Franco Goes Gay Again

James Franco's new film — which he not only stars in but also wrote, directed, and produced — chronicles the short life of tortured gay poet Hart Crane.

The black-and-white movie is called The Broken Tower, named for one of Crane's last publications. The poet, who killed himself at 32 in 1932, was behind obtuse poems that featured frequent metaphors. The Los Angeles Times  caught up with Franco at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and he told the paper he doesn't understand much of Crane's work.

"I couldn’t even tell you what half his stuff means," literature-lover Franco said, according to the Times. "But what inspired
me is his spirit and drive. He cared so much about his work, even when
nobody else understood it."

The film features graphic sex scenes as well as Crane reading a poem aloud for 10 minutes straight. Crane will be the second gay poet Franco has portrayed — the first being Allen Ginsberg in Howl. Franco received an Independent Spirit Award in 2009 for his role as Harvey Milk's boyfriend Scott Smith in Gus Van Sant's Milk.