If you think you know this brilliant poet and free speech advocate, think again. In this superb documentary, we learn about his French childhood, his life as a World War II Navyman, viewing the devastation first hand of Nagasaki, and how he came to open his famous bookstore City Lights and reign as the literary godfather of San Francisco. Filmmaker Christopher Felver gets it right and gives us appreciation of a remarkable pirit and courageous man.