Jack Kerouac, the novelist who revolutionised the form of American fiction and journalism, was born to a family of French-Canadians in exile and did not begin to understand English until he was six. Alienation, a quest for transcendence and the need to discover a new language would ultimately define his art. Through dramatised excerpts, period footage and candid interviews, this film shows how Kerouac’s restless seeking as a literary bohemian embodied a larger Franco-American pattern of emigration and displacement.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
304493
Language
English
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Beat generation
Documentary → Documentary films - Canada
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Beat generation
Literature → American literature
Literature → Kerouac, Jack, 1922-1969
Music & Performing Arts → Beat generation
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)