Dead Poets Society

In the film Dead Poets Society, made famous by Peter Weir, we see the contrasts of youth and age very prominent here. To start off this film, we see a few boys dressed in their school uniforms, which almost look like classic, casual business attire we’d see from the early 1900’s. This leads to a ceremony to open the school, which in itself looks like a very elderly church full of candles, murals, and the students, and faculty, all looking depressed or more dreading if anything. After this ceremony, we are introduced to this new English teacher. He’s younger compared to the rest of his peers, but seems like he could be smarter in his ways of teaching or relating to his students. He has a positive, or witty, vibe to him that portrays his age well. After all of this, we see the parents beginning to leave; and outside of the school the kids seem to be full of life again. They begin to talk and smile, almost as if they had shed a layer of mechanical flaws. With some of these details you can almost make the inference that maybe this new English teacher will find a way to bring his students back to life within the morning walls of the school.