Poetry
see all genres ›Though not exactly the popular medium it was in, say, the 19th century, verse has inspired plenty of celluloid art in the 20th century and onward. From adaptations of famous epic narrative poems to shorts musing upon modernist wordsmiths.
Watch Poetry Films
Genres / Adaptation / Literary / Poetry
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Night Tide
A sailor on shore leave becomes fascinated by a woman who poses as a mermaid in an oceanfront carnival. As their relationship blossoms, Johnny (Dennis Hopper) realizes that Mora (Linda Lawson) is more than a sideshow illusionist. She seems to be a descendent of the mythical sirens of the sea, and...Watch Movie
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Shirin
A vibrant, daringly original work from Abbas Kiarostami, SHIRIN is the flowering of an experimentalist streak that’s been evident in many of the director’s most well-known features, including CLOSE-UP, TASTE OF CHERRY and others. Ostensibly an adaptation of a 12th century Persian poem about a...Watch Movie
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Kimono
This half hour "ambient narrative" was made for the German TV series. Inspired by some readings in a collection of classical Japanese poetry, the film follows a young bride abandoned at a desolate roadside and her dream-like descent into the depths of the forest. There, other aspects of herself...Watch Movie
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Beauty in Trouble
BEAUTY IN TROUBLE explores a young woman’s romantic dilemma: torn between a primal connection and the need to provide for her children, she loves two men. Set against the back drop of the recent floods in Prague, BEAUTY IN TROUBLE is full of unexpected twists, humor and...Watch Movie
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This Unnameable Little Broom
This piece was originally conceived as a pilot for a series which never materialized due to lack of funding. Alternative title: LITTLE SONGS OF THE CHIEF OFFICER OF HUNAR LOUSE (BEING A LARGELY DISGUISED REDUCTION OF THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH) "in which Gilgamesh sends a...Watch Movie
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The Night Before Christmas
"A Visit from St. Nicholas," the memorable holiday poem by Clement Clarke Moore, is adapted for the screen by longtime Edison Manufacturing Company director Edwin S. Porter. "'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a...Watch Movie
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
I wanted to depict the complete [Samuel Taylor Coleridge] poem via [Gustave] Doré illustrations, yet infuse with dream-irrelevancies that would carry the film at least one step out of the realm of the merely filmic illustrations of a poem. I tried to infiltrate the world of...Watch Movie
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The Angelic Conversation
Derek Jarman's lyrical celebration of gay love set within the context of a series of William Shakespeare’s sonnets. Ethereal Super-8 images slowed to a magical, meditative pace follow the love affair between two men as Dame Judi Dench provides a soothing presence with her...Watch Movie
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Mister Twister
Based on a popular children’s poem by Samuel Marshak, Anatoly Karanovich’s animation is a cheerful indictment of American racism. The titular millionaire visits Leningrad from Chicago and turns several shades of mad when he discovers a black man staying at his hotel. A clever concierge conspires...Watch Movie
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The Cry of the Children
THE CRY OF THE CHILDREN is the most famous and best documented of all Thanhouser films. In its day it was recognized as one of the most important expressions of the pre-World War One reform movement, in particular child labor. Perhaps because the uncompromising content drew...Watch Movie
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The Vagabonds
THE VAGABONDS source is a different kind of classic, a poem by an influential and prolific writer of inspirational and cautionary stories for children, particularly boys. THE VAGABONDS is a series of flashbacks where a penniless, friendless tramp relates the story of his downfall due to drink....Watch Movie
