‘A brave man and a brave poet.” That’s Bob Dylan talking about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, painter, publisher, anarchist, civil libertarian — in this lively documentary by Christopher Felver.
Now a feisty 93, Ferlinghetti helped start the legendary City Lights bookstore in San Francisco in 1953 (it has since been declared a historic landmark by Frisco officials), and fought relentlessly for publication of William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch,” D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” and other controversial books.
Dennis Hopper is another of the talking heads who praise Ferlinghetti. And the poet himself has much to say in interviews recorded over the past decade. “So now’s the time for you to speak before they come for you, oh silent majority,” he warns at the film’s conclusion. With Americans’ civil liberties under constant threat, it’s comforting to know that Ferlinghetti is still with us.