY
Spaz, why don't you check your pocket,
huh? Come on Spaz I have to brush my
teeth
SPAZ
Get a- get off,
Hager walks past the bathroom and into his room.
HAGER
Cut out that racket in there.
The kazoo player lets out a rude squeek before finally stopping. Hager
glares at them for a moment.
INT NEIL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Neil stands in his doorway. He looks across the hall to the other room
where Cameron and Charlie are standing. Cameron gives a thumbs up. Neil
closes his room door and takes out his cloak and a flashlight. Setting
the flashlight down on the desk, he notices a worn book, "Five
Centuries of Verse", sitting there. Opening it up, he sees John Keating's
name at the top followed by "Dead Poets". Below the title of the book,
is written: "To Be Read At The Opening of D.P.S. Meetings." Along with
several lines from Thoreau, beginning with "I went to the woods because
I wanted to live deliberately…"
INT STAIRWAY - NIGHT
The shadows of hooded figures can be seen moving throughout the darkened
halls.
INT HAGER'S ROOM - NIGHT
Hager hears a dog barking.
INT HALLWAY - NIGHT
Someone drops a number of dog biscuits by the dog's feet. He stops
barking and immediately begins gobbling them down. Hager looks out
into the hallway with his flashlight but sees nothing.
EXT SCHOOL GROUNDS - NIGHT
The boys quietly leave the building and set off running across the
fields towards the woods.
EXT WOODS - NIGHT
The boys search about the trees trying to find the cave. Meeks is
searching around when Charlie leaps up behind Meeks in the dark
shining the flashlight up at his own face and grabs Meeks by the
shoulder.
CHARLIE
Arrr, I'm a dead poet.
MEEKS
Aww, Charlie.
CHARLIE
(laughing)
Guys, over here.
MEEKS
You're funny. You're real funny.
INT CAVE - NIGHT
The boys are trying to start a fire. The cave is quickly filling up with
smoke.
MEEKS
It's too wet.
CHARLIE
God, are you trying to smoke us out of
here?
MEEKS
No, no, the smoke's going right up this
opening.
Pitts tries to stand up and slams his head into the low rock ceiling. He
lets out a yell while the others laugh.
NEIL
You okay?
PITTS
Oh God. Clowns.
NEIL
All right, all right, forget the fire.
Let's go gentlemen.
Neil stands before the others with the book in hand, and takes a drag
on a cigarette.
NEIL
I hereby reconvene the Dead Poets
Society.
The boys cheer.
NEIL
Welton chapter. The meetings will be
conducted by myself and the other new
initiates now present. Todd Anderson,
because he prefers not to read, will
keep minutes of the meetings. I'll now
read the traditional opening message by
society member Henry David Thoreau. "I
went to the woods because I wanted to
live deliberately. I wanted to live deep
and suck out all the marrow of life."
CHARLIE
I'll second that.
NEIL
"To put to rout all that was not life,
and not, when I had come to die,
discover that I had not lived.
Several boys whistle softly in reaction to the poem.
NEIL
And Keating's marked a bunch of other
pages.
Neil begins flipping through the book.
CHARLIE
All right, intermission. Dig deep right
here. Right here, lay it down
CAMERON
On the mud? We're gonna put our food on
the mud?
CHARLIE
Meeks, put your coat down. Picnic blanket.
MEEKS
Yes sir, use Meeks' coat.
CHARLIE
Don't keep anything back either. You
guys are always bumming my smokes.
Meeks lays his coat down and everyone dumps their food on it. Amongst
the pile are chocolate chip cookies, a box of raisins, a few apples, an
orange, and half a roll.
NEIL
Raisins?
KNOX
Yuck.
CHARLIE
Wait a minute, who gave us half a roll?
PITTS
(talking with his mouth full)
I'm eating the other half.
CHARLIE
Come on.
PITTS
You want me to put it back?
INT CAVE - NIGHT
Neil, lit up by a flashlight, begins to tell everyone a story.
NEIL
It was a dark and rainy night, and this
old lady, who had a passion for jigsaw
puzzles, sat by herself in her house at
her table to complete a new jigsaw puzzle.
But as she pieced the puzzle together, she
realized, to her astonishment, that the
image that was formed was her very own
room. And the figure in the center of the
puzzle, as she completed it, was herself.
And with trembling hands, she placed the
last four pieces and stared in horror at
the face of a demented madman at the
window. The last thing that this old lady
ever heard was the sound of breaking glass.
BOYS
Ohhh… no…
NEIL
This is true, this is true.
CAMERON
I've got one that's even better than
that.
CHARLIE
Ha!
CAMERON
I do. There's a young, married couple,
and they're driving through the forest
at night on a long trip. And they run
out of gas, and there's a madman on the-
CHARLIE
The thing with the hand-
All the boys react, recalling the story and miming the scraping on the
roof of the car.
CAMERON
I love that story.
CHARLIE
I told you that one.
CAMERON
You did not. I got that in camp in
sixth grade.
CHARLIE
When were you in six, last year?
As everyone's voices begin to calm down, Pitts begins reading from the
book.
PITTS
"In a mean abode in the shanking road,
lived a man named William Bloat. Now,
he had a wife, the plague of his life,
who continually got his goat. And one
day at dawn, with her nightshift on,
he slit her bloody throat."
The boys laugh.
PITTS
Oh, and it gets worse.
CHARLIE
You want to hear a real poem?
Meeks hands Charlie the book but he shoves it away.
CHARLIE
All right? No, I don't need it. You take
it.
MEEKS
What, did you bring one?
NEIL
You memorized a poem?
CHARLIE
I didn't memorize a poem. Move up.
Neil moves to the side as Charlie stands and takes his spot.
MEEKS
An original piece by Charlie Dalton.
KNOX
An original piece.
PITTS
Take center stage.
NEIL
You know this is history. Right? This is
history.
Charlie clears his throat and pulls out a page from a magazine and
slowly unfolds it, revealing a Playboy centerfold (Elaine Reynolds,
Miss October, 1959)
MEEKS
Oh, wow.
CAMERON
Where did you get that?
CHARLIE
Teach me to love? Go teach thyself more
wit.
I, chief professor, am of it.
Neil gets up and looks over Charlie's shoulder to see what he is
reading.
CHARLIE
The god of love, if such a thing there
be, may learn to love from me.
Charlie winks at the guys and they clap and cheer.
NEIL
Wow! Did you write that?
Charlie turns over the centerfold to show where he had written down
the poem.
CHARLIE
Abraham Cowley. Okay, who's next?
Neil sits reading from the book by flashlight.
NEIL
Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Come my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world
for my purpose holds to sail beyond the
sunset.
And though we are not now that strength
which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we
are, we are;--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong
in will.
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to
yield.
Meeks takes center stage and begins reading a poem like he is
performing a chant.
MEEKS
Then I had religion, then I had a
vision.
I could not turn from their revel in
derision.
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black,
cutting through the forest with a golden
track.
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black-
CHARLIE
Meeks, Meeks.
MEEKS
...cutting through the forest with a
golden track.
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black,
cutting through the forest with a golden
track.
Knox picks up a metal container and begins using it as a drum. The
other boys stand and begin going in a circle, making music with
sticks of wood, combs, etc.
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black,
cutting through the forest with a golden
track.
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black,
cutting through the forest with a golden
track.
BOYS
Then I saw the Congo creeping through
the black,
cutting through the forest with...
The boys continue to chant the chorus as they emerge from the
cave.
EXT. CAMPUS - NIGHT
The clock tolls two as the boys silently run back to their dorm.
Ratings
Scene 15 - The Art of Language and Laughter
Keating is walking to the front of the classroom filled with students.
KEATING
A man is not very tire, he is exhausted.
And don't use very sad, use-
He points to the back of the classroom.
KEATING
Come on, Mr. Overstreet, you twerp,
KNOX
Morose?
KEATING
Exactly! Morose. Now, language was
developed for one endeavor, and that is?
Mr. Anderson? Come on! Are you a man or
an amoeba?
Keating stands before Todd's desk. Todd looks up nervously but
says nothing. Keating paused for a moment before looking away.
KEATING
Mr. Perry?
NEIL
Uh, to communicate.
KEATING
No! To woo women. Today we're going to
be talking about William Shakespeare.
The class lets out a collective sigh.
BOY
Oh, God!
KEATING
I know. A lot of you looked forward to
this about as much as you look forward
to root canal work. We're gonna talk
about Shakespeare as someone who writes
something very interesting. Now, many of
you have seen Shakespeare done very much
like this:
Keating holds out his right arm dramtically and begins to
speak in an exaggerated British accent.
"O Titus, bring your friend hither." But
if any of you have seen Mr. Marlon Brando,
you know, Shakespeare can be different.
"Friend, Romans, countrymen, lend me your
ears." You can also imagine, maybe, John
Wayne as Macbeth going, "Well, is this a
dagger I see before me?"
INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY
The students are all seated together near the front of the room as
Keating reads from a book.
KEATING
"Dogs, sir? Oh, not just now. I do enjoy
a good dog once in a while, sir. You can
have yourself a three-course meal from
one dog. Start with your canine
crudites, go to your Fido flambe for
main course and for dessert, a Pekingese
parfait. And you can pick your teeth
with a little paw."
Ratings
Scene 16 - A New Perspective
The students are all back in their normal seats and Keating leaps
up onto his desk.
KEATING
Why do I stand up here? Anybody?
CHARLIE
To feel taller.
KEATING
No!
Keating rings the bell on his desk with his foot
KEATING
Thank you for playing, Mr. Dalton. I
stand upon my desk to remind yourself
that we must constantly look at things
in a different way.
Keating glances around the classroom from atop the desk.
KEATING
You see, the world looks very different
from up here. You don't believe me? Come
see for yourself. Come on. Come on!
Charlie and Neil quickly rise from their seats to go to the front
of the classroom. The rest of the class follows them. While Keating
continues speaking, Neil and Charlie join him on the desk and then
Keating jumps down.
KEATING
Just when you think you know something,
you have to look at it in another way.
Even though it may seem silly or wrong,
you must try! Now, when you read, don't
just consider what the author thinks.
Consider what you think.
KEATING
Boys, you must strive to find your own
voice. Because the longer you wait to
begin, the less likely you are to find
it at all. Thoreau said, "Most men lead
lives of quiet desperation." Don't be
resigned to that. Break out!
Keating notices Spaz and another boy leaving the desk immediately.
KEATING
Don't just walk off the edge like lemmings.
Look around you.
The school bell rings as the boys continue to climb onto the desk.
Keating begins to gather up his stuff. The clock begins to toll as
Keating walks to the back of the class.
KEATING
There! There you go, Mr. Priske. Thank
you! Yes! Dare to strike out and find
new ground. Now, in addition to your
essays, I would like you to compose a
poem of your own, an original work.
The students begin to groan. Keating begins flickering the lights
off and on while chanting ominously.
KEATING
That's right! You have to deliver it
aloud in front of the class on Monday.
Bonne chance, gentlemen.
Keating steps out into the hall before quickly peeking back in once again.
Todd is the last one to stand on the desk and is about to jump off.
KEATING
Mr. Anderson? Don't think that I don't
know that this assignment scares the
hell out of you, you mole.
Keating flicks the light off, leaving Todd to jump down in the darkness
as the students laugh.
EXT. RIVER - DAY
Cameron, Charlie, and several other boys are rowing while Mr. Nolan
shouts orders from a bullhorn.
MR. NOLAN
Take a power train in two! Three! Keep
your eyes in the boat!
EXT. CAMPUS ROOFTOP - DAY
Noisy static is replaced by music as Pitts climbs down form the peak to
join Meeks at their makeshift radio.
MEEKS
We got it, Pittsie. We got it! Radio
Free America!
EXT CAMPUS - DAY
Several students are fencing on a grassy slope.
EXT. CAMPUS ROOFTOP - DAY
Meeks and Pitts perform a goofy dance together to the music.
Ratings
Scene 17 - Carpe Diem Chaos
Todd is on his bed trying to write a poem. The door opens and Todd
turns his writing pad over. Neil enters the room laughing. He crouches
down next to Todd's bed and plunks a sheet of paper in Todd's lap.
NEIL
I found it.
TODD
You found what?
NEIL
What I wanna do right now. What's
really, really inside me.
TODD
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"?
NEIL
This is it.
TODD
What is this?
NEIL
It's a play, dummy.
TODD
I know that. I-- Wh-Wh-What does it have
to do with you?
NEIL
Right. They're putting it on at Henley
Hall. Open tryouts. Open tryouts!
TODD
Yes, so?
Neil pounds on the bed and then pulls a blanket off his bed,
wearing it like a cloak.
NEIL
So, I'm gonna act. Yes, yes! I'm gonna
be an actor! Ever since I can remember,
I've wanted to try this. I even tried to
go to summer stock auditions last year,
but, of course, my father wouldn't let
me. For the first time in my whole life
I know what I wanna do.
Neil grabs a handful of papers off Todd's bed and tosses them into
the air.
NEIL
and for the first time I'm gonna do it
whether my father wants me to or not!
Carpe diem!
TODD
Neil, Neil, hold on a minute. How are
you gonna be in a play if your father
won't let you?
NEIL
First I gotta get the part, then I can
worry about that.
TODD
Yeah, but won't he kill you if he finds
out you went to an audition and didn't
even tell him?
NEIL
No, no, no, no. As far as I'm concerned,
he won't have to know about any of this.
TODD
Well, that's impossible.
NEIL
Bullshit! Nothing's impossible.
TODD
Well, why don't you just call him and
ask him? And m-maybe he'll say yes.
NEIL
That's a laugh!
Neil tosses the blanket back onto his bed.
NEIL
If I don't ask him, at least I won't
be disobeying him.
TODD
Yeah, but if he said--
NEIL
(shouting angrily)
Jesus, Todd! Whose side are you on?
Todd says nothing. Neil looks at him for a moment and then takes
the flyer back from Todd. He walks over to the window, his
excitement gone.
NEIL
I mean, I haven't even gotten the part
yet. Can't I even enjoy the idea for a
little while?
Once again, Todd says nothing. After a moment, Neil sits on the
heater and Todd returns to his poem.
NEIL
You're coming to the meeting this
afternoon?
TODD
I don't know. Maybe.
NEIL
Nothing Mr. Keating has to say means
shit to you, does it, Todd?
TODD
W-What is that supposed to mean?
NEIL
You're in the club! Being in the club
means being stirred up by things. You
look about as stirred up as a cesspool.
Neil gets up from the window and stands over Todd.
TODD
So- You want me out?
NEIL
No! I want you in, but being in means
you gotta do something. Not just say
you're in.
TODD
Well, listen, Neil. I-I appreciate this
concern, but I-I'm not like you. All
right? You, you, you say thing and
people listen. I'm, I'm not like that.
NEIL
Don't you think you could be?
TODD
No! I--I, I don't know, but that's not
the point. The, the, the point is that
there's nothing you can do about it, so
you can just butt out. I can take care
of myself just fine. All right?
NEIL
No.
TODD
What do you mean, "no"?
A smile comes to Neil's face.
NEIL
No.
Neil grabs Todd's notebook of poetry and runs across the room with
it. Todd leaps up after him.
TODD
Give me-- Neil. Neil, give that back.
The two begin racing in circles around the room, jumping from
bed to bed as Todd tries to grab his poem back.
NEIL
"We are dreaming of a--" Poetry! I'm
being chased by Walt Whitman! Okay,
okay.
Neil drops the notebook. Cameron walks into the room.
CAMERON
What are you guys doing? I'm sure-- You
see this chemistry-
Cameron tries to hold up his book and Neil snatches it from his hands and
suddenly all three of them are racing around the room.
CAMERON
Hey, give me-- Neil, give me-- Don't be
immature. Come on. I need my-
Charlie enters the room and begins waving his hands.
CHARLIE
Give it to me! Give it to me!
NEIL
Charlie!
Neil tosses Cameron's book to Charlie.
CAMERON
Let me have my book, I need my-
The four boys continue racing around the cramped quarters, tossing
Cameron's book back and forth. Neil picks up a recorder and begins
blowing erratic notes on it while Charlie starts pounding on a set of
bongo drums. Outside the room a crowd of boys watch.
Ratings
Scene 18 - A Day of Disappointment
Knox is riding his bike around in circles near the entrance. Seeing no
one nearby, he races through the open gates and down the road. He comes
to the top of a hill and then goes downhill across the grass, shouting
as he sends an immense flock of geese flying into the air.
EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY
A number of vehicles drive up, filled with students dressed in bright red
cosyumes, playing trumpets and various other instruments as they pass.
Knox watches the growing crowd of students. They are all converging on
a bus. A football player, wearing a horned helmet, dances on the roof of
the bus. A band is playing while a group of cheerleaders are practising.
Knox spots Chris amongst the cheerleaders. He watches her until Chet
comes along and she grabs hold of his hand. Knox looks away in disgust.
COACH
Okay, everybody on the bus. Let's go,
boys. Come on, let's go. On the bus,
boys. Now!
Chris jumps into Chet's arms as everyone begins to board the buses. Knox
turns his bike around and leaves.
Ratings
Scene 19 - Inspiring Excellence on the Field
Keating walks across the field, followed by his students. He kicks a ball
ahead of him while he carries a number of other balls in a net slung over
his shoulder.
KEATING
Now, devotees may argue that one sport
or game is inherently better than
another. For me, sport is actually a
chance for us to have other human beings
push us to excel. I want you all to come
over here and take a slip of paper and
line up single file.
Keating reaches the stands. He tosses the balls aside and pulls sets
his briefcase down. As the boys line up he begins ripping off slips
of paper from a notepad and handing them out.
KEATING
Mr. Meeks, time to inherit the earth.
Mr. Pitts, rise above your name.
He hands the notepad to another student.
KEATING
I want you to hand these out to the boys,
one apiece.
Ratings
Scene 20 - Poetry in Motion
The students are all lined up in single file, each holding a slip
of paper. Keating blows his whistle.
KEATING
You know what to do, Pitts.
PITTS
"Oh to struggle against great odds. To
meet enemies undaunted."
KEATING
Sounds to me like you're daunted. Say it
again like you're undaunted.
PITTS
"Oh to struggle against great odds. To
meet enemies undaunted."
KEATING
Now go on.
Pitts gives one of the soccer balls a good kick.
KEATING
Yes! Next.
One of the students sets up the next ball as the line advances.
BOY 1
"To be a sailor of the world, bound for
all ports."
KEATING
Next. Louder!
BOY 2
"Oh, I live to be the ruler of life, not
a slave."
Keating walks away and starts up a record player.
BOY 3
"To mount the scaffolds. To advance to
the muzzle of guns with perfect
nonchalance."
Classical music begins playing on the phonograph. Meeks goes to
read next but is confused by the music.
KEATING
Come on, Meeks! Listen to the music.
MEEKS
"To dance, clap hands, exalt, shout,
skip, roll on, float on."
KEATING
Yes!
HOPKINS
(without energy)
"Oh, to have life henceforth the poem of
new joys."
Hopkins crumples up his paper and then barely taps the soccer
ball with his foot.
Keating puts a look of disgust on his face.
KEATING
Oh! Boo! Come on, Charlie, let it fill
your soul!
Charlie raises his hands over his head.
CHARLIE
"To indeed be a god!"
Ratings
Scene 21 - Neil's Bold Deception
Neil is racing down the hallway, all excited.
NEIL
Charlie, I got the part! I'm gonna play
Puck! I'm gonna play Puck!
He pounds on Charlie's door.
MEEKS
What did he say?
PITTS
Puck?
NEIL
That's the main part.
KNOX
Great, Neil.
NEIL
Charlie, I got it!
CHARLIE
Congratulations. Good for you, Neil.
Good for you.
Neil enters his room with Todd and sits down at his typewriter.
NEIL
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
TODD
Neil, how are you gonna do this?
NEIL
They need a letter of permission from my
father and Mr. Nolan.
TODD
You're not gonna write it.
NEIL
Oh yes, I am.
TODD
Oh, Neil. Neil, you're crazy.
Neil begins typing.
NEIL
Okay. "I am writing to you on behalf of
my son Neil Perry."
Neil begins laughing and stomping his feet up and down.
NEIL
This is great.
Ratings
Scene 22 - Finding Voice and Inspiration
A lone bagpiper plays out on the dock.
INT. TODD'S ROOM - NIGHT
Todd is pacing circles about his room as he reads his poem. His
pacing slows and then he tears the poem up.
INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY
Knox stands at the front of the room with his poem in hand.
KNOX
(quietly)
"To Chris."
Charlie looks up from his desk with a grin.
BOY 1
Who's Chris?
BOY 2
Mmm, Chris.
KNOX
I see a sweetness in her smile.
Blight light shines from her eyes.
But life is complete; contentment is
mine,
Just knowing that...
Several students begin to snicker.
KNOX
just knowing that she's alive.
Knox crumples his poem and walks back to his desk.
KNOX
Sorry, Captain. It's stupid.
KEATING
No, no. It's not stupid. It's a good
effort. It touched on one of the major
themes, love. A major theme not only in
poetry, but life. Mr. Hopkins, you were
laughing. You're up.
Hopkins slowly walks to the front of the class and unfolds
his piece of paper.
HOPKINS
"The cat sat on the mat."
KEATING
Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. Yours is
the first poem to ever have a negative
score on the Pritchard scale. We're not
laughing at you, we're laughing near
you. I don't mind that your poem had a
simple theme. Sometimes the most
beautiful poetry can be about simple
things, like a cat, or a flower or rain.
You see, poetry can come from anything
with the stuff of revelation in it. Just
don't let your poems be ordinary. Now,
who's next?
Keating approaches Todd's desk.
KEATING
Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in
agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put
you out of your misery.
TODD
I, I didn't do it. I didn't write a
poem.
KEATING
Mr. Anderson thinks that everything
inside of him is worthless and
embarrassing. Isn't that right, Todd?
Isn't that your worst fear? Well, I
think you're wrong. I think you have
something inside of you that is worth a
great deal.
Keating walks up to the blackboard and begins to write.
KEATING
"I sound my barbaric yawp over the
rooftops of the world." W. W. Uncle Walt
again. Now, for those of you who don't
know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell. Now,
Todd, I would like you to give us a
demonstration of a barbaric "yawp." Come
on. You can't yawp sitting down. Let's
go. Come on. Up.
Todd reluctantly stands and follows Keating to the front.
KEATING
You gotta get in "yawping" stance.
TODD
A yawp?
KEATING
No, not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp.
TODD
(quietly)
Yawp.
KEATING
Come on, louder.
TODD
(quietly)
Yawp.
KEATING
No, that's a mouse. Come on. Louder.
TODD
Yawp.
KEATING
Oh, good God, boy. Yell like a man!
TODD
(shouting)
Yawp!
KEATING
There it is. You see, you have a
barbarian in you, after all.
Todd goes to return to his seat but Keating stops him.
KEATING
Now, you don't get away that easy.
Keating turns Todd around and points out a picture on the wall.
KEATING
The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What
does he remind you of? Don't think.
Answer. Go on.
Keating begins to circle around Todd.
TODD
A m-m-madman.
KEATING
What kind of madman? Don't think about
it. Just answer again.
TODD
A c-crazy madman.
KEATING
No, you can do better than that. Free up
your mind. Use your imagination. Say the
first thing that pops into your head,
even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go
on.
TODD
Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman.
KEATING
Good God, boy, there's a poet in you,
after all. There, close your eyes. Close
your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what
you see.
Keating puts his hands over Todd's eyes and they begin to slowly
spin around.
TODD
Uh, I-I close my eyes.
KEATING
Yes?
TODD
Uh, and this image floats beside me.
KEATING
A sweaty-toothed madman?
TODD
A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare
that pounds my brain.
KEATING
Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him
action. Make him do something.
TODD
H-His hands reach out and choke me.
KEATING
That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful.
Keating removes his hands from Todd but Todd keeps his eyes
closed.
TODD
And, and all the time he's mumbling.
KEATING
What's he mumbling?
TODD
M-Mumbling, "Truth. Truth is like, like
a blanket that always leaves your feet
cold."
The students begin to laugh and Todd opens his eyes. Keating
quickly gestures for him to close them again.
KEATING
Forget them, forget them. Stay with the
blanket. Tell me about that blanket.
TODD
Y-Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll
never be enough. You kick at it, beat
it, it'll never cover any of us. From
the moment we enter crying to the moment
we leave dying, it will just cover your
face as you wail and cry and scream.
Todd opens his eyes. The class is silent. Then they begin to clap
and cheer.
KEATING
(whispering to Todd)
Don't you forget this.
EXT. SOCCER FIELD - DAY
Keating's students are playing a soccer game. After they score the
winning goal they hoist Keating onto their shoulders and carry him
away.
Ratings
Scene 23 - Cave Confessions
The boys are all sitting around the cave lighting their pipes.
CHARLIE
Attaboy, Pittsie, inhale deeply.
MEEKS
My dad collects a lot of pipes.
CHARLIE
Really? Mine's got thirty.
PITTS
Your parents collect pipes? Oh, that's
really interesting.
CHARLIE
Come on, Knox. Join in.
MEEKS
Yeah, Knox, we're from the government.
We're here to help, man.
CHARLIE
What's wrong?
PITTS
It's Chris. Here's a picture of Chris
for you.
Pitts holds up a centerfold.
MEEKS
Smoke that. Put that in your pipe and
smoke it.
KNOX
That's not funny.
CHARLIE
Knock it off. Smoke your pipes.
MEEKS
Neil!
Neil enters the cave carrying a beat up light stand.
NEIL
Friend, scholar, Welton men.
MEEKS
What is that, Neil?
PITTS
Duh. It's a lamp, Meeks.
Neil removes the shade from the lamp, revealing the shape of a man
as the base of the lamp.
NEIL
No. This is the god of the cave.
MEEKS
The god of the cave.
Charlie begins making loud noises with his saxophone.
PITTS
Charlie, what are you doing?
CHARLIE
What do you say we start this meeting?
BOY 1
Y-Yeah, just-- I need a light. I just
gotta-
BOY 2
Got my earplugs?
Charlie stands up and clears his throat.
CHARLIE
Gentlemen, "Poetrusic" by Charles
Dalton.
Charlie begins playing erratic notes on the sexophone.
MEEKS
Oh, no.
CHARLIE
Laughing, crying, tumbling, mumbling.
Gotta do more. Gotta be more.
Charlie plays more erratic sounds.
CHARLIE
Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming. Gotta
do more! Gotta be more!
Charlie starts to play a real tune on the saxophone.
MEEKS
Wow!
PITTS
That was nice. That was great. Where did
you learn to play like that?
CHARLIE
My parents made me take the clarinet for
years.
CAMERON
I love the clarinet.
CHARLIE
I hated it. The saxophone. The saxophone
is more sonorous.
CAMERON
Ooh.
MEEKS
Vocabulary.
Knox jumps up.
KNOX
I can't take it anymore. If I don't have
Chris, I'm gonna kill myself.
CHARLIE
Knoxious, you've gotta calm down.
KNOX
No, Charlie. That's just my problem.
I've been calm all my life. I'll do
something about that.
NEIL
Where are you going?
CHARLIE
What are you gonna do?
KNOX
I'm gonna call her.
Knox begins to chuckle as he leaves the cave. The others
quickly grab their coats to follow him. Charlie goes back to
playing noise on his saxophone again.
Ratings
Scene 24 - A Call to Courage
Knox is making a call from the payphone.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Hello?
Knox immediately hangs up and looks at the other boys who are
all gathered around him.
KNOX
She's gonna hate me. The Danburrys will
hate me. My parents will kill me.
All right, goddamn it. You're right.
"Carpe diem." Even if it kills me.
Knox puts in another coin and calls again.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Hello?
KNOX
Hello, Chris?
CHRIS (O.S.)
Yes.
KNOX
Hi. This is Knox Overstreet.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Oh, yes. Knox. Glad you called.
KNOX
She's glad I called.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Listen, Chet's parents are going out of
town this weekend, so he's having a
party. Would you like to come?
KNOX
Would I like to come to a party?
CHARLIE
Yes. Say, yes.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Friday? Um-
KNOX
Well, sure.
CHRIS (O.S.)
About seven?
KNOX
Okay, great. I-I'll be there, Chris.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Okay.
KNOX
Friday night at the Danburrys'. O-Okay.
Thank you.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Okay. Bye.
KNOX
Thank you. I'll see you. Bye.
KNOX
Yawp! Can you believe it? She was gonna
call me. She invited me to a party with
her.
CHARLIE
At Chet Danburry's house.
KNOX
Yeah.
CHARLIE
Well?
KNOX
So?
CHARLIE
So, you don't really think she means
you're going with her?
KNOX
Well, of course not, Charlie. But that's
not the point. That's not the point at
all.
CHARLIE
What is the point?
KNOX
The point, Charlie, is, uh--
CHARLIE
Yeah?
KNOX
that she was thinking about me. I've
only met her once, and already she's
thinking about me. Damn it. It's gonna
happen, guys. I feel it. She is going to
be mine. Carpe. Carpe!
Knox flips his scarf dramatically around his neck as he walks away
and climbs the stairs.
Ratings
Scene 25 - Marching to the Beat of Individuality
The students are standing in a line while Cameron, Pitts, and Knox
are walking in a circle. Keating watches as they go around.
KEATING
No grades at stake, gentlemen. Just take
a stroll.
After a few moments, the three boys begin to march to the same beat.
KEATING
There it is.
The other boys start clapping to the rhythm of their steps.
KEATING
I don't know, but I've been told--
BOYS
I don't know, but I've been told--
KEATING
Doing poetry is old--
BOYS
Doing poetry is old--
Mr. Nolan looks out at them from his office as Keating joins the
boys and begins marching with them.
KEATING
Left, left, left-right-left. Left, left,
left-right-left. Left, halt!
The boys come to a halt.
KEATING
Thank you, gentlemen. If you noticed,
everyone started off with their own
stride, their own pace.
Keating begins walking very slowly.
KEATING
Mr. Pitts, taking his time. He knew he'll
get there one day. Mr. Cameron, you could
see him thinking, "Is this right? It might
be right. It might be right. I know that.
Maybe not. I don't know."
Keating begins walking with his groin pushed forward.
KEATING
Mr. Overstreet, driven by deeper force.
Yes. We know that. All right. Now, I
didn't bring them up here to ridicule
them. I brought them up here to illustrate
the point of conformity: the difficulty in
maintaining your own beliefs in the face
of others. Now, those of you -- I see
the look in your eyes like, "I would've
walked differently." Well, ask
yourselves why you were clapping. Now,
we all have a great need for acceptance.
But you must trust that your beliefs are
unique, your own, even though others may
think them odd or unpopular, even though
the herd may go, "That's baaaaad." Robert
Frost said, "Two roads diverged in a
wood and I, I took the one less traveled
by, and that has made all the
difference." Now, I want you to find
your own walk right now. Your own way of
striding, pacing. Any direction.
Anything you want. Whether it's proud,
whether it's silly, anything. Gentlemen,
the courtyard is yours.
The students begin walking about, some walking casually, others
making up silly walks. Keating notices that Charlie is still
leaning up against one of the pillars.
KEATING
You don't have to perform. Just make it
for yourself. Mr. Dalton? You be joining
us?
CHARLIE
Exercising the right not to walk.
KEATING
Thank you, Mr. Dalton. You just
illustrated the point. Swim against the
stream.
Nolan moves away from the window where he had been watching them.
Ratings
Scene 26 - A Birthday Break
Neil is walking by with the notes for the play when he notices Todd
sitting off by himself on one of the walkways.
NEIL
Todd? Hey.
TODD
Hey.
NEIL
What's going on?
TODD
Nothing. Today's my birthday.
NEIL
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday.
TODD
Thanks.
NEIL
What's you get?
TODD
My parents gave me this.
Neil looks down at a deskset sitting next to Todd, still in
its wrappings.
NEIL
Isn't this the same desk set-
TODD
Yeah, yeah. They gave me the same thing
as last year.
NEIL
Oh.
TODD
Oh.
NEIL
(laughing)
Maybe they thought you needed another
one.
TODD
Maybe they weren't thinking about
anything at all. Uh, the funny thing is
about this is I, I didn't even like it
the first time.
NEIL
Todd, I think you're underestimating the
value of this desk set.
Neil picks up the desk set and begins examining it more closely.
NEIL
I mean, who would want a football or
a baseball, or-
TODD
Or a car.
NEIL
Or a car if they could have a desk set
as wonderful as this one? I mean, if, if
I were ever going to buy a, a desk set
twice, I would probably buy this one
both times. In fact, its, its shape is,
it's rather aerodynamic, isn't it? I can
feel it. This desk set wants to fly.
Neil tosses the desk set lightly in the air. Todd stands up
and Neil hands him the desk set.
NEIL
Todd? The world's first unmanned flying
desk set.
Todd flings the desk set over the side of the walkway and it
falls to pieces down below.
TODD
Oh, my!
NEIL
Well, I wouldn't worry. You'll get
another one next year.
Ratings
Scene 27 - Nuwanda's Bold Introduction
All the boys but Knox and Charlie are gathered in the cave.
BOYS
"To live deep and suck out all the
marrow of life. To put to rout all that
was not life"
The boys stop as they hear the sound of female laughter outside.
CAMERON
Oh, my God!
GLORIA
Is this it?
CHARLIE
Yeah, this is it. Go ahead, go on in.
It's my cave. Watch your step.
TINA
We're not gonna slip, are we?
GLORIA
Uh-oh.
Gloria hops into the cave wearing a bright red shirt. The lights from
the boys' flashlights play conspicously over Gloria's chest. Tina
enters right behind her.
GLORIA
Hi.
Meeks stands up and slams his head into the low ceiling.
MEEKS
Hello.
GLORIA
Hello.
CHARLIE
Hi, you guys. Meet, uh, Gloria and--
TINA
Tina.
CHARLIE
Tina. This is the pledge class of the
Dead Poets Society.
BOYS
Hello. How do you do?
NEIL
Hello.
GLORIA
Hi. Hi.
CHARLIE
Guys, move. Move. Come on, folks. It's
Friday night. Let's get on with the
meeting.
The boys move aside to let the girls in.
BOYS
Sorry. Excuse- Excuse me.
CHARLIE
Guys, I have an announcement to make. In
keeping with the spirit of passionate
experimentation of the Dead Poets, I'm
giving up the name Charlie Dalton. From
now on, call me Nuwanda.
PITTS
(laughing)
Nuwanda?
NEIL
Nuwanda?
Tina takes out a tube of red lipstick. Charlie takes it from her
and puts red marks on each of his cheeks.
Ratings
Scene 28 - Anxious Encounters at Chet's Party
Knox enters the house and looks anxiously about.
KNOX
Hello? Hello, Chris?
Knox stops and combs his hair in the hallway mirror. Chris comes
running out from one of the rooms.
CHRIS
Knox!
KNOX
Hi.
CHRIS
You made it. Great! Bring anybody?
KNOX
No.
Chris grabs Knox by his jackets and pulls him forward as she walks
toward the stairs.
CHRIS
No. Ginny Danburry's here. Wait. I have
to go find Chet. Why don't you go
downstairs where everybody is?
Chris runs up the stairs as Knox stares after her.
CHRIS
Make yourself at home.
KNOX
But I--
INT. CHET'S BASEMENT - NIGHT
Knox stares at a couple kissing passionately. Across the room he sees
Chet and Chris dancing. He walks away.
Ratings
Scene 29 - Toasting to Mutt: A Night of Misunderstanding
Knox enters the kitchen, walking between several football players
to fill up a mug of beer from a keg.
STEVE
Hey, you Mutt Sanders' brother? Bubba,
this guy look like Mutt Sanders to you
or what?
Bubba spits ice cubes into the sink.
BUBBA
You're his brother?
KNOX
No relation. Never heard of him. Sorry,
guys.
BUBBA
(obviously drunk)
Where's your manners Steve? Mutt Sanders'
brother, we don't even offer him a
drink. Here. Go have some whiskey, pal.
Bubba hands Knox a glass and fills it up.
STEVE
Yeah.
KNOX
Whoa, I, uh, I don't really drink--
BUBBA
To Mutt.
STEVE
To Mutt.
The two guys raise their glasses in a toast and Knox reluctantly
joins them.
KNOX
To Mutt.
They each take a big drink. Knox rolls his eyes and gasps,
loosening his tie to try and breathe.
BUBBA
Now, how the hell is old Mutt, anyway?
STEVE
Yeah. What's ol' Mutter been up to, huh?
KNOX
I don't really know Mutt.
BUBBA
To Mighty Mutt.
GUY 1
To Mighty Mutt.
KNOX
To Mighty Mutt.
They raise their glasses again for a toast and down the rest
of their glasses.
BUBBA
Well, listen, I gotta go find Patsy. Say
hello to Mutt for me, okay?
KNOX
Will do.
Bubba puts on a horned football helmet and walks away.
STEVE
Yeah. Hell of a guy, your brother Mutt.
Ratings
Scene 30 - Poetic Flirtations in the Cave
CHARLIE
We gonna have a meeting or what?
GLORIA
Yeah. If you guys don't have a meeting,
how do we know if we wanna join?
NEIL
Join?
Charlie leans over to Tina.
CHARLIE
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more
temperate."
TINA
That's so sweet.
CHARLIE
I made that up just for you.
TINA
You did?
The boys laugh and Cameron shakes his head. Charlie moves over
to sit next to Gloria.
CHARLIE
I'll write one for you too, Gloria.
She walks in beauty like the night.
She walks in beauty like the night.
Of cloudless climes and starry skies.
All that's best, dark and bright,
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.
GLORIA
That's beautiful.
CHARLIE
There's plenty more where that came
from.
Ratings
Scene 31 - A Night of Chaos
The room is whirling as Knox belches and staggers across the room. He
passes Chet and several of his friends. He steps over several couples
kissing on the floor and slump down on the couch, only to be crowded
in by another couple who seem oblivious to him. He is about to get up
again when he notices Chris sleeping next to him on the couch.
KNOX
God help me.
Knox looks about and then looks back down at Chris.
KNOX
Carpe diem.
Knox takes a last swig of his drink and then begins to softly run his
fingers over Chris' hair. He then leans over and kisses her forehead.
Across the room, Bubba looks over and sees what's going on.
BUBBA
Chet! Chet! Look!
CHET
What?
BUBBA
It's Mutt Sanders' brother.
CHET
Huh?
Chris rises up from the couch and looks at Knox in surprise.
CHRIS
Knox, what--
BUBBA
And he's feeling up your girl!
CHRIS
What are you doing?
Chet gets up from his chair.
CHET
What the hell are you doing?
CHRIS
Chet! Chet, don't.
KNOX
Now, Chet, I know this looks bad, but
you've gotta-
Chet throws himself at Knox, hurling them both to the floor. He
then straddles Knox and begins to punch at him as Knox simply
tries to protect himself.
CHRIS
Chet, no! You'll hurt him! No! No! Stop
it! Leave him alone!
CHET
Goddamn!
CHRIS
Chet, stop it!
Chris manages to haul Chet away from Knox.
CHET
Bastard!
Knox takes his hands away from his face and feels at his bloody
nose. Chris tries to help him up.
CHRIS
Knox, are you all right?
CHET
Chris, get the hell away from him!
CHRIS
Chet, you hurt him!
CHET
Good!
KNOX
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
CHRIS
It's okay. It-It's okay.
Chet hauls Chris away from Knox and then points at him.
CHET
Next time I see you, you die.
Ratings
Scene 32 - Rebellion in the Cave
Tina passes a bottle of alcohol to Neil.
TINA
Go ahead, pass it around.
Cameron motions for Neil not to take it but Neil takes a swig anyway.
There is a moment of awkward silence.
MEEKS
Me and Pitts are working on a hi-fi
system. It shouldn't be that hard to,
uh, to put together.
PITTS
Yeah. Uh, I might be going to Yale. Uh,
uh, but, I, I might not.
GLORIA
Don't you guys miss having girls around
here?
MEEKS AND PITTS
(smiling)
Yeah.
CHARLIE
That's part of what this club is about.
In fact, I'd like to announce I
published an article in the school
paper, in the name of the Dead Poets.
CAMERON
What?
CHARLIE
Demanding girls be admitted to Welton.
PITTS
You didn't.
CHARLIE
(whispering to Meeks)
So we can all stop beating off.
NEIL
How did you do that?
CHARLIE
I'm one of the proofers. I slipped the
article in.
MEEKS
Look, uh, it's, it's over now.
CHARLIE
Why? Nobody knows who we are.
CAMERON
Well, don't you think they're gonna
figure out who wrote it? They're gonna
come to you and ask to know what the
Dead Poets Society is. Charlie, you had
no right to do something like that.
CHARLIE
It's Nuwanda, Cameron.
GLORIA
That's right. It's Nuwanda.
CHARLIE
Are we just playing around out here, or
do we mean what we say? For all we do is
come together and reach a bunch of poems
to each other. What the hell are we
doing?
NEIL
All right, but you still shouldn't have
done it, Charlie. This could mean
trouble. You don't speak for the club.
CHARLIE
Hey, would you not worry about your
precious little neck? If they catch me,
I'll tell them I made it up.
Ratings
Scene 33 - Authority vs. Rebellion
The professors hurry down the steps, lead by an obviously agitated
Mr. Nolan. Several are carrying newspapers in their hands. The
students all rise as they enter. After all the professors have
taken their places, Mr. Nolan addresses the students.
MR. NOLAN
Sit.
The students all sit.
MR. NOLAN
In this week of Welton's Honor there
appeared a profane and unauthorized
article. Rather than spend my valuable
time ferreting out the guilty persons --
and let me assure you I will find them -
- I'm asking any and all students who
knows anything about this article to
make themselves known here and now.
Whoever the guilty persons are, this is
your only chance to avoid expulsion from
this school.
The sound of a phone ringing can be heard. The professors look
about for its source. Charlie picks up a telephone receiver.
CHARLIE
Welton Academy. Hello. Yes, he is. Just
a moment.
Charlie stands up, holding a phone and bell in his hands.
CHARLIE
Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's
God. He says we should have girls at
Welton.
Most of the students laugh while the boys from the cave all shake
their heads in disbelief.
Ratings
Scene 34 - Discipline and Defiance
Charlie stands with his back to the door as Mr. Nolan shuts it. Mr.
Nolan then walks around to face Charlie.
MR. NOLAN
Wipe that smirk off your face. If you
think, Mr. Dalton, that you're the first
to try to get thrown out of this school,
think again. Others have had similar
notions and have failed just as surely
as you will fail. Assume the position.
Charlie sighs and bends over, resting his hands on the desk. Mr.
Nolan hefts a flat wooden paddle in his hands.
MR. NOLAN
Count aloud, Mr. Dalton.
Mr. Nolan begins to strike Charlie with the paddle.
CHARLIE
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
MR. NOLAN
What is this Dead Poets Society? I want
names.
Ratings
Scene 35 - Defiance in the Hallway
A crowd of students is gathered about as Charlie stiffly walks back to his
room.
NEIL
You kicked out?
CHARLIE
No.
NEIL
So what happened?
CHARLIE
I'm to turn everybody in, apologize to
the school and all will be forgiven.
NEIL
So, what are you gonna do? Charlie!
CHARLIE
Damn it, Neil. The name is Nuwanda.
Charlie smiles and then shuts his door.
Ratings
Scene 36 - Clash of Ideals
Keating and McAllister are enjoying tea in the small room off the
classroom. Mr. Nolan knocks on the door and enters.
MR. NOLAN
Excuse me. May we have a word, Mr.
Keating?
KEATING
Certainly.
Keating fixes his tie and follows Mr. Nolan into the classroom.
MR. NOLAN
This was my first classroom, John. Did
you know that? My first desk.
KEATING
Didn't know you taught, Mr. Nolan.
MR. NOLAN
English. Oh, long before your time. It
was hard giving it up, I can tell you.
I'm hearing rumors, John, about some
unorthodox teaching methods in your
classroom. I'm not saying they've
anything to do with the Dalton boy's
outburst. But I don't think I have to
warn you boys his age are very
impressionable.
KEATING
Well, your reprimand made quite an
impression, I'm sure.
MR. NOLAN
What was going on in the courtyard the
other day?
KEATING
Courtyard?
MR. NOLAN
Yeah. Boys marching, clapping in unison.
KEATING
Oh, that. That was an exercise to prove
a point. Dangers of conformity.
MR. NOLAN
Well, John, the curriculum here is set.
It's proven it works. If you question,
what's to prevent them from doing the
same?
KEATING
I always thought the idea of educating
was to learn to think for yourself.
MR. NOLAN
At these boys' ages? Not on your life!
Tradition, John. Discipline. Prepare
them for college, and the rest will take
care of itself.
Ratings
Scene 37 - A Lesson in Daring
Charlie sits with his bongos as the other boys are all crowded
around him. He hits the bongoes as he mimes Nolan's footsteps.
CHARLIE
Creak. He started walking around towards
my left. Creak. Creak. "Assume the
position, Mr. Dalton."
The door opens and Keating walks in. Many of the boys get up from
their seats.
KEATING
It's all right, gentlemen.
CHARLIE
Mr. Keating.
KEATING
Mr. Dalton. That was a pretty lame stunt
you pulled today.
CHARLIE
You're siding with Mr. Nolan? What about
Carpe diem and sucking all the marrow
out of life and all that?
KEATING
Sucking the marrow out of life doesn't
mean choking on the bone. Sure there's a
time for daring and there's a time for
caution, and a wise man understands
which is called for.
CHARLIE
But I thought you'd like that.
KEATING
No. You being expelled from school is
not daring to me. It's stupid, 'cause
you'll miss some golden opportunities.
CHARLIE
Yeah. Like what?
KEATING
Like, if nothing else, the opportunity
to attend my classes. Got it, Ace?
CHARLIE
Aye, aye, Captain.
KEATING
Keep your head about you. That goes for
the lot of you.
BOYS
Yes, Captain.
KEATING
Phone call from God. If it had been
collect, it wouldn't been daring.
Keating leaves and the boys gather around Charlie once again.
CHARLIE
All right. Go on.
Ratings
Scene 38 - Rehearsal Dynamics
Neil bikes away as the clock bell tolls.
INT. THEATER - DAY
Neil walks into the back of the theater and watches various
actors rehearsing on stage. A smile fills his face.
DIRECTOR
We're trying to rehearse, okay? Start.
LYSANDER
A good persuasion, therefore hear me,
Hermia.
DIRECTOR
Wait, please. Excitement. I don't hear
any excitement about this play. And take
her hand. Bring her down the stage and
stop. And "There, gentle Hermia." Okay?
Try again.
Ratings
Scene 39 - Parental Authority and Artistic Aspirations
The bell rings and students rush down the hall.
BOY
What's for dinner?
PITTS
Spaghetti and meatballs!
Neil comes up the stairs as everyone else swarms down to the cafeteria.
NEIL
Save some for me. "But, room, Fairy!
Here comes Oberon."
Neil opens the door to his room and sees his father sitting at his desk.
NEIL
Father.
MR. PERRY
Neil.
NEIL
Wait a minute. Before you say anything,
please let me ex-
Mr. Perry rises from the desk.
MR. PERRY
Don't you dare talk back to me! It's bad
enough that you've wasted your time with
this, this absurd acting business. But
you deliberately deceived me! How, how,
how did you expect to get away with
this? Answer me. Who put you up to it?
Was it this new man? This, uh, Mr.
Keating?
NEIL
No. Nobody-- I thought I'd surprise you.
I've gotten all A's in every class.
MR. PERRY
Did you think I wasn't going to find
out? "Oh, my niece is in a play with
your son," says Mrs. Marks. "No, no,
no," I say, "you must be mistaken. My
son's not in a play." You made me a liar
of me, Neil! Now, tomorrow you go to
them and you tell them that you're
quitting.
NEIL
No, I can't. I have the main part. The
performance is tomorrow night.
MR. PERRY
I don't care if the world comes to an
end tomorrow night. You are through with
that play. Is that clear? Is that clear?
NEIL
Yes, sir.
Mr. Perry goes to leave and then turns around.
MR. PERRY
I made a great many sacrifices to get
you here, Neil, and you will not let me
down.
NEIL
No, sir.
Ratings
Scene 40 - Confronting the Future
Keating is seated at his desk. He is writing a letter and occasionally
looks up at the framed photo on his desk of a woman playing the cello.
There is a knock at the door.
KEATING
It's open.
Neil enters and closes the door behind him. He appears to be nervous.
KEATING
Neil, what's up?
NEIL
Can I speak to you a minute?
KEATING
Certainly. Sit down.
Neil goes to take a seat but notices the chair is piled up with books.
Neil picks them up and Keating gets up from his seat to help him.
NEIL
I'm sorry. Here.
KEATING
Excuse me. Get you some tea?
NEIL
Tea. Sure.
Keating goes to a table in the corner and begins pouring several cups.
KEATING
Like some milk or sugar in that?
NEIL
No, thanks.
NEIL
Gosh, they don't give you much room
around here.
KEATING
No, it's part of the monastic oath. They
don't want worldly things distracting me
from my teaching.
Keating gives Neil a cup of tea and they return to their seats. Neil
looks at the photo on the desk.
NEIL
She's pretty.
KEATING
She's also in London. Makes it a little
difficult.
NEIL
How can you stand it?
KEATING
Stand what?
NEIL
You can go anywhere. You can do
anything. How can you stand being here?
KEATING
'Cause I love teaching. I don't wanna be
anywhere else.
KEATING
What's up?
NEIL
I just talked to my father. He's making
me quit the play at Henley Hall.
Acting's everything to me. I-- But he
doesn't know. He-- I can see his point.
We're not a rich family like Charlie's,
and we-- But he's planning the rest of
my life for me, and I-- H-He's never
asked me what I want.
KEATING
Have you ever told your father what you
just told me? About your passion for
acting. You ever show him that?
NEIL
I can't.
KEATING
Why not?
NEIL
I can't talk to him this way.
KEATING
Then you're acting for him, too. You're
playing the part of the dutiful son. I
know this sounds impossible, but you
have to talk to him. You have to show
him who you are, what your heart is.
NEIL
I know what he'll say. He'll tell me
that acting's a whim, and I should
forget it. That how they're counting on
me. He'll just tell me to put it out of
my mind, "for my own good."
KEATING
You are not an indentured servant. If
it's not a whim for you, you prove it to
him by your conviction and your passion.
You show him that And if he still
doesn't believe you, well, by then
you'll be out of school and you can do
anything you want.
A tear falls down Neil's cheek and he wipes it away.
NEIL
No. What about the play? The show's
tomorrow night.
KEATING
Well, you have to talk to him before
tomorrow night.
NEIL
Isn't there an easier way?
KEATING
No.
NEIL
I'm trapped.
KEATING
No, you're not.
Ratings
Scene 41 - Unrequited Pursuit
Knox exits one of the doors. The ground is covered with a thick
layer of snow. He looks around to see if anyone is about and then
hurries over to the bike rack. grabbing one of the bikes, he hurries
off.
INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY - DAY
A crowd of students come in from the cold. Knox pushes his way through
them, carrying a handful of wildflowers. He begins searching for Chris.
KNOX
Chris!
He approaches a girl with hair similar to Chris' and turns her around,
only to realize that it's not her.
KNOX
Chris Noel. Do you know where she is?
GIRL
Um, I think she's in room 111.
The girl points down the hallway and Knox sets off in that direction.
KNOX
Thanks.
Chris is at her locker talking to a friend. She just closes her locker
as she notices Knox coming towards her. She turns away.
KNOX
Excuse me. Chris.
CHRIS
Knox, what are you doing here?
KNOX
I came to apologize for the other night.
I brought you these and a poem I wrote
for you.
Chris pulls him aside, out of the main hallway.
CHRIS
Knox, don't you know that, if Chet finds
you here he'll kill you?
KNOX
I can't care. I love you, Chris.
CHRIS
Knox, you're crazy.
KNOX
Look, I acted like a jerk and I know it.
Please, accept these. Please.
CHRIS
No. No-- I, I can't. Forget it.
Chris walks away. The school bell rings and she enters her
classroom, closing the door behind her. Undaunted, Knox follows,
opening the door and standing before her desk.
CHRIS
Knox, I don't believe this.
KNOX
All I'm asking you to do is listen.
As Knox begins to read his poem, the classroom grows quiet as
everyone stops to listen.
KNOX
The heavens made a girl named Chris
With hair and skin of gold.
To touch her would be paradise.
Chris holds her head in her hands in embarrassment.
Ratings
Scene 42 - Seize the Day
Knox sneaks in through a side door. He snatches a slice of toast
from the counter and motions to one of the staff to keep secret.
He then begins to eat the toast as he hurries away.
INT. STAIRWAY - DAY
The school bell rings and Knox pushes his way up the stairs past
the slower students. At the top he joins the other boys where they
are grabbing their books.
CHARLIE
Get out of here. Cameron, you fool.
Charlie notices Knox and grabs his jacket.
CHARLIE
Hey, how'd it go? Did you read it to
her?
KNOX
Yeah.
The boys begin to get all excited but Charlie shushes them.
PITTS
What'd she say?
KNOX
Nothing.
CHARLIE
Nothing. What do you mean, nothing?
KNOX
Nothing. But I did it.
Knox walks away down the hall and the others chase after him.
CHARLIE
What did she say? I know she had to say
something.
PITTS
Come here, Knox.
KNOX
Seize the day!
Ratings
Scene 43 - A Moment of Hope
Keating walks from the front of the classroom to Neil's desk. Neil
is the only student remaining in the class.
KEATING
Did you talk to your father?
NEIL
Uh, he didn't like it one bit, but at
least he's letting me stay in the play.
He won't be able to make, make it. He's
in Chicago. But, uh, I think he's gonna
let me stay with acting.
KEATING
Really? You told him what you told me?
NEIL
Yeah. He wasn't happy. But he'll be gone
at least four days. I don't think he'll
make the show, but I think he'll let me
stay with it. "Keep up the school work."
Thanks.
Neil picks up his books and leaves.
Ratings
Scene 44 - Grooming and Grit: The Red Lightning Bolt
The boys are grooming themselves in front of the mirrors.
PITTS
Beautiful baby.
MEEKS
Beautiful baby. Henley Hall, here I
come.
CAMERON
Excuse me, just a moment. Yes. You're so
cute.
Cameron runs a comb through his hair and Todd tries to mess it up.
CAMERON
Come on, Todd. I'm trying to fix
this.
TODD
Come on, Nuwanda. You're gonna miss
Neil's entrance.
PITTS
He said something about getting red
before we left.
CAMERON
Getting red? What does that mean?
PITTS
I, uh-- Well, you know Charlie.
One of the stalls opens and Charlie's hand emerges, holding a small
brush and a bottle of red paint.
CAMERON
So, Charlie, what's this "getting red"
bit?
Charlie opens his unbuttoned shirt to show a large red lightning bolt
painted down his chest.
TODD
W-What is that?
CHARLIE
It's an Indian warrior symbol for
virility. Makes me feel potent, like it
can drive girls crazy.
Charlie buttons up his shirt as everyone prepares to leave.
TODD
Oh, come on, Charlie. The girls are
waiting.
Ratings
Scene 45 - Midnight Encounter
The boys are walking down the hall to leave. Cameron stops and stares.
The other boys notice and stop as well. Charlie softly whistles at Chris
standing by the door. Knox stares at her in surprise
KNOX
Chris.
Knox leaves the other boys to join her.
KNOX
What are you doing here?
KEATING (O.S.)
Gentlemen, let's go.
KNOX
Go ahead, guys. I'll catch up.
CHARLIE
Yeah, come on, guys.
Charlie hustles the boys away. Meeks remains staring at her. Charlie
returns to drag him away.
KNOX
Chris, you can't be in here. I-If they
catch you, we're both gonna be in big
trouble.
CHRIS
Oh, but it's fine--
Knox shushes her and leads her out the door.
Ratings
Scene 46 - Snowy Confrontation and Reluctant Affection
Snow is lightly falling as Chris and Knox walk outside.
CHRIS
It's fine for you to come barging into
my school and make a complete fool out
of me?
KNOX
I didn't mean to make a fool out of you.
CHRIS
Well, you did. Chet found out. And it
took everything I could do to keep him
from coming here and killing you. Knox,
you have got to stop this stuff.
KNOX
I can't, Chris. I love you.
CHRIS
Knox, you say that over and over. You
don't, you don't even know me.
Keating calls out from a nearby car.
KEATING
Will you be joining us, Mr. Overstreet?
KNOX
Go ahead, Captain. I'll walk.
CHRIS
Knox, Knox, it just so happens that I
could care less about you?
KNOX
Then you wouldn't be here warning me
about Chet.
CHRIS
I have to go. I'm gonna be late for the
play.
KNOX
Are you going with him?
CHRIS
(laughs)
Chet? To a play? Are you kidding?
KNOX
Then come with me.
CHRIS
Knox, you are so infuriating.
KNOX
Come on, Chris. Just give me one chance.
If you don't like me after tonight, I'll
stay away forever.
CHRIS
Uh-huh.
KNOX
I promise. Dead Poets Honor. You come
with me tonight. And then, if you don't
want to see me again, I swear I'll bow
out.
CHRIS
You know what would happen if Chet found
out?
KNOX
He won't know anything. We'll sit in the
back and sneak away as soon as it's
over.
CHRIS
And I suppose you would promise that
this would be the end of it.
KNOX
Dead Poets Honor.
CHRIS
What is that?
KNOX
My word.
Chris walks away from him and then turns to face him.
CHRIS
You are so infuriating.
Chris gestures for Knox to follow her. Charlie does a little
twirl as he joins her and puts his arm around her. They walk away.
Ratings
Scene 47 - A Night of Mischief and Magic
The audience is packed. The stage is set up to resemble a forest and
lights dance about it. From behind a bush, Neil emerges, wearing a
crown of twigs and berries and twigs on his hands. In the audience,
Charlie emerges from his seat, all excited.
CHARLIE
Hey, there he is! Hey, hey.
Cameron shoves him back into his seat.
KEATING
Shh, boys.
On stage, Neil hides behind a tree as a girl emerges, similarly clad,
but with flowers in her hair. Neil sneaks over to the girl.
FAIRY
Either I mistake your shape and making
quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish
sprite
Call'd Robin Goodfellow:
PUCK
Thou speak'st aright;
In the audience, Chris and Knox enter and are shown to seats.
PUCK
I am that merry wanderer of the night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smile
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Puck makes horse sounds and the audience laughs.
PUCK
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab,
And when she drinks, against her lips I
bob
And on her wither'd dewlap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest
tale,
In the audience, Charlie leans over towards Keating.
CHARLIE
(whispering)
He's good. He's really good.
Keating gives a thumbs up.
PUCK
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh
me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples
she,
And "tailor" cries, and falls into a
cough;
And then the whole quire hold their hips
and laugh,
And waxen in their mirth and neeze and
swear
A merrier hour was never wasted there.
But, room, Fairy! here comes Oberon.
FAIRY
And here my mistress. Would that he were
gone!
The two actors hide behind the trees, lifting their twig covered
hands to hide themselves.
Ratings
Scene 48 - A Night of Performance and Hidden Fears
Two other actors are onstage.
LYSANDER
Then by your side no bed-room me deny;
For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie
HERMIA
Lysander riddles very prettily:
Now much beshrew my manners and my
pride,
If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied.
But, gentle friend, for love and
courtesy
Lie further off; in human modesty,
Such separation as may well be said
Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid,
and, good night, sweet friend:
Thy love ne'er alter till thy sweet life
end!
Neil is watching the actors from the wing. He glances out at the audience
and sees his father enter the back of the theater. Neil backs away into
the shadows.
LYSANDER
Amen, amen, to that fair prayer, say I;
The director breaks Neil out of his thoughts.
DIRECTOR
Neil. That's your cue, Neil. Come on,
Neil. Here's your crown. Let's go.
Neil reluctantly replaces his crown and follows her.
INT. THEATER - NIGHT
On stage, Neil collects dew in a leaf and holds it over his head while
fairies dance about. In the audience, Knox takes Chris' hand in his.
Ratings
Scene 49 - Theater Triumph and Tension
The stage is dark. A spotlight comes on to reveal Neil with his back to
the audience. He slowly turns around to face the audience and his father.
PUCK
If we shadows have offended,
Neil directs his eyes at his father, who stills stands at the back
of the theater.
PUCK
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Neil backs away and the curtains close as the audience begins to
applaud enthusiastically. Behind the curtain numerous people
congratulate Neil as they line up for the curtain call. The curtains
open. Charlie and the other boys rise to their feet, followed quickly
by the rest of the audience. The actors bow to continued applause. The
actors push Neil forward and he takes a second bow.
BOYS
Yawp!
KNOX
Yeah, Neil!
The curtain closes again and Neil turns around, letting out an
excited sigh. Various actors continue to congratulate him. Neil
lets out a yell as he walks offstage. In the audience, while others
are leaving, Mr. Perry approaches a woman.
MR. PERRY
Excuse me, I'm Neil's father. I need to
see him.
Backstage, the woman approaches Neil.
WOMAN
Neil, Your father. He's-
Neil nods in agreement.
ACTOR
What did you think?
WOMAN
Really I thought you were all just
wonderful!
Neil emerges from the curtains, carrying his costume. The theater is
nearly empty now, except for Mr. Perry standing at the back. Neil
smiles at him but the smile quickly disappears.
Ratings
Scene 50 - Confrontation in the Snow
Mr. Perry pushes his way through the crowd of people, with Neil close
behind.
MR. PERRY
Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me.
The boys notice Neil and try to dtop him to talk.
CHARLIE
Neil, Neil, you were great.
NEIL
I can't, guys.
TODD
Neil! Neil!
Outside of the crowd, Keating manages to catch up to Neil. He takes
hold of Neil's coat.
KEATING
Neil. Neil. You have the gift. What a
performance You left even me speechless.
You have to stay with-
Mr. Perry returns from his car and shoves Neil aside.
MR. PERRY
Get in the car. Keating, you stay away
from my son.
CHARLIE
Neil! Neil! Mr. Perry, come on.
KEATING
Don't make it any worse than it is.
Neil and Mr. Perry get into their car and drive away. Keating
stares after them.
CHARLIE
Is it okay if we walk back? Captain?
Charlie motions Todd to follow.
CHARLIE
Knox.
The boys leave and Keating continues to stare after the car, wiping
the falling snow from his face.
Ratings
Scene 51 - Confrontation of Dreams
A photo of Neil standing stiffly with his parents sits on a table
between a glass of alcohol and a half filled ashtray. Mrs. Perry
watches through the window as her husband and son arrive and then
takes a nervous puff on her cigarette before sitting down. Mr.
Perry walks in with Neil close behind him. Neil sits down beside the
desk while Mr. Perry remains standing.
MR. PERRY
We're trying very hard to understand why
it is that you insist on defying us.
Whatever the reason, we're not gonna let
you ruin your life. Tomorrow I'm
withdrawing you from Welton and
enrolling you in Braden Military School.
You're going to Harvard and you're gonna
be a doctor.
NEIL
But that's ten more years. Father,
that's a lifetime!
MR. PERRY
Oh, stop it. Don't be so dramatic. You
make it sound like a prison term. You
don't understand, Neil. You have
opportunities that I never even dreamt
of and I am not going to let you waste
them.
Neil rises to his feet.
NEIL
I've got to tell you what I feel.
Mrs. Perry stands up.
MRS. PERRY
We've been so worried about--
MR. PERRY
What? What? Tell me what you feel. What
is it?
Neil looks to his mother and then back to his father but says
nothing.
MR. PERRY
Is it more of this, this acting
business? Because you can forget that.
What?
NEIL
Nothing.
Neil sits back down dejectedly.
MR. PERRY
Nothing? Well, then, let's go to bed.
Mr. Perry leaves. Mrs. Perry pauses on her way out and kneels
behind Neil.
NEIL
I was good. I was really good.
Mrs. Perry nods slightly.
MRS. PERRY
Go on, get some sleep.
INT. MR. PERRY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Mrs. Perry sits on the side of the bed with her back to her
husband. Mr. Perry removes his robe and slippers before
getting in to bed. Mrs. Perry begins to cry as he turns out
the light.
MR. PERRY
It's all right. It's going to be all
right.
Ratings
Scene 52 - Tragic Discovery
Neil's pyjamas, bathrobe, towel, and shaving kit are all neatly
laid out on his bed. Neil touches his pyjamas lightly and then
removes his coat and shirt. He walks over to the windows and
opens them, taking several deep breaths. He places the crown of
twigs on his head and then closes his eyes, slowly letting his head
fall to his chest.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
A door opens and Neil emerges, slowly walking down the stairs as if
in a trance.
INT. MR. PERRY'S STUDY - NIGHT
Neil holds a key in his hands. He unlocks a drawer in his father's
desk and pulls out a pistol, wrapped in cloth.
INT. MR. PERRY'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Mr. Perry jerks up out of bed, startled and breathing fast.
MR. PERRY
What was that?
MRS. PERRY
What?
MR. PERRY
That sound.
MRS. PERRY
What sound? Tom?
Mr. Perry turns on the light and gets up out of bed, putting on his
robe and slippers.
MRS. PERRY
What is it? What's wrong?
Mr. Perry turns on the hallway light and knocks on Neil's door. He opens
the door and goes inside.
MR. PERRY
Neil.
Mr. Perry notices the open window.
MRS. PERRY
Tom, what is it? What's wrong? Neil?
Mr. Perry continues to look through the house, continuing downstairs.
MR. PERRY
Neil?
Mr. Perry notices the door to his study is ajar.
MRS. PERRY
I'll look outside. Neil?
Mr. Perry flicks the light on but sees nothing. Then he smells
something. Looking closer, he sees a thin cloud of smoke rising from
behind his desk. As he moves around the desk he sees his gun on the
floor and Neil's outstretched hand.
MR. PERRY
No!
Mr. Perry crouches down by his son.
MR. PERRY
Oh, Neil! Oh, my God!
Mrs. Perry enters the room and sees her son.
MRS. PERRY
Oh! No!
MR. PERRY
Oh, my son!
MRS. PERRY
He's all right.
MR. PERRY
My son! My poor son!
MRS. PERRY
(crying hysterically)
He's all right! He's all right! He's all
right! He's all right! He's all right!
He's all right!
MR. PERRY
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it.
Mr. Perry holds his wife and tries to comfort her.
Ratings
Scene 53 - A Winter's Grief
Todd is sleeping. Charlie reaches across to wake him. Tears are
running down his face.
CHARLIE
Todd? Todd.
Todd, still half asleep, tries to shrug him off.
TODD
Oh, Charlie.
Todd opens his eyes and sees Charlie's face
TODD
What is it?
Todd looks over to see Pitts, Meeks, and Knox by the door.
CHARLIE
Neil's dead.
EXT. CAMPUS - DAY
It is a snowy, overcast morning. Todd walks through the snow. He
has his coat on over his pyjamas. The other boys follow closely
behind him as he walks down towards the water. He stops and stares
out at the snow-covered surroundings.
TODD
It's so beautiful.
Todd begins to gag and then goes down on his knees, vomiting into
the snow. The other boys huddle around him, hugging him.
CHARLIE
Todd. It's okay, Todd.
PITTS
Calm down.
CHARLIE
It's all right, Todd.
PITTS
Todd, it's okay. It's okay, Todd.
CHARLIE
It's all right. It's alright.
Charlie grabs a handful of snow and wipes Todd's mouth with it.
TODD
He wouldn't-- He wouldn't have done it.
MEEKS
You can't explain it, Todd.
TODD
It was his father!
CHARLIE
No!
TODD
He wouldn't have left us. It's because he-
He wouldn't have. His dad was-- his, his
father did it.
CHARLIE
Todd.
TODD
His father killed him. He made him do it.
MEEKS
You can't explain it, Todd.
Todd pushes himself away from the boys and stumbles down the hill,
slipping and falling in the snow.
MEEKS
Todd!
CHARLIE
Leave him be.
The boys watch as Todd runs down towards the dock by the river,
yelling and crying. He finally seems to regain control of himself
and walks in silence out onto the dock.
Ratings
Scene 54 - A Somber Reflection
Keating sits by himself at his desk. After a moment he gets up
and walks over to Neil's desk. Opening it, he finds his copy
of "Five Centuries of Verse" and flips through the first few pages.
Sitting down at the desk, he returns to the opening page, reading
the opening verse written there. Keating begins to sob, then closes
the book.
INT. ASSEMBLY HALL - DAY
A church service is going on. The boys have joined in the other
students in a hymn. Charlie is the only one not singing. He stares
off into nothingness.
BOYS
(singing)
All my life
Thy light shall surely follow me
And in God's house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be
Amen.
Mr. Nolan stands at the pulpit, with the rest of the professors
seated behind him.
MR. NOLAN
The death of Neil Perry is a tragedy. He
was a fine student. One of Welton's
best. And he will be missed. We've
contacted each of your parents to
explain the situation. Naturally,
they're all quite concerned. At the
request of Neil's family, I intend to
conduct a thorough inquiry into this
matter. Your complete cooperation is
expected.
Ratings
Scene 55 - Betrayal in the Cloakroom
The boys (except Cameron) are sitting about the cluttered room
waiting. Charlie lights a cigarette.
CHARLIE
You told him about this meeting?
PITTS
Twice.
CHARLIE
That's it, guys. We're all fried.
PITTS
How do you mean?
CHARLIE
Cameron's a fink. He's in Nolan's office
right now, finking.
PITTS
About what?
CHARLIE
The club, Pittsie. Think about it. The
board of directors, the trustees and Mr.
Nolan. Do you think for one moment
they're gonna let this thing just blow
over? Schools go down because of things
like this. They need a scapegoat.
The door opens. All the boys except Charlie hurry to put
their cigarettes out and wave the smoke away. A light comes on
and Cameron enters.
CAMERON
What's going on, guys?
CHARLIE
You finked, didn't you, Cameron?
Charlie gets up and approaches Cameron, tossing his cigarette away.
CAMERON
Finked? I didn't know what the hell
you're talking about.
CHARLIE
You told Nolan everything about the club
is what I'm talking about.
CAMERON
Look, in case you hadn't heard, Dalton,
there's something called an honor code
at this school, all right? If a teacher
asks you a question, you tell the truth
or you're expelled.
CHARLIE
You little-
Charlie lunges at Cameron but Knox and Meeks hold him back.
MEEKS
Charlie!
CHARLIE
He's a rat! He's in it up to his eyes,
so he rattled to save himself.
KNOX
Don't touch him, Charlie. You do and
you're out.
CHARLIE
I'm out anyway!
KNOX
You don't know that, not yet.
CAMERON
He's right there, Charlie. And if you
guys are smart, you will do exactly what
I did and cooperate. They're not after
us. We're the victims. Us and Neil.
CHARLIE
What's that mean? Who are they after?
CAMERON
Why, Mr. Keating, of course. The
"Captain" himself. I mean, you guys
didn't really think he could avoid
responsibility, did you?
CHARLIE
Mr. Keating responsible for Neil? Is
that what they're saying?
CAMERON
Well, who else do you think, dumb ass?
The administration? Mr. Perry? Mr.
Keating put us up to all this crap,
didn't he? If he wasn't for Mr. Keating,
Neil would be cozied up in his room
right now, studying his chemistry and
dreaming of being called doctor.
TODD
That is not true, Cameron. You know
that. He didn't put us to anything. Neil
loved acting.
CAMERON
Believe what you want, but I say let
Keating fry. I mean, why ruin our lives?
Charlie lunges at Cameron again and punches him in the face.
Cameron falls to the floor as the boys pull Charlie away. Cameron
lifts a hand to his bloody nose.
CAMERON
You just signed your expulsion papers,
Nuwanda.
Cameron rises to his feet.
CAMERON
And if the rest of you are smart, you'll
do exactly what I did. They know
everything anyway. You can't save
Keating, but you can save yourselves.
Cameron walks away, closing the door behind him.
Ratings
Scene 56 - Tension in the Dormitory
Todd looks out the window and watches as Hager escorts Meeks back
to the dorm. Inside the room, Neil's bed has been stripped of all
its bedding.
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
Meeks walks slowly to his room. Hager remains standing at the end of
the hallway.
HAGER
Knox Overstreet.
Knox emerges from his room and goes to joing Hager. He gives a thumbs
up to Todd as he passes his door. Once he leaves with Hager, Todd goes
over to Meeks' door.
TODD
Meeks?
MEEKS
Go away. I have to study.
TODD
What happened to Nuwanda?
MEEKS
Expelled.
TODD
What'd you tell 'em?
MEEKS
Nothing they didn't already know.
HAGER (O.S.)
Todd Anderson.
INT. HALLWAY - DAY
Todd is lead up the steps to Mr. Nolan's office by Hager.
Ratings
Scene 57 - The Pressure to Conform
Todd enters the room to see his mother and father seated opposite
Mr. Nolan's desk.
MR. ANDERSON
Hello, son.
MRS. ANDERSON
Hello, darling.
TODD
Mom.
THe door closes behind Todd. He remains standing, not knowing
what to do.
MR. NOLAN
Have a seat, Mr. Anderson.
Todd sits down next to his parents.
MR. NOLAN
Mr. Anderson, I think we've pretty well
put together what's happened here. You
do admit to being a part of this Dead
Poets Society?
Todd says nothing.
MR. ANDERSON
Answer him, Todd.
TODD
Yes, sir.
Mr. Nolan puts his glasses on and glances at a paper before him
before removing his glasses once more.
MR. NOLAN
I have here a detailed description of
what occurred at your meetings. It
describes how your teacher, Mr. Keating,
encouraged you boys to organize this
club and to use it as a source of
inspiration for reckless and self-
indulgent behavior. It describes how Mr.
Keating, both in and out of the
classroom, encouraged Neil Perry to
follow his obsession with acting when he
knew all along it was against the
explicit order of Neil's parents. It was
Mr. Keating's blatant abuse of his
position as teacher that led directly to
Neil Perry's death.
Mr. Nolan motions to Todd's father, who passes along a sheet of
paper to Todd.
MR. NOLAN
Read that document carefully, Todd. Very
carefully.
Todd looks at the paper, which already contains the signatures of
the other four boys.
MR. NOLAN
If you've nothing to add or amend, sign
it.
TODD
What's gonna happen to Mr. Keating?
MR. ANDERSON
I've had enough. Sign the paper, Todd.
Mr. Nolan holds out a pen for Todd to take.
Ratings
Scene 58 - O Captain! My Captain!
Mr. McAllister leads his students, textbooks in hand, through the
snow outside the classrooms.
McALLISTER
Grass is gramen or herba. Lapis is
stone. The entire building is
aedificium.
Keating looks out from his office window. McAllister pauses and looks
up at Keating, giving him a brief wave. Keating waves back.
INT. KEATING'S OFFICE - DAY
Keating laughs slightly as he watches McAllister from the window.
Inside, all his belongings have been packed up.
INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY
The students are all seated at their desks in silence. Everyone looks
as the door opens. They quickly stand as Mr. Nolan enters the room.
MR. NOLAN
Sit.
The students sit once again as Mr. Nolan walks to the front of the room.
MR. NOLAN
I'll be teaching this class through
exams. We'll find a permanent English
teacher during the break. Who will tell
me where you are in the Pritchard
textbook?
MR. NOLAN
Mr. Anderson?
TODD
Uh, in the, in the Pr-
MR. NOLAN
I can't hear you, Mr. Anderson.
TODD
In the, in the, in the Pritchard?
MR. NOLAN
Kindly inform me, Mr. Cameron.
CAMERON
We skipped around a lot, sir. We covered
the Romantics and some of the chapters
on Post Civil War literature.
MR. NOLAN
What about the Realists?
CAMERON
I believe we skipped most of that, sir.
MR. NOLAN
All right, then, we'll start over. What
is poetry?
There is a knock at the classroom door.
MR. NOLAN
Come.
The students look back as the door opens. They quickly turn
away when hey see it is Keating.
KEATING
Excuse me. I came for my personals.
Should I come back after class?
MR. NOLAN
Get them now, Mr. Keating.
MR. NOLAN
Gentlemen, turn to page 21 of the
introduction. Mr. Cameron, read aloud
the excellent essay by Dr. Pritchard on
"Understanding Poetry."
Todd slowly closes his book. Keating opens the door to the tiny
room off the classroom.
CAMERON
That page has been ripped out, sir.
MR. NOLAN
Well, borrow somebody else's book.
CAMERON
They're all ripped out, sir.
MR. NOLAN
What do you mean, they're all ripped
out?
CAMERON
Sir, we, uh-
MR. NOLAN
Never mind.
Mr. Nolan takes his own book over to Cameron's desk and then
slaps the open page.
MR. NOLAN
Read!
As Cameron begins to read, Keating looks out at Todd as he puts
his scarf on. Todd looks at him for a moment and then glances away.
CAMERON
"Understanding Poetry by Dr. J Evans
Pritchard, Ph.D. To fully understand
poetry, we must first be fluent with its
meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then
ask two questions: 1) How artfully has
the objective of the poem been rendered
and 2)..."
The door squeaks as Keating shuts it behind him. Cameron pauses.
CAMERON
"... How important is that objective?
Question 1 rates the poem's perfection;
question 2 rates its importance. And
once these questions have been answered,
determining the poem's greatness becomes
a relatively simple matter. If the
poem's score for perfection is plotted
on the horizontal of a graph--"
Keating passes by Todd and the others and gets to the back of the
classroom before Todd leaps up from his seat and turns to face him.
TODD
Mr. Keating! They made everybody sign
it.
Mr. Nolan gets up from his desk and approaches Todd.
MR. NOLAN
Quiet, Mr. Anderson.
TODD
You gotta believe me. It's true.
KEATING
I do believe you, Todd.
MR. NOLAN
Leave, Mr. Keating.
TODD
But it wasn't his fault!
MR. NOLAN
Sit down, Mr. Anderson!
Todd reluctantly returns to his seat.
MR. NOLAN
One more outburst from you or anyone
else, and you're out of this school!
Leave, Mr. Keating.
Keating hesitates at the back of the classroom.
MR. NOLAN
I said leave, Mr. Keating.
Keating slowly turns and heads to the door. As he opens
it, Todd, stands upon his desk and turns to Keating.
TODD
O Captain! My Captain!
MR. NOLAN
Sit down, Mr. Anderson!
Keating pauses at the door and looks back at Todd on his desk.
MR. NOLAN
Do you hear me? Sit down! Sit down! This
is your final warning, Anderson. How
dare you? Do you hear me?
After a moment of indecision, Knox climbs up onto his desk.
KNOX
O Captain! My Captain!
MR. NOLAN
Mr. Overstreet, I warn you! Sit down!
Pitts climbs up onto his desk, followed by several others,
including Meeks.
MR. NOLAN
Sit down! Sit down. All of you. I want
you seated. Sit down. Leave, Mr.
Keating.
More students stand on their desks until half the class is standing.
MR. NOLAN
All of you, down. I want you seated. Do
you hear me?
MR. NOLAN
Sit down!
Keating stands in the doorway, staring up at the boys in wonder. A
smile comes to his face.
KEATING
Thank you, boys. Thank you.
Ratings
Characters in the screenplay, and their arcs:
Character | Arc | Critique | Suggestions |
---|---|---|---|
neil | Neil's character arc begins with him as a diligent student, striving to meet the high standards set by his father and the academy. As he becomes involved with the Dead Poets Society and embraces Mr. Keating's teachings, he starts to assert his individuality and pursue his passion for acting. This journey leads him to experience a mix of rebellion and vulnerability, as he grapples with the clash between his dreams and his father's expectations. Neil's excitement for acting and newfound confidence drive him to take risks, ultimately culminating in a tragic decision that highlights the devastating effects of parental pressure. His arc concludes with his absence leaving a profound impact on his friends, serving as a catalyst for their own journeys of self-discovery and rebellion against societal norms. | While Neil's character arc is compelling and emotionally resonant, it could benefit from a more gradual development of his internal conflict. The transition from a compliant student to a rebellious individual feels somewhat abrupt at times. Additionally, the portrayal of his relationship with his father could be deepened to provide a clearer understanding of the motivations behind his father's expectations and Neil's responses. This would enhance the emotional stakes of Neil's journey and make his eventual tragedy more impactful. | To improve Neil's character arc, consider incorporating more scenes that explore his relationship with his father, showcasing moments of tension and vulnerability that reveal the complexity of their dynamic. Additionally, allow for more gradual shifts in Neil's character, perhaps by introducing smaller victories and setbacks in his pursuit of acting that reflect his internal struggle. This could include moments of doubt or fear that he must overcome, making his eventual rebellion feel earned and relatable. Finally, providing more interactions with his friends that highlight their influence on his decisions could enrich his character development and emphasize the theme of friendship and support in the face of adversity. |
knox | Knox's character arc begins with him as a passionate and idealistic student, eager to express his feelings and stand up for his beliefs. Initially, he struggles with self-doubt and social expectations, particularly in his pursuit of Chris. As the story progresses, Knox experiences a range of emotions, from nervousness to boldness, as he learns to navigate the complexities of love and friendship. His impulsive nature leads him to confront challenges head-on, resulting in both triumphs and setbacks. Ultimately, Knox's journey is one of growth, as he transforms from a socially awkward romantic into a courageous individual willing to take risks for love, culminating in a deeper understanding of himself and the world around him. His reaction to Neil's death serves as a pivotal moment, solidifying his emotional depth and commitment to his friends, further shaping his character as he learns to balance passion with responsibility. | While Knox's character arc is compelling, it could benefit from more nuanced development. His impulsiveness, while a key trait, sometimes leads to predictable outcomes that may detract from the overall tension of the narrative. Additionally, his emotional journey, though rich, could be further explored to provide a clearer understanding of his motivations and the consequences of his actions. The screenplay could also delve deeper into his relationships with other characters, particularly how they influence his growth and decisions, rather than focusing primarily on his romantic pursuits. | To improve Knox's character arc, consider incorporating more moments of reflection that allow him to confront the consequences of his impulsive actions. This could involve scenes where he faces the fallout of his decisions, prompting him to reassess his values and priorities. Additionally, enhancing his interactions with other characters, such as Todd and Neil, could provide a broader context for his emotional struggles and growth. Introducing a mentor figure or a pivotal event that challenges his idealism could also add depth to his journey, ultimately leading to a more satisfying and transformative resolution. |
cameron | Cameron's character arc begins with him as a reserved and pragmatic student, primarily focused on academic success and adhering to societal expectations. As he becomes involved with the Dead Poets Society, he experiences a gradual transformation, grappling with his internal conflicts between conformity and self-expression. Throughout the screenplay, Cameron's interactions with his more rebellious peers challenge his views, leading him to question his own beliefs and values. As the story progresses, he faces a pivotal moment where he must choose between loyalty to his friends and his own moral compass. Ultimately, Cameron learns to embrace his individuality and assert his beliefs, culminating in a moment of self-acceptance and courage that allows him to break free from the constraints of conformity. | Cameron's character arc is compelling, as it captures the struggle between conformity and self-expression. However, it may benefit from more explicit moments of growth and change. While his internal conflict is clear, the screenplay could further explore the catalysts that drive his transformation. Additionally, the resolution of his arc could be more impactful if it involved a significant sacrifice or risk that highlights his growth and commitment to his newfound beliefs. | To improve Cameron's character arc, consider incorporating key scenes that showcase his gradual shift in perspective, such as moments of confrontation with authority figures or personal dilemmas that force him to choose between safety and authenticity. Adding a subplot that highlights his relationships with other characters could deepen his internal conflict and provide a clearer path to his transformation. Finally, ensure that the climax of his arc involves a decisive action that reflects his growth, such as standing up for a friend or publicly expressing his beliefs, solidifying his journey from conformity to self-acceptance. |
charlie dalton | Throughout the screenplay, Charlie Dalton undergoes a significant transformation. Initially, he is portrayed as a carefree and rebellious spirit, thriving on humor and the thrill of pushing limits. However, as the story progresses, he faces the consequences of his actions and the impact they have on his friends and himself. This leads to moments of introspection where Charlie grapples with the balance between individuality and responsibility. By the end of the feature, he emerges as a more grounded character, having learned the importance of loyalty and the weight of his influence on others, ultimately channeling his charisma into a more constructive and supportive role within the group. | While Charlie's character is vibrant and engaging, his arc could benefit from deeper emotional exploration. The transition from a carefree rebel to a more responsible individual feels somewhat abrupt and could use more gradual development. Additionally, the stakes of his actions and their consequences could be heightened to create a more compelling narrative. As it stands, his character may come off as one-dimensional if not given sufficient depth and complexity in his motivations and struggles. | To improve Charlie's character arc, consider incorporating more pivotal moments that challenge his beliefs and force him to confront the repercussions of his actions. This could include a significant event that directly impacts a close friend or a moment of failure that shakes his confidence. Additionally, providing more backstory or internal conflict could enrich his character, allowing the audience to connect with his journey on a deeper level. Finally, showcasing his growth through specific, tangible actions that demonstrate his newfound understanding of responsibility and loyalty would create a more satisfying and believable arc. |
charlie | Charlie begins as a rebellious troublemaker, using humor and sarcasm to challenge authority and express his individuality. Throughout the screenplay, he evolves from a carefree prankster to a more introspective character who grapples with the consequences of his defiance. His pivotal moments include embracing Mr. Keating's teachings, which inspire him to pursue authenticity and self-expression. As he faces the tragic events that unfold, Charlie's loyalty to his friends deepens, and he learns the importance of responsibility and the weight of his actions. By the end of the feature, Charlie emerges as a more grounded individual, still rebellious but with a newfound understanding of the impact of his choices on those around him. | While Charlie's character arc is engaging and showcases a journey of growth, it may benefit from deeper exploration of his internal conflicts. The transition from a carefree rebel to a more responsible individual could be more nuanced, allowing for moments of vulnerability that reveal his fears and motivations. Additionally, the impact of the tragic events on his character could be further developed to enhance emotional resonance and provide a clearer catalyst for his transformation. | To improve Charlie's character arc, consider incorporating scenes that delve into his backstory, revealing the reasons behind his rebellious nature and his relationship with authority. Adding moments of introspection, where Charlie reflects on his actions and their consequences, could create a more profound emotional connection with the audience. Furthermore, showcasing his interactions with other characters during pivotal moments could highlight his growth and the influence of his friendships on his journey. Finally, a climactic moment where Charlie must choose between rebellion and responsibility could serve as a powerful turning point, solidifying his transformation. |
meeks | Meeks begins as a studious and reserved character, primarily focused on academics and maintaining harmony within the group. As the story progresses, he faces the challenges of grief and conflict following Neil's death, which forces him to confront his own emotions and the dynamics of friendship. Initially, he provides comic relief and support to his friends, but as tensions rise, he struggles with feelings of detachment and a desire to avoid trouble. By the end of the feature, Meeks evolves into a more assertive and empathetic character, learning to balance his practical nature with emotional engagement, ultimately becoming a pillar of support for his friends in their time of need. | While Meeks has a well-defined personality and serves as a source of humor and support, his character arc could benefit from deeper emotional exploration. His moments of detachment and conflict with the group's dynamics are intriguing but could be expanded to show a more pronounced internal struggle. Additionally, his transition from a reserved character to a more assertive one feels somewhat abrupt and could use more gradual development to enhance believability. | To improve Meeks' character arc, consider incorporating more scenes that highlight his internal conflict and emotional growth. For instance, show him grappling with his feelings about Neil's death and how it affects his relationships with the group. Allow him to have pivotal moments where he must choose between his desire for academic success and his loyalty to his friends. Additionally, introduce a subplot that challenges his practical nature, forcing him to step out of his comfort zone and take risks for the sake of his friendships. This would create a more nuanced and relatable character journey. |
students |
|
The character arcs are compelling and reflect a realistic journey of self-discovery and empowerment. However, the arcs could benefit from deeper individualization, as some characters may feel underdeveloped compared to others. The transitions between their initial reluctance and eventual growth could be more nuanced, showcasing specific challenges and triumphs that highlight their unique journeys. | To improve the character arcs, consider adding more specific backstories and motivations for each student, allowing their individual struggles to inform their responses to Keating's teachings. Incorporate more scenes that illustrate their internal conflicts and the impact of their choices on their relationships with peers and authority figures. Additionally, ensure that each character has a distinct moment of realization or breakthrough that solidifies their growth, making their transformations feel earned and relatable. |
keating | Keating begins as a passionate and rebellious teacher who inspires his students to challenge authority and think for themselves. As the story progresses, he becomes a mentor figure, particularly to Neil, navigating the challenges of supporting his students while respecting parental authority. The climax of the arc occurs with Neil's tragic death, which profoundly affects Keating, leading him to reflect on his teaching methods and the impact of his encouragement. By the end of the screenplay, Keating is left grappling with the consequences of his influence, showcasing a more measured and contemplative side as he seeks to understand the balance between inspiration and responsibility. | While Keating's character arc is compelling, it could benefit from deeper exploration of his internal conflicts and the consequences of his teaching philosophy. The transition from a charismatic teacher to a reflective mentor after Neil's death is significant, but the screenplay may not fully capture the emotional weight of this transformation. Additionally, Keating's relationships with other students and faculty could be further developed to provide a more rounded view of his character and the challenges he faces in a traditional educational environment. | To improve Keating's character arc, consider adding scenes that delve into his past experiences and motivations for becoming an unconventional teacher. This could provide context for his rebellious spirit and the risks he takes in challenging authority. Additionally, incorporating more interactions with other faculty members and students could highlight the broader implications of his teaching methods and the resistance he faces. Finally, exploring Keating's emotional journey in the aftermath of Neil's death through introspective moments or conversations with colleagues could enhance the depth of his character and the overall impact of his arc. |
pitts | Pitts begins as a supportive yet uncertain character, often torn between his desire to fit in and his struggle with self-identity. As the story progresses, he faces challenges that force him to confront his doubts and insecurities. Through Keating's exercises and his friendships, particularly with Todd, he learns to find his voice and stand up for his beliefs. By the climax, Pitts has transformed into a more confident individual who embraces his uniqueness and supports his friends in their own journeys. His arc culminates in a moment where he takes a stand for what he believes in, showcasing his growth from a hesitant student to a loyal and courageous friend. | While Pitts has a well-defined character arc that showcases his growth from uncertainty to confidence, his journey could benefit from more distinct turning points that highlight his internal struggles. The character sometimes feels overshadowed by more dominant personalities in the group, which may dilute his impact on the overall narrative. Additionally, his moments of introspection could be more deeply explored to provide a richer understanding of his motivations and fears. | To improve Pitts' character arc, consider introducing specific challenges or conflicts that directly test his loyalty and self-identity, allowing for more dramatic moments of growth. Incorporating scenes that showcase his internal dialogue or reflections could deepen the audience's connection to his character. Additionally, giving him a pivotal moment where he must choose between conformity and authenticity could serve as a powerful catalyst for his transformation, making his eventual embrace of individuality more impactful. |
todd | Todd's character arc begins with him as a reserved and introspective student, struggling with self-expression and confidence. His journey is marked by his loyalty to Neil and the internal conflict that arises from it. After Neil's death, Todd experiences a profound emotional breakdown, which serves as a catalyst for his transformation. Guided by Mr. Keating, Todd learns to embrace his individuality and find his voice. By the end of the screenplay, he stands up against the oppressive forces in his life, demonstrating significant growth from a hesitant boy to a young man who asserts his beliefs and values. | While Todd's character arc is compelling and showcases significant growth, it may benefit from deeper exploration of his relationships with other characters, particularly his interactions with Neil and Mr. Keating. The emotional breakdown following Neil's death is a pivotal moment, but the screenplay could further develop the aftermath of this event, showing how it influences Todd's relationships and decisions moving forward. Additionally, the transition from hesitance to assertiveness could be more gradual, allowing for a more nuanced portrayal of his internal struggles. | To improve Todd's character arc, consider incorporating more scenes that highlight his interactions with other students and how they influence his development. This could include moments of camaraderie or conflict that challenge his views and push him towards growth. Additionally, explore the impact of Neil's death on Todd's relationships with his family and peers, providing a broader context for his emotional journey. Finally, allow for a more gradual evolution in Todd's assertiveness, perhaps through smaller victories that build his confidence before the climactic moments of standing up for his beliefs. |
chris | Throughout the screenplay, Chris evolves from a confident and charming figure who initially enjoys the attention from Knox to a more conflicted character who grapples with her feelings and the consequences of her choices. Initially, she is playful and engaging, but as the story progresses, she becomes increasingly aware of the complexities of her relationships. By the climax, Chris is faced with a pivotal decision that forces her to confront her feelings for Knox and the implications of her loyalty to Chet. In the resolution, Chris emerges as a more self-aware individual, having learned to assert her own desires while navigating the expectations placed upon her. This journey leads her to a place of empowerment, where she can make choices that reflect her true self rather than societal pressures. | While Chris's character arc is compelling, it risks becoming too reactive rather than proactive. Her journey is heavily influenced by her relationships with Knox and Chet, which may undermine her agency as a character. Additionally, the internal conflict she experiences could be more deeply explored to provide a richer emotional landscape. The screenplay could benefit from moments that showcase her personal aspirations and desires outside of her relationships, allowing the audience to connect with her on a deeper level. | To improve Chris's character arc, consider incorporating scenes that highlight her personal goals and ambitions, independent of her relationships with Knox and Chet. This could involve her pursuing a passion or facing challenges that require her to assert her independence. Additionally, providing her with moments of self-reflection could deepen her internal conflict and make her eventual choices more impactful. Allowing Chris to take decisive actions that influence the plot, rather than merely reacting to the actions of others, would enhance her character development and make her journey more engaging for the audience. |
mr. nolan | Throughout the screenplay, Mr. Nolan's character arc follows a trajectory of rigidity to a moment of introspection. Initially, he is portrayed as an unyielding figure, focused solely on maintaining order and upholding traditional values. However, as the story progresses and he faces the consequences of his strict adherence to these values, he begins to question whether his methods truly serve the students' best interests. In the climax, he confronts the impact of his authoritarian approach on the students' lives, leading to a moment of vulnerability where he reflects on the importance of nurturing creativity and individuality. By the end, while he may not fully abandon his principles, he shows signs of growth, recognizing the need for balance between discipline and freedom. | Mr. Nolan's character arc, while providing a foundation for conflict, risks being too one-dimensional if not developed further. His initial portrayal as a strict authoritarian may alienate the audience if they do not see any redeeming qualities or motivations behind his actions. Additionally, the transition from rigidity to introspection needs to be more gradual and nuanced to avoid feeling forced or unrealistic. The audience should be able to empathize with his struggles and understand the pressures he faces as an educator. | To improve Mr. Nolan's character arc, consider adding layers to his backstory that explain his strictness, such as personal experiences that shaped his beliefs about education. Introduce moments where he interacts with students outside of disciplinary contexts, allowing glimpses of his humanity and potential for empathy. Additionally, create a pivotal scene where he witnesses the positive impact of creativity and individuality on a student, prompting a more profound internal conflict. This could lead to a more believable transformation, making his eventual acceptance of a more balanced approach to education feel earned and relatable. |
mr. perry | Mr. Perry begins as a strict, controlling father who prioritizes societal norms and success over his son's happiness. Throughout the screenplay, he faces increasing tension with Neil, who yearns for personal freedom and self-expression. As Neil pursues his passions, Mr. Perry's authoritative stance leads to conflict, culminating in a tragic event that forces him to confront the consequences of his actions. By the end of the feature, Mr. Perry experiences a profound transformation; he grapples with grief and guilt, ultimately leading him to a moment of vulnerability where he recognizes the importance of understanding and supporting his son's aspirations. This arc illustrates his journey from a rigid enforcer of tradition to a more reflective and emotionally aware father. | While Mr. Perry's character arc effectively illustrates the conflict between parental expectations and personal freedom, it may benefit from deeper exploration of his internal struggles throughout the screenplay. His transformation feels somewhat abrupt, as the emotional weight of his decisions could be more gradually developed. Additionally, the screenplay could provide more backstory or context for Mr. Perry's strictness, allowing the audience to empathize with his motivations rather than viewing him solely as an antagonist. | To improve Mr. Perry's character arc, consider incorporating flashbacks or dialogue that reveal his own experiences with parental expectations, which could provide insight into why he is so rigid. Additionally, moments of doubt or vulnerability earlier in the screenplay could foreshadow his eventual transformation, making his change feel more organic. Including interactions with other characters that challenge his views or provide alternative perspectives on parenting could also enrich his character development, allowing for a more nuanced portrayal of his journey. |
Top Correlations and patterns found in the scenes:
Pattern | Explanation |
---|---|
Emotional Impact and Stakes/Conflict Surge in Late Act Two/Act Three | Emotional Impact consistently scores high (8-10) throughout the screenplay, but there's a noticeable jump to sustained 9s and 10s from scene 40 onward. This coincides with a similar elevation in Conflict and High Stakes, suggesting you effectively ramp up the emotional intensity alongside the central conflict as the story progresses towards its climax. You might consider examining earlier scenes to see if there are missed opportunities to foreshadow this emotional depth or increase the stakes earlier on, or consider this a strength in pacing for the back half, if this was intentional |
Humor as a Buffer | Humorous tones are frequently interspersed with heavier or more intense emotions. Notice the contrast - after serious emotional moments, you have the tendency to use humor as a way to bring the story down from the high intensity. Are you using humor more for tonal balance, or as a reaction/ avoidance mechanism, perhaps as the character(s) do in these scenes? |
Dialogue is consistently rated highly | Your dialogue consistently scores well (8-10). This indicates a strong command of crafting engaging and effective conversations. There may not be much for you to improve in this area, or you may be able to leverage this strength in areas where your scores are lower by using dialogue to further the plot in areas where 'Move Story Forward' is rated a little lower. |
Concept and Plot Consistently strong, but room for improvement in moving story forward | The concept is good and the characters are compelling, but some scenes do not move the story forward to the degree that they could. In scenes where you find that you are writing really great dialogue (and you are) and your characters are coming across as very compelling, make sure to move the story forward by using plot hooks or plot twists that pay off from the characters you are establishing so well. |
Reflective Moments and Lowered Stakes | Reflective scenes (e.g., scenes 13, 16, 19, 20, 25, 26) often correlate with a dip in Conflict and High Stakes. While reflection is important, be mindful of how these scenes contribute to the overall narrative momentum. Consider injecting subtle elements of conflict or stakes even in quieter moments to maintain audience engagement or building a contrast for the emotional moments to come after the reflective scene. |
Potential Over-Reliance on Motivational/Inspirational Themes. | The tones "Motivational" and "Inspirational" appear quite frequently, especially in clusters. While these can be powerful, consider if their repeated use risks becoming predictable or diluting their impact. Explore alternative ways to convey character growth and thematic messages. Do you see an opportunity to show, not tell? Or explore negative character qualities? For example, instead of inspiring the character to change by telling them to change, can you write a scene that shows the character changing that has emotional impact and moves the story forward? |
Tone Blending | You excel at blending multiple tones within a single scene, creating complexity. The scenes described by several tones simultaneously show consistently good 'Overall Grade' score, which indicates that mixing tones (for example: 'Excitement, Anxiety, Hope, Friendship') works for your style. However, are there any tones being left out of these scenes that could elevate the overall impact? |
Character Development | Character development is scored consistently well, however it could be expanded in some scenes. You may want to focus character development in scenes that feature less character development (e.g. the scenes without much high stakes or conflict) to build compelling character development or add more depth to the story, so that your characters are ready to handle tense situations later in the story. |
Writer's Craft Overall Analysis
The provided scene analyses reveal a writer with significant potential and a strong grasp of fundamental storytelling elements. They consistently demonstrate the ability to create engaging dialogue, build tension, and explore complex themes through character interactions. The writer effectively establishes settings, introduces compelling character dynamics, and sets up future conflicts. However, there is room for improvement in consistently deepening character development, refining pacing, and adding nuanced layers of subtext. Further study of screenwriting techniques and consistent practice will undoubtedly elevate the writer's craft.
Key Improvement Areas
Suggestions
Type | Suggestion | Rationale |
---|---|---|
Screenplay | Read 'Dead Poets Society' screenplay by Tom Schulman | This screenplay repeatedly appears in the scene analyses as a strong example of character-driven storytelling, exploration of themes of individuality and conformity within an academic setting, and nuanced dialogue. Studying this screenplay will help the writer deepen character development and thematic resonance. |
Book | Read 'Save the Cat!' by Blake Snyder | This book is frequently recommended for its practical tips on scene structure, character development, and crafting engaging narratives. It offers a clear and accessible framework for building compelling stories and creating memorable characters, addressing many of the identified improvement areas. |
Book | Read 'Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting' by Syd Field | This book is consistently recommended for its insights into screenplay structure and character development, offering a foundational understanding of screenwriting principles and techniques. It will help the writer strengthen their overall craft and address key areas for improvement. |
Book | Read 'The Art of Dramatic Writing' by Lajos Egri | This book is recommended for strengthening the author's handle on character motivations, conflict, and theme. This will help the author to create more compelling character arcs, engaging conflicts and richer subtext. |
Screenplay | Study screenplays with strong emotional depth and familial themes, such as 'The Squid and the Whale' by Noah Baumbach or 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' by Charlie Kaufman. | The analyses highlight the need to deepen emotional depth and explore complex relationships. These screenplays are excellent examples of how to portray nuanced relationships, internal conflicts, and emotional complexities, providing valuable insights for the writer. |
Exercise | Write a scene focusing on a character's internal conflict, showcasing their conflicting desires and motivations.Practice In SceneProv | This exercise directly addresses the need to deepen character development. By focusing on internal conflicts, the writer can explore the characters' vulnerabilities, motivations, and complexities beyond their external actions, adding layers of depth to their personalities. |
Exercise | Practice writing dialogue-only scenes to focus on subtext and character dynamics, revealing character emotions and intentions without explicit statements.Practice In SceneProv | This exercise directly addresses the need to enhance dialogue nuance and subtext. By focusing solely on dialogue, the writer can concentrate on crafting conversations that are both realistic and revealing, conveying character emotions and intentions through subtle cues and interactions. |
Exercise | Write a scene introducing a mysterious element in a familiar setting, building intrigue and engaging the audience through subtle hints and character interactions.Practice In SceneProv | This exercise addresses the need to improve pacing and scene structure by adding elements of suspense and mystery. It encourages the writer to vary scene lengths, incorporate visual storytelling elements, and create moments that contribute meaningfully to the overall narrative progression. |
Stories Similar to this one
Story | Explanation |
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Dead Poets Society | The screenplay summary is a direct reference to 'Dead Poets Society,' which explores similar themes of individuality, rebellion against authority, and the impact of an inspiring teacher on students' lives. Both stories focus on the struggles of young boys at a conservative preparatory school and their journey towards self-discovery. |
The Breakfast Club | This film features a group of high school students from different backgrounds who come together during Saturday detention. Like the boys in the screenplay, they confront their personal issues, parental pressures, and societal expectations, ultimately forming bonds and discovering their identities. |
A Separate Peace | This novel deals with themes of friendship, rivalry, and the loss of innocence among boys at a boarding school during World War II. The internal conflicts and pressures faced by the characters resonate with the struggles depicted in the screenplay. |
Good Will Hunting | This film features a young man with extraordinary potential who struggles with his past and the expectations placed upon him. The mentorship between Will and Sean parallels the relationship between the students and Mr. Keating, emphasizing the importance of guidance in overcoming personal challenges. |
The Perks of Being a Wallflower | This coming-of-age story follows a high school freshman navigating friendship, love, and mental health issues. The themes of self-discovery and the impact of supportive relationships mirror the experiences of the boys in the screenplay. |
Freedom Writers | This film tells the story of a teacher who inspires her at-risk students to express themselves through writing. The focus on empowerment, breaking down barriers, and challenging societal norms aligns closely with the themes in the screenplay. |
The Dead Poets Society (play adaptation) | The adaptation of the film into a stage play retains the core themes of the original story, focusing on the transformative power of poetry and the importance of seizing the day, similar to the screenplay's emphasis on 'Carpe Diem.' |
The Catcher in the Rye | This novel explores themes of teenage angst, identity, and the struggle against societal expectations. The protagonist's journey reflects the internal conflicts faced by the boys in the screenplay as they seek to define themselves amidst external pressures. |
Stand and Deliver | This film tells the true story of a math teacher who inspires his underprivileged students to excel academically. The themes of mentorship, challenging the status quo, and the pursuit of excellence resonate with the narrative of the screenplay. |
Here are different Tropes found in the screenplay
Trope | Trope Details | Trope Explanation |
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The Mentor | Mr. John Keating serves as an unconventional mentor to the boys, encouraging them to think for themselves and embrace their passions. | The Mentor trope involves a character who guides and teaches the protagonist, often providing wisdom and support. An example is Mr. Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid', who teaches Daniel not just martial arts but also life lessons. |
Coming of Age | The boys navigate their identities and desires, particularly Neil's struggle with his father's expectations and his passion for acting. | Coming of Age stories focus on the growth and development of a young protagonist as they face challenges and discover their identity. A classic example is 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', where the protagonist learns about friendship, love, and self-acceptance. |
Parental Pressure | Neil faces intense pressure from his father to pursue a traditional career path, leading to conflict and tragedy. | Parental Pressure is a common trope where a character feels compelled to meet their parents' expectations, often leading to internal conflict. An example is 'Dead Poets Society' itself, where Neil's father insists he follow a strict academic path. |
Friendship | The bond between the boys strengthens as they support each other through their struggles and the formation of the Dead Poets Society. | Friendship tropes highlight the importance of camaraderie and support among characters. An example is 'The Breakfast Club', where a group of high school students from different cliques bond over their shared experiences. |
Rebellion Against Authority | The boys rebel against the strict rules of Welton Academy and challenge the traditional educational system. | This trope involves characters standing up against authority figures to assert their independence. A well-known example is 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off', where Ferris rebels against school and societal expectations. |
The Tragic Hero | Neil's journey ends in tragedy as he succumbs to the pressures of his life, leading to his suicide. | The Tragic Hero trope involves a character with a fatal flaw that leads to their downfall. An example is Hamlet from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', whose indecision and obsession with revenge ultimately lead to his demise. |
Secret Societies | The boys form the Dead Poets Society, a secret group where they gather to read poetry and express themselves. | Secret Societies often serve as a backdrop for characters to explore their identities and rebel against societal norms. An example is 'Fight Club', where the underground club allows men to express their frustrations with modern life. |
The Power of Words | Keating emphasizes the importance of poetry and self-expression, inspiring the boys to find their voices. | This trope highlights the transformative power of language and art. An example is 'Dead Poets Society' itself, where poetry serves as a means of liberation for the characters. |
The Outsider | Todd Anderson feels like an outsider at Welton Academy, struggling to find his place among the other boys. | The Outsider trope involves a character who feels alienated from their surroundings. An example is 'The Catcher in the Rye', where Holden Caulfield grapples with feelings of isolation and disconnection. |
Theme | Theme Details | Themee Explanation | ||||||||||||
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Individuality vs. Conformity | The entire premise revolves around Mr. Keating inspiring students to think for themselves and defy the rigid traditions of Welton Academy. From tearing pages out of textbooks to standing on desks, the screenplay consistently contrasts individual expression with the pressure to conform. The establishment of the Dead Poets Society exemplifies this conflict. | This theme explores the tension between societal expectations and the desire for personal autonomy. It questions the value of blind obedience to tradition versus the pursuit of one's own unique path and authentic self. | ||||||||||||
Strengthening Individuality vs. Conformity:
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Seizing the Day ('Carpe Diem') | Mr. Keating explicitly teaches the concept of 'Carpe Diem' and encourages his students to make the most of their lives. This is evident in Neil's pursuit of acting, Knox's pursuit of Chris, and Charlie's rebellious stunts. The Dead Poets Society becomes a space for these boys to explore their passions and desires. | This theme emphasizes the importance of living in the present moment and taking advantage of opportunities before they pass. It highlights the fleeting nature of life and the need to pursue one's dreams with urgency and passion. | ||||||||||||
The Pressure of Parental Expectations | Neil's struggle with his father's expectations is a central plot point. His father's rigid control over his life ultimately leads to tragic consequences. Knox also faces pressure to follow a pre-determined path. Todd's gift of the desk set and the comments on his brother’s success highlight similar pressures. | This theme explores the conflict between a parent's vision for their child's future and the child's own aspirations. It raises questions about the limits of parental authority and the importance of allowing individuals to pursue their own happiness. | ||||||||||||
Friendship and Support | The boys of the Dead Poets Society find camaraderie and support in each other. They encourage each other to pursue their passions, even in the face of adversity. The scene where the boys stand on their desks to support Mr. Keating exemplifies this bond. | This theme emphasizes the importance of human connection and the power of friendship to provide comfort, encouragement, and a sense of belonging, especially during times of personal challenge and societal pressure. | ||||||||||||
Loss and Consequences | Neil's suicide highlights the devastating consequences of suppressing individuality and succumbing to societal pressures. The subsequent investigation and Mr. Keating's dismissal underscore the repercussions of challenging the established order. | This theme explores the emotional pain and lasting impact of loss, as well as the consequences that arise from challenging authority and defying social norms. |
Screenwriting Resources on Themes
Articles
Site | Description |
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Studio Binder | Movie Themes: Examples of Common Themes for Screenwriters |
Coverfly | Improving your Screenplay's theme |
John August | Writing from Theme |
YouTube Videos
Title | Description |
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Story, Plot, Genre, Theme - Screenwriting Basics | Screenwriting basics - beginner video |
What is theme | Discussion on ways to layer theme into a screenplay. |
Thematic Mistakes You're Making in Your Script | Common Theme mistakes and Philosophical Conflicts |
Voice Analysis | |
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Summary: | The writer's voice is characterized by a blend of wit, intellectual depth, and emotional resonance, skillfully navigating the complexities of teenage life, rebellion, and self-discovery within a structured academic setting. It balances sharp, witty dialogue with poignant introspection, creating a compelling narrative that explores themes of individuality, conformity, and the transformative power of human connection. There's a consistent use of naturalistic dialogue, subtext, and vivid (though sometimes sparse) descriptions to paint a clear picture of the characters' internal struggles and the dynamics of their relationships. |
Voice Contribution | The writer's voice contributes to the script by infusing it with authenticity, humor, and a sense of urgency. The dialogue feels real and relatable, capturing the nuances of teenage interactions and the tension between societal expectations and personal desires. The sharp wit and intellectual depth add layers of meaning to the scenes, while the emotional resonance creates a powerful connection with the audience, enhancing the themes of non-conformity, the pursuit of passion, and the importance of seizing the day. |
Best Representation Scene | 7 - Seize the Day: A Lesson in Mortality |
Best Scene Explanation | This scene is the best representation because it perfectly encapsulates the writer's unique blend of humor, intellectualism, and emotional depth. It showcases the writer's ability to craft sharp, witty dialogue that is both thought-provoking and engaging. The scene also effectively introduces the central themes of the screenplay—Carpe Diem, challenging norms, and embracing individuality—through Keating's unconventional teaching methods and the students' varying reactions. The combination of humor, philosophy, and emotion creates a powerful and memorable moment that captures the essence of the story's themes and characters, and showcases the writer's ability to seamlessly weave these elements together. |
- Overall originality score: 8.5
- Overall originality explanation: The screenplay exhibits a high level of originality through its exploration of themes such as individuality, rebellion against authority, and the complexities of teenage life within a prestigious academic setting. The introduction of unconventional teaching methods through Mr. Keating, the formation of the Dead Poets Society, and the emotional depth of the characters' struggles with parental expectations and self-discovery contribute to a fresh narrative. The use of poetic dialogue, the integration of Shakespearean elements, and the unique character dynamics further enhance the screenplay's originality, making it stand out in the coming-of-age genre.
- Most unique situations: The most unique situations in the screenplay are the formation of the Dead Poets Society as a secretive group that encourages self-expression through poetry, the dramatic confrontation between Neil and his father regarding his passion for acting, and the poignant moments of rebellion where students stand on their desks to salute Mr. Keating, symbolizing their defiance against traditional educational norms.
- Overall unpredictability score: 7.5
- Overall unpredictability explanation: The screenplay maintains a moderate level of unpredictability, particularly through the character arcs and their decisions, such as Neil's tragic fate and the various ways the boys navigate their relationships and conflicts with authority. While some plot points align with typical coming-of-age narratives, the emotional intensity and the consequences of the characters' choices, especially regarding Neil's suicide and the fallout from the Dead Poets Society, introduce unexpected twists that challenge audience expectations. The interplay of humor and tragedy also adds layers of unpredictability to the overall narrative.
Goals and Philosophical Conflict | |
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internal Goals | Throughout the script, the protagonist Neil Perry's internal goals evolve from seeking acceptance and approval from his father to pursuing individual freedom and self-expression through his passion for acting. He grapples with balancing his desires against parental expectations and societal norms, ultimately finding himself at a crossroads that tests his autonomy and self-identity. |
External Goals | Neil's external goals shift from participating in school activities like editorial work to auditioning for a play, leading him to challenge his father's authority. As he becomes more committed to acting, his interactions with peers reflect his desire to assert his identity against family and societal expectations. |
Philosophical Conflict | The overarching philosophical conflict is between Individuality vs. Conformity, as Neil seeks to live authentically through his passion for acting while facing immense pressure to conform to rigid societal and parental expectations. |
Character Development Contribution: Neil's evolving goals reflect his journey from a submissive son seeking approval to a passionate individual striving for self-expression, deepening his character development as he becomes more assertive in pursuing his dreams.
Narrative Structure Contribution: The protagonist's goals and their evolution create pivotal plot points that drive the narrative forward, particularly through key incidents of rebellion and moments of confrontation that culminate in the climax of the story.
Thematic Depth Contribution: These goals and conflicts enrich the themes of the screenplay, examining the tension between societal expectations and personal fulfillment, and illuminating the tragic costs of conformity and the price of pursuing one’s passions.
Screenwriting Resources on Goals and Philosophical Conflict
Articles
Site | Description |
---|---|
Creative Screenwriting | How Important Is A Character’s Goal? |
Studio Binder | What is Conflict in a Story? A Quick Reminder of the Purpose of Conflict |
YouTube Videos
Title | Description |
---|---|
How I Build a Story's Philosophical Conflict | How do you build philosophical conflict into your story? Where do you start? And how do you develop it into your characters and their external actions. Today I’m going to break this all down and make it fully clear in this episode. |
Endings: The Good, the Bad, and the Insanely Great | By Michael Arndt: I put this lecture together in 2006, when I started work at Pixar on Toy Story 3. It looks at how to write an "insanely great" ending, using Star Wars, The Graduate, and Little Miss Sunshine as examples. 90 minutes |
Tips for Writing Effective Character Goals | By Jessica Brody (Save the Cat!): Writing character goals is one of the most important jobs of any novelist. But are your character's goals...mushy? |
- Physical environment: The screenplay primarily depicts the enclosed and traditional setting of Welton Academy, a prestigious boarding school. The environment is characterized by grand hallways, manicured lawns, traditional classrooms, a chapel-like assembly hall, and other locations, such as the forbidden, secluded cave where the Dead Poets Society meets. These settings range from the formal and structured to the secretive and liberating, impacting the mood and actions of the characters. We see settings in the local town, houses, and surrounding fields where characters can escape. The school is located in a more rural location where travel to local towns is limited, increasing the reliance on other students and people for companionship.
- Culture: Welton Academy operates within a culture steeped in tradition, discipline, academic excellence, and conformity. This is highlighted by the emphasis on the 'four pillars': Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence. However, this established culture is contrasted by the emergence of a counter-culture led by Mr. Keating, which values individuality, self-expression, the appreciation of poetry and art, and 'carpe diem' – seizing the day. The tension between these two cultures shapes much of the conflict within the screenplay. A counter culture of theater is also seen in a neighboring boarding school.
- Society: The societal structure is hierarchical and authoritarian. The school administration, led by Mr. Nolan, maintains strict control over the students. Parental expectations, particularly for academic and professional success, exert significant pressure on the students. The students themselves operate within a social hierarchy, marked by cliques and conformity. This established structure is challenged by the rebellious Dead Poets Society, which aims to break free from these societal constraints. This rebellion occurs within the framework of a tight-knit group of boys that are at risk of being torn apart by the scrutiny of the school administration.
- Technology: Technology is largely absent or understated. There are limited depictions of advanced technology. Bagpipes, books, record players, and traditional classroom tools (like blackboards) emphasize the more traditional setting. The minimal technological presence highlights the importance of human interaction, intellectual pursuits, and emotional development over technological advancements. The most obvious technological elements include a hi-fi system being assembled by the boys, cars, telephones, and the use of electricity in general, indicating a specific time setting.
- Characters influence: The physical environment, culture, society, and limited technology significantly shape the characters' experiences and actions. The oppressive atmosphere of Welton Academy fuels the students' desire for self-expression and rebellion, leading them to form the Dead Poets Society. The pressure to conform dictates many of their choices and relationships, creating internal conflict. Characters like Neil succumb to parental expectations, while others like Charlie embrace rebellion. The lack of technology forces them to connect with each other more directly and rely on traditional forms of expression, such as poetry and art.
- Narrative contribution: The world elements contribute to the narrative by creating the central conflict between tradition and individuality. The restrictive environment of Welton Academy provides the backdrop for the students' exploration of self-discovery and the consequences of defying authority. The clash between Mr. Keating's unconventional teaching methods and the school's strict academic structure drives the plot forward, leading to both transformative experiences and tragic outcomes. The limited technology reinforces the themes of personal connection and the timelessness of the human experience.
- Thematic depth contribution: The world elements contribute significantly to the thematic depth of the screenplay. The juxtaposition of tradition and individuality explores themes of freedom, self-discovery, and the importance of living authentically. The strict societal structure and parental expectations raise questions about the balance between conformity and personal fulfillment. The tragic events, such as Neil's suicide, underscore the consequences of suppressing one's true self and the dangers of unchecked authority. The value of poetry and art emphasizes the power of creative expression in navigating life's challenges. The value of relationships over technology also emphasizes the importance of these connections for meaning in life.
central conflict
The central conflict revolves around the struggle between individual desires and parental expectations, particularly Neil's passion for acting versus his father's strict control over his future.
primary motivations
- Neil's desire to pursue acting and self-expression.
- Todd's quest for self-identity and acceptance among peers.
- Knox's pursuit of love and connection with Chris.
catalysts
- The arrival of Mr. Keating as an inspiring teacher.
- The formation of the Dead Poets Society, which encourages rebellion and self-expression.
- Neil's casting in the school play, which ignites his passion for acting.
barriers
- Mr. Perry's authoritarian control over Neil's life and decisions.
- The school's rigid adherence to tradition and discipline.
- Peer pressure and fear of expulsion affecting the boys' actions.
themes
- The importance of individuality and self-expression.
- The conflict between tradition and innovation.
- The impact of parental expectations on youth.
stakes
The stakes include the boys' futures, their friendships, and ultimately, Neil's life, as the pressure from their environment leads to tragic consequences.
uniqueness factor
The story uniquely combines the themes of poetry and education with a coming-of-age narrative, highlighting the transformative power of art in the face of societal constraints.
audience hook
The emotional journey of the characters, particularly Neil's tragic arc, and the exploration of themes like 'Carpe Diem' resonate deeply with audiences seeking inspiration and reflection on their own lives.
paradoxical engine or bisociation
The paradox lies in the tension between the pursuit of personal dreams and the harsh realities of societal expectations, creating a dynamic interplay that drives character development and plot progression.
paradoxical engine or bisociation 2
Another aspect of bisociation is the juxtaposition of the boys' youthful idealism against the backdrop of a conservative educational institution, highlighting the clash between hope and disillusionment.
Pass / Consider / Recommend Analysis
GPT5
Executive Summary
- A crystalline thematic core (carpe diem / seize the day). Keating's speeches and the Whitman/Thoreau references give the film an ideological spine that repeatedly reframes the boys' choices. high ( Scene 7 (Entranceway / Keating introduces 'Carpe Diem') Scene 11 (Keating rips out Pritchard / 'What will your verse be?') )
- Powerful emotional arc for Neil: joy and discovery (getting the role, performing) followed by catastrophic conflict with his father. The play sequence and the subsequent private confrontation are staged for maximum dramatic contrast and payoff. high ( Scene 47 (Theater performance / Neil on stage) Scene 50 (Car ride / confrontation with Mr. Perry) )
- Striking visual motifs and memorable set pieces (standing on desks, trophy case) that operate as both metaphor and cinematic images — they create audience recall and emotional punctuation throughout the script. high ( Scene 16 (Keating stands on desk; students follow) Scene 58 (Final classroom sequence — Todd stands on desk) )
- Ensemble dynamics are authentic and lively. The cave sequences build camaraderie, humor, and an initiatory space for the boys; these scenes concretely establish stakes and loyalties. medium ( Scene 14 (Cave / Dead Poets Society revival) Scene 27 (Cave with girls / 'Nuwanda' moment) )
- Emotional resonance and catharsis are handled with restraint and clarity: the death scene and its immediate aftermath land hard and re-contextualize earlier scenes in a morally unsettling way. high ( Scene 53 (Discovery of Neil's death / boys reacting) Scene 54 (Keating's private grief and the assembly) )
- The investigation and punishment arc (article → interrogation → paddling → pressure on Keating) reads compressed and administratively simplistic. It works dramatically but could benefit from expanded beats to make institutional consequences feel less procedural and more earned. high ( Scene 33 (Assembly / prank call and administrative reaction) Scene 34-36 (Mr. Nolan's interrogation and Keating reprimand) )
- Parental perspectives (especially Mrs. Perry) are emotionally useful but underwritten. The script leans heavily on Mr. Perry as an archetypal authoritarian; giving the parents more interior nuance would heighten the tragedy's complexity. medium ( Scene 51 (Mr. Perry's study / family confrontation) )
- The turn from solidarity to fracture (Cameron finks, Meeks/others sign) happens suddenly in places. The moral choices of secondary boys could use deeper motivation so the betrayal feels fully organic rather than plot-convenient. high ( Scene 55-57 (Cameron betrays; boys pressured to sign; Todd's interrogation) )
- Early expository material establishing Welton's ethos is necessary but occasionally static. Consider tightening or integrating exposition into more active scenes to improve early pacing. medium ( Scene 4-6 (School montage / early classes) )
- While dramatically effective, the depiction of Neil's suicide and the treatment of subsequent institutional culpability could be handled with more narrative space and sensitivity; the script provides motive but less on the mental-health context. high ( Scene 52-54 (Neil's suicide / immediate aftermath) )
- Deeper exposition on Keating's past motivations (why he left Welton, his pedagogical philosophy beyond aphorisms) is implied but not fully developed — a brief flash or private scene would deepen character empathy. medium ( Scene 36 (Conversation between Nolan and Keating) )
- Longer-term institutional fallout and the consequences for the expelled students and Keating beyond the dismissal are not explored; a coda showing a later reckoning (or lack of it) would strengthen thematic closure. medium ( Scene 50-58 (Post-firing fallout / long-term consequences) )
- Female characters are present but peripheral; their perspectives and stakes are largely unexplored. Including at least one meaningful scene from a girl's point of view would balance the ensemble. medium ( Scene 27-31 (Female characters (Gloria, Tina, Chris) appear) )
- The legal/administrative mechanics of the inquiry are vague — e.g., who exactly decides Keating's removal and on what formal grounds. More procedural clarity (or deliberately ambiguous politics) would help. low ( Scene 33-36 (Assembly / disciplinary hearings) )
- Keating's personal life is hinted at (photo of woman in London) but not exploited narratively. A brief personal moment could increase the stakes when he is forced out. low ( Scene 40 (Keating's office / personal items) )
- The trophy-case speech is emblematic: it ties visual world-building to theme — past greatness turned to fertilizer — and frames the story's moral question about wasted potential. high ( Scene 7 (Trophy case / Keating's 'listen real close' speech) )
- Keating's technique (playful defiance turned homework with personal stakes) cleverly integrates pedagogy into plot devices, such as the poem assignment that directly produces character vulnerability (Todd). high ( Scene 16 (Desk-standing and original-verse assignment) )
- The script uses ritual (the cave) and rites of passage (first calls, party scenes) to make small stakes feel archetypal. These scenes are a key reason the emotional collapse later is so resonant. medium ( Scene 14 (Cave ritual / reviving Dead Poets Society) Scene 23 (Knox calls Chris / 'Carpe' moment) )
- The dark humor (phone call to Nolan as 'God') demonstrates tonal dexterity — the screenplay can be witty and humane even while it prepares for tragedy. medium ( Scene 33 (Assembly and the prank phone call) )
- The final tableau is cinematic and thematically satisfying: it delivers the emotional and moral rebuke while restoring agency to the boys in a single, iconic image. high ( Scene 58 (Final 'O Captain! My Captain!' stand) )
- Adult perspective complexity Adults — especially parents and administrators — are often rendered as archetypes (the authoritarian father, the bureaucratic headmaster). While this serves the adolescent POV, it flattens moral ambiguity. Example: Mr. Perry is almost wholly unsympathetic; Mrs. Perry is supportive but lacks inner conflict beats. Expanding adult interiority would complicate the moral landscape. high
- Female character development Female characters (Chris, Gloria, Tina) are present mainly as catalysts for the boys' arcs and sexual rite-of-passage beats rather than fully realized individuals. The script misses opportunities to explore their perspectives and stakes. medium
- Mental-health nuance The screenplay treats Neil's despair as a direct consequence of parental pressure and humiliation; it omits deeper mental-health signposting or support systems, which can make the tragedy feel inevitable rather than complex. More subtle cues or scenes of interior struggle would strengthen believability. high
- Occasional on-the-nose exposition Certain speeches (notably Mr. Perry's 'you will be a doctor' monologue and some administrative lines) are heavy-handed and spell out themes the script has already illustrated. Trimming or turning these into action or subtext would sharpen the writing. medium
- Compressed procedural beats The inquiry/discipline timeline (article → assembly → expulsions → Keating's dismissal) moves quickly and sometimes reads like plot compression rather than organic escalation. Adding a few quieter scenes of institutional deliberation would eliminate the sense of a contrived leap. high
- Formatting/consistency artifacts (in provided text) Minor typographical inconsistencies and mis-capitalizations appear in the transcript (e.g., 'PHOTOGRAPHR', inconsistent scene headings). While likely transcription artifacts, they can read as amateurish if present in a submitted spec. low
Grok
Executive Summary
- The screenplay consistently reinforces its central themes of 'Carpe Diem' and individuality through powerful, recurring motifs and dialogues, creating a cohesive narrative that drives character growth and conflict. high ( Scene 7 (Keating's class on Carpe Diem) Scene 11 (Keating ripping out Pritchard's intro) )
- Character arcs are deeply emotional and well-developed, particularly for Neil and Todd, showing authentic growth from repression to rebellion or assertion, which heightens the story's impact. high ( Scene 52 (Neil's suicide) Scene 57 (Todd's confession in Nolan's office) )
- Inspirational and poetic dialogue, often drawn from literary sources, elevates the script, making key moments memorable and thematically rich. high ( Scene 11 (Keating's classroom speech) Scene 58 (Students standing on desks) )
- The climactic payoff is powerful and emotionally satisfying, with the desk-standing scene symbolizing the lasting influence of Keating's teachings. high ( Scene 58 (Final classroom scene) )
- The use of symbolism, such as poetry readings and the cave meetings, effectively underscores themes without feeling forced, adding layers to the storytelling. medium
- Some middle-act scenes feel repetitive or slow-paced, particularly in group interactions, which could be tightened to maintain momentum. medium ( Scene 10 (Study group) Scene 24 (Cave meeting with girls) )
- Subplots, like Knox's romance, lack sufficient depth and resolution, making some character journeys feel underdeveloped. medium ( Scene 46 (Chris at the play) )
- The handling of the tragedy could be more nuanced, as Neil's suicide feels abrupt and might benefit from additional buildup to enhance emotional weight. high ( Scene 52 (Neil's suicide) )
- Side characters, such as Charlie, are entertaining but lack depth, often coming across as caricatures rather than fully fleshed-out individuals. medium
- Antagonists like Mr. Nolan and the parents are somewhat one-dimensional, relying on stereotypes of authority figures without much internal conflict. medium ( Scene 33 (Nolan's assembly) )
- There is a lack of diverse perspectives, particularly female characters, who are underrepresented and serve mainly as plot devices rather than having their own arcs. medium
- The aftermath of key events, such as Neil's death, could explore more long-term consequences for the characters, leaving some arcs feeling unresolved. high ( Scene 53 (After Neil's death) )
- Deeper cultural or historical context of the 1950s setting is underexplored, which could enrich the themes of conformity and rebellion. medium
- The resolution for Mr. Keating's fate is implied but not explicitly shown, potentially leaving viewers wanting more closure. medium ( Scene 58 (Final classroom scene) )
- Opportunities for varied conflicts beyond school and family, such as peer dynamics or external societal issues, are limited, narrowing the scope of tension. low
- The iconic desk-standing scene powerfully encapsulates the film's themes and has become a cultural symbol of defiance and inspiration. high ( Scene 58 (Students standing on desks) )
- Integration of real poetry and literary references adds authenticity and intellectual depth, making the script educational and engaging. high ( Scene 7 (Keating's class on Carpe Diem) )
- The tragic heroism of Neil's character arc highlights the dangers of suppressed passion, serving as a stark commentary on mental health and parental pressure. high ( Scene 52 (Neil's suicide) )
- The teacher-student bond is portrayed with nuance, showing Keating as a flawed yet idealistic figure who profoundly influences the boys. medium ( Scene 14 (Cafeteria talk between Keating and McAllister) )
- The screenplay's social commentary on education and conformity remains relevant, critiquing institutional rigidity in a way that sparks reflection. medium
- Lack of diversity and representation The screenplay focuses almost exclusively on white, male experiences, with minimal representation of women, people of color, or diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, such as Chris being underdeveloped and serving primarily as a romantic interest for Knox, which limits the story's inclusivity and modern relevance. medium
- Underemphasis on psychological depth While Neil's mental health crisis is central, the screenplay does not deeply explore the psychological underpinnings of his depression or the broader implications of conformity on mental well-being, potentially missing an opportunity to add layers to the tragedy beyond surface-level conflicts. medium
- Non-standard scene numbering The screenplay uses a sequence-based structure instead of traditional scene numbering, which might appear unconventional and could confuse readers unfamiliar with this format, though it does not detract significantly from the narrative flow. low
- Overreliance on exposition Some early scenes, like Sequence 1's opening ceremony, rely on heavy exposition to set up the school's traditions, which can feel tell-heavy rather than show-heavy, a common amateur trait that might benefit from more subtle integration. low
DeepSeek
Executive Summary
- Exceptional character transformation arcs, particularly Todd's journey from insecurity to finding his voice and Neil's tragic struggle for autonomy high ( Scene 7 (Keating's first class) Scene 22 (Todd's poetry breakthrough) Scene 58 (Final classroom scene) )
- Consistent and powerful thematic exploration of conformity vs. individuality, tradition vs. innovation, and the transformative power of education high ( Scene 1 (Opening ceremony) Scene 11 (Ripping out textbook pages) Scene 25 (Courtyard walking exercise) )
- Masterful pacing that builds emotional investment and delivers powerful dramatic payoffs at key narrative moments high ( Scene 14 (First Dead Poets meeting) Scene 47-50 (Play performance and aftermath) Scene 53 (Neil's death revelation) )
- Memorable, quotable dialogue that effectively conveys complex philosophical ideas while remaining authentic to teenage characters medium ( Scene 7 (Carpe Diem speech) Scene 11 (Pritchard textbook destruction) Scene 16 (Standing on desks) )
- Rich atmospheric detail and period authenticity that creates a fully immersive world with consistent tone and mood medium ( Scene 1 (Opening ceremony) Scene 9 (Knox meets Chris) Scene 26 (Todd's birthday) )
- Charlie's rebellious actions sometimes feel slightly exaggerated compared to the more grounded characterizations of others low ( Scene 30 (Charlie brings girls to cave) Scene 32 (Charlie's article publication) )
- The administrative investigation following Neil's death could benefit from slightly more detailed development of the institutional response low ( Scene 54-56 (Investigation aftermath) )
- Minor characters like other teachers could be more fully developed to provide richer context for the institutional opposition low ( Scene 5 (Other classroom scenes) )
- More explicit exploration of the school's mental health support systems and how they failed Neil could deepen the institutional critique medium ( Scene 52 (Neil's suicide) )
- Additional scenes showing Keating's perspective and internal conflict as events escalate would enrich his character arc low ( Scene 35-37 (Charlie's punishment) )
- The powerful visual metaphor of students standing on desks as final tribute to Keating provides one of cinema's most memorable endings high ( Scene 58 (Final classroom scene) )
- The desk set destruction scene beautifully illustrates Todd's emotional breakthrough and bonding with Neil through symbolic action high ( Scene 26 (Todd's birthday) )
- The textbook destruction scene serves as perfect visual representation of the script's central theme about challenging authority medium ( Scene 11 (Textbook ripping) )
- The cave setting effectively symbolizes the secret, primal nature of the boys' intellectual and emotional awakening medium ( Scene 14 (Cave meetings) )
- Socioeconomic perspective The screenplay occasionally overlooks the privilege inherent in the boarding school setting, with limited exploration of how economic background affects the characters' choices and opportunities low
- Minor dialogue conventions Occasional use of slightly theatrical dialogue in emotional moments, though this is largely justified by the poetic themes and period setting low
Gemini
Executive Summary
- Keating's unconventional teaching methods are a major strength. His 'Carpe Diem' philosophy and encouragement of independent thinking create engaging classroom scenes and drive the central themes. high ( Scene 7 (INT. ENTRANCEWAY - DAY) Scene 11 (INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY) )
- Neil's struggle against his father's expectations is powerfully portrayed, highlighting the conflict between personal passion and parental control. His character arc is particularly tragic and resonates deeply. high ( Scene 17 (INT. TODD'S ROOM - DAY) Scene 39 (INT. HALLWAY - DAY) )
- The screenplay effectively explores themes of individuality versus conformity. Scenes like the courtyard walking exercise vividly illustrate the pressure to conform and the importance of finding one's own voice. high ( Scene 25 (EXT. COURTYARD - DAY) )
- The emotional impact of Neil's death and the subsequent events, including Keating's dismissal and the final scene where the students stand on their desks, is very powerful. These scenes create a lasting impression. high ( Scene 46 (EXT. CAMPUS - NIGHT) Scene 58 (INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY) )
- The dialogue is generally well-written, particularly Keating's inspirational speeches and the exchanges between the boys. It captures the tone of the era and the characters' personalities. medium ( Scene All )
- The pacing can be uneven at times. Some scenes, especially in the middle act, feel drawn out, while others, like the resolution of Knox's romance, are rushed. medium ( Scene All )
- While Neil's internal struggle is well-developed, Todd's character arc is less complete. His transformation from a shy, insecure student to a confident individual could be more fully explored. The end action seems to appear without any prior insight to the motivation. medium ( Scene Many )
- The girls' presence in the Dead Poets Society feels underdeveloped. They are introduced but don't have significant impact on the overall narrative. low ( Scene 32 (INT. CAVE - NIGHT) )
- The ending, while emotionally resonant, relies on a somewhat contrived plot device (the students signing the statement). This feels a bit forced and could be made more organic. medium ( Scene 57 (INT. NOLAN'S OFFICE - DAY) Scene 58 (INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY) )
- The motivations of the administration to oust Keating do not seem completely realistic for the events that occur. medium ( Scene All )
- More insight into Keating's past and motivations would add depth to his character. Why is he so passionate about teaching, and what experiences shaped his 'Carpe Diem' philosophy? medium
- A scene explicitly showing Todd writing poetry after the 'yawp' scene would reinforce his character development and demonstrate the impact of Keating's teaching. low
- More details about the aftermath of Neil's death on the other students, particularly how they process their grief and come to terms with their own lives. low
- A stronger resolution or consequence for Cameron's betrayal could add impact. Is there a point to his life after being so callous? low
- More details about Keating's personal situation - his love interest in London is mentioned briefly but never developed. low
- Neil's suicide is handled with sensitivity and avoids sensationalism. The lead-up to the event is subtly foreshadowed and emotionally impactful. high ( Scene 52 (INT. NEIL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT) )
- The opening scene establishes the setting and tone effectively, highlighting the rigid traditions and expectations of Welton Academy. medium ( Scene 1 (INT. WELTON ACADEMY HALLWAY - DAY) )
- Charlie's rebellious act in the assembly hall, while ultimately leading to his expulsion, showcases his unwavering commitment to his beliefs. medium ( Scene 33 (INT. ASSEMBLY HALL - DAY) )
- The final scene, with the students standing on their desks, is a powerful and iconic moment that encapsulates the film's message of nonconformity and the importance of standing up for what you believe in. high ( Scene 58 (INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY) )
- The use of poetry throughout the screenplay adds depth and resonance to the narrative, serving as a catalyst for the characters' emotional and intellectual growth. medium ( Scene Many )
- Nuance in Authority Figures The script tends to portray authority figures (Mr. Perry, Mr. Nolan) as somewhat one-dimensional antagonists. While their strictness serves as a clear foil to Keating's free-spirited approach, exploring their internal conflicts or understanding their perspectives more deeply could add complexity and avoid caricature. For example, a scene hinting at Mr. Perry's own unfulfilled dreams or the pressures he faces could humanize him and make his actions more understandable, if not agreeable. medium
- On-the-Nose Dialogue Occasionally, the dialogue veers into being overly explicit in stating the themes or motivations, rather than allowing them to emerge organically through action and subtext. For instance, direct statements about 'conformity' or 'seizing the day' could be replaced with more subtle interactions or symbolic visuals. Scene 58, as an example, is a bit too blatant. medium
Claude
Executive Summary
- The screenplay's opening sequence, in which Mr. Keating introduces himself to the students and challenges their preconceptions about poetry, is a standout moment that sets the tone for the rest of the story. Keating's charismatic and unconventional teaching style is vividly brought to life, and the scene effectively establishes the central conflict between the students' desire for self-expression and the school's rigid adherence to tradition. high ( Scene 7 (INT. ENTRANCEWAY - DAY) )
- The scene on the soccer field, where Keating encourages the students to find their own unique ways of walking and expressing themselves, is a powerful exploration of the screenplay's themes of individuality and nonconformity. The scene is both visually engaging and emotionally resonant, as the students struggle to break free from the pressure to conform. medium ( Scene 20 (EXT. SOCCER FIELD - DAY) )
- The scene in Keating's office, where Neil confides in his teacher about his desire to pursue acting and his father's opposition, is a standout moment that deepens the audience's understanding of Neil's character and the central conflict of the story. Keating's compassionate and insightful response to Neil's dilemma is a highlight of the screenplay, and the scene sets the stage for the tragic events that follow. high ( Scene 40 (INT. KEATING'S OFFICE - NIGHT) )
- The sequence set in the theater, where Neil performs in the play and his father watches from the audience, is a powerful and emotionally charged moment that showcases the screenplay's strong character development and thematic depth. The scene effectively captures the tension between Neil's desire for self-expression and his father's rigid expectations, and the resolution of this conflict is both heartbreaking and thought-provoking. high ( Scene 48 (INT. THEATER - NIGHT) )
- The final scene, in which the students stand on their desks to honor Keating as he leaves the school, is a powerful and moving conclusion to the story. The scene effectively captures the lasting impact of Keating's teachings and the students' newfound sense of individuality and nonconformity, and it serves as a fitting tribute to the screenplay's central themes. high ( Scene 58 (INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY) )
- The subplot involving Knox's pursuit of Chris could be more fully developed and integrated into the overall narrative. While the scenes with Knox and Chris provide some comedic relief and character development, they feel somewhat disconnected from the main story and could be strengthened to better serve the screenplay's thematic goals. medium ( Scene 23 (INT. KNOX'S BEDROOM - NIGHT) )
- The conflict between Neil and his father could be explored in greater depth, with more nuanced and complex interactions between the two characters. While the scene in Mr. Perry's study is emotionally powerful, it could be strengthened by providing more insight into the underlying motivations and perspectives of both characters. medium ( Scene 51 (INT. MR. PERRY'S STUDY - NIGHT) )
- The screenplay could benefit from a more diverse representation of characters, particularly in terms of gender and ethnicity. While the story focuses primarily on the male students at Welton Academy, incorporating more female characters and perspectives could add depth and nuance to the narrative. medium ( Scene N/A (N/A) )
- The screenplay's use of literary references, such as the quote from Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!", is a notable strength that adds depth and complexity to the story. These references not only serve to establish the intellectual and artistic sensibilities of the characters, but they also contribute to the overall thematic richness of the screenplay. high ( Scene 7 (INT. ENTRANCEWAY - DAY) )
- The scene in which Keating encourages the students to "seize the day" and find their own unique ways of walking is a standout moment that effectively captures the screenplay's central themes. The visual metaphor of the students breaking free from conformity and expressing their individuality is a powerful and memorable sequence. high ( Scene 19 (EXT. WELTON GROUNDS - DAY) )
- The sequence set in the theater, with Neil's performance as Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," is a highlight of the screenplay. The scene not only showcases Neil's talent and passion for acting, but it also serves as a poignant metaphor for the larger themes of the story, as Neil's character navigates the boundaries between reality and fantasy. high ( Scene 48 (INT. THEATER - NIGHT) )
- Lack of Diverse Representation The screenplay primarily focuses on the experiences of the male students at Welton Academy, with limited representation of female characters and perspectives. Incorporating more diverse characters and storylines could add depth and nuance to the narrative, and better reflect the real-world diversity of the educational system. medium
- Underdeveloped Subplots The subplot involving Knox's pursuit of Chris, while providing some comedic relief and character development, feels somewhat disconnected from the main narrative. Stronger integration and development of this subplot could enhance the overall cohesion and impact of the screenplay. medium
Memorable lines in the script:
Scene Number | Line |
---|---|
7 | Keating: Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary. |
11 | Keating: What will your verse be? |
58 | Todd: O Captain! My Captain! |
12 | Keating: But only in their dreams can man be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be. |
35 | CHARLIE: Damn it, Neil. The name is Nuwanda. |