Charles Olson
Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place is a documentary film that features the poet himself extensively “performing” readings of his own poetry. The true subject of the film is how the city of Gloucester, Massachusetts is integral to that output.
John Malkovich
In addition to Olson, the work of the poet is also recited by actor John Malkovich. Malkovich also joins an illustrious cast in providing voiceover appreciation of Olson the man and artist. These insights form the structural foundation of the film as a kind of impressionistic portrait of its subject.
Diane Di Prima
Foremost among the other poets offering their perspective on the work of Olson and his contribution to American letters is Diane Di Prima. She is routinely referred to as the most well-known and significant female Beat poet. Two years after the release of the documentary, she was named poet laurate of the unofficial home base of the Beat movement, San Francisco.
John Stilgoe
Stilgoe is a historian and professor at Harvard University. While most of the cast is utilized for interviews directly related to Olson and his work, Stilgoe’s perspective veers more strongly toward being a voice offering background for the significance of Gloucester in the poetry of Olson. He offers insight into the unique and integral relationship that exists between a creative artist and the environment which surrounds him as he produces his creative output.
Robert Creeley
Creeley is, arguably, the most important member of the cast, even more so than its subject. Creeley and Olson engaged in a decades-long series of correspondences with each other and were close friends as well as peers in the poetry community. One of the highlights of the film often singled out in reviews is Creeley’s typically idiosyncratic comparative talents in which he draws an analogy between Olson’s creative process in crafting poetry and the bulldog tenacity of legendary Miami Dolphins running back, Larry Csonka during his MVP-winning performance against the Vikings in Super Bowl VIII.
