Dead Poets Society

A brilliant cast including Ethan Hawke and Robin Williams star in Peter Weir's iconic return to the private school setting.

When charismatic English professor John Keating arrives at a strict prep school, his unconventional teaching methods breathe new life into a curriculum steeped in tradition. But Keating soon finds he has drawn the wrath of a disapproving faculty when an unexpected tragedy strikes the school.

Curator's note

Fourteen years after Picnic at Hanging Rock, Peter Weir returned to the setting of the stuffy and controlling private school. Trading the dying days of the 19th Century for the middle of the Twentieth, what is retained is the constraints put on students, their lack of agency and a figurative key to escape. Set in 1959, although it's not made too obvious when the film is set, huge societal upheaval is on its way for these characters, perhaps best articulated by the arrival of Robin Williams' Mr Keating.

Dead Poets Society had a big impact of its own upon its release. The film won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Tom Schulman who drew on personal experience for the film.

To this day, Dead Poets Society remains one-of-those-films that introduced a new generation of young and talented actors to audiences including Ethan Hawke (Reality Bites), Josh Charles (The Good Wife) and Robert Sean Leonard (House) alongside a reborn Robin Williams in his first truly dramatic role.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)