The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (1993, First Run, unrated, priced for rental) According to this ragged yet fascinating film, the seminal beat poet leads a vibrant life marked by touchstones called William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Abbie Hoffman. Thankfully, the rough quality of the interview segments (with Norman Mailer, Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, and others) is outshone by provocative anecdotes (LSD parties in the East Village, coming out in the ’50s) and great, often rare footage (’30s home movies, ’60s protests). Not to be missed: Ginsberg on Firing Line in 1968, explaining the mellowness of the universe to a visibly uncomfortable William F. Buckley Jr. B+ —Daneet Steffens