The Broken Tower is a 2011 American black-and-white student film directed, written, produced, edited by and starring James Franco. The film was made by Franco as his Masters thesis for his MFA in filmmaking from New York University. The film is about American poet Hart Crane. Franco appears in the starring role as Crane along with Michael Shannon as one of Crane''s lovers. The Broken Tower made its world premiere in April 2011 at Boston College. It was shown at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF) in June and released on DVD in 2012. The film includes the recitation by Franco of several of Crane''s poems both as voice-over additions to the film, as well as actual readings of several poems rendered by Franco as portraying Crane himself.

Plot
The film begins with a plot structure based on a progression of chapters titled as "Voyages" in Hart Crane''s life loosely related to Crane''s lyric poem of the same name. In the first "Voyages", a depiction is made of an early attempt by Crane to take his own life. Among the other opening "Voyages", the audience is also shown depictions of several same sex relationships which Crane had throughout his lifetime in semi-graphic portrayal consistent with the film''s rating. Crane''s life is shown progressing through the various "Voyages" in the film, largely portrayed through his troubled relationship with the father, his close relationship to his mother, and his frustrating relationship to his job in advertising as a copyrighter in New York City. In the final "Voyages", Crane''s difficult relationship to alcoholism is depicted, ending with his final "Voyage" on a small cruise ship at sea in the vicinity of Mexico where Crane ended his life by his own hand.

Production
Franco thought of the idea for the film while reading Paul Mariani’s biography of Crane, also entitled The Broken Tower after the name of one of Crane''s poems, on the set of his 2002 movie Sonny. Franco had publicly stated that the poet''s tragic life story attracted him to the material. The DVD release of the film includes a supplement which has an interview of Mariani with Franco.