Factual error: The film takes place in a private boarding school the 1950's, however one of the students is studying from a 1980's chemistry textbook. The obvious giveaway is that the spine of one book shows HBJ as the publisher. Jovanovich was not added to Harcourt Brace until the 1970s.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Plot summary
Directed by: Peter Weir
Starring: Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Kurtwood Smith, Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles
Genres: Drama
Painfully shy Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil (Robert Sean Leonard), although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating (Robin Williams), their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.
More mistakes in Dead Poets Society
John Keating: There's a time for daring and there's a time for caution, and a wise man understands which is called for.
Question: While Robin Williams is packing his things in his small room, he waves down out the window at whom I believe is the Latin teacher, walking along a snowy sidewalk. What is the teacher doing, exactly? It appears that he's giving a guided tour of the campus, but he's also muttering Latin words. It can't be a classroom exercise because there are only 4 or 5 people with him. Does anyone know what he's doing?
Answer: I thought it was a punishment for the pupils involved in the scandal.
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Chosen answer: It is a classroom exercise. He is being followed by pupils and is reinforcing their latin vocabulary by taking them on a tour of the garden and showing them the things that the words actually relate to (edificium = building, flora = flower etc.) This contrasts with his earlier behaviour when he simply had them mindlessly recite conjugations (amamo, amamas, amabat). The point is that this illustrates how the Latin Master has been affected by his contact with Keating and has become a better teacher as a result.
Oscar Bravo