I, too was taken in by Kerouac's writing when I was adolescent. Free sex with willing babes, philosophy, drugs, travel, adventure, freedom to the max - what could be wrong with that? Why women would be interested in his lifestyle was less apparent to me. He could obviously talk for days and nights. Which together with his ability to remember conversations word for word for a long time makes me think of someone with a light touch of autism. Also the distance to others that is apparent in his writing. In the end he came across as a troubled and melancholy soul. This film gives us a rare view of the environment he spent part of the fifties in together with his chummy beatniks, where a myth was born (and is still being fed by some). You also get his voice over which runs the length of the film and is much like his writing. Endless associations and playful word games, stream of consciousness as they call it. One of the things that now puts me off is the negative depiction of women, in this film and in beat culture overall - unless they are the kind who are easily subordinated and available. Delphine Seyrig as the mother who actually feeds her son and takes him to school is the bad guy here. As is the Bishop's mother with her unamused expression - here you have them both, the mother and the wife from a beat perspective. Seyrig later went on to direct "Scum manifesto", no doubt fed up with a--holes like these jerks who never did the dishes. The talented David Amram wrote the score and plays some horn. He has called Kerouac a genius and one of the greatest of communicators, and I wouldn't mind having spent time with Jack. But I would rather have spent that time say, with Henry Miller, who was more joy than sorrow, and a better writer. Having said his, I too can feel nostalgia when I think of the beat era. I once went to a reading by Ginsberg and Orlovsky and was moved to tears and laughter like the rest of the audience. But, if you want the real story rather than the myth, read Carolyn Casady's "Off the Road" for starters. Btw, this film can be seen at google video.
