The Source

Traces the Beats from Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's meeting in 1944 at Columbia University to the deaths of Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs in 1997. Three actors provide dramatic interpretations of the work of these three writers, and the film chronicles their friendships, their arrival into American consciousness, their travels, frequent parodies, Kerouac's death, and Ginsberg's politicization. Their movement connects with bebop, John Cage's music, abstract expressionism, and living theater. In recent interviews, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Kesey, Ferlinghetti, Mailer, Jerry Garcia, Tom Hayden, Gary Snyder, Ed Sanders, and others measure the Beats' meaning and impact.

5.2

88 min

Cast

Johnny Depp

as Jack Kerouac

Dennis Hopper

as William S. Burroughs

John Turturro

as Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

as Self (archive footage)

William S. Burroughs

as Self (archive footage)

Philip Glass

as Self

Robert Creeley

as Self

Ann Charters

as Self

George Steade

as Self

David Amram

as Self

Ed Sanders

as Self

Gregory Corso

as Self

Kyle Roderick

as Self

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

as Self

Ken Kesey

as Self

Gary Snyder

as Self

Jerry Garcia

as Self

Jack Micheline

as Self

Michael McClure

as Self

Stephen Ronan

as Self

Philip Whalen

as Self

Terry Southern

as Self

Timothy Leary

as Self

Paul Krassner

as Self

Diane Di Prima

as Self

Tom Hayden

as Self

David Dellinger

as Self

John Sampas

as Self

Director

Chuck Workman