"In its narrative, Weir’s film is not an innovative work. Rather, it recycles old plots and builds them into a very emotional spectacle ..., a serious, lyrical, and romantically idealistic work. ... Visually, Dead Poets Society belongs to the most arresting of Weir’s films. It is enhanced by the masterful photography of John Seale, who worked with Weir as a camera operator as early as in the production of Picnic at Hanging Rock. Seale’s camera catches images of Welton’s countryside bathed first in gold and green and later in snow: autumnal images are followed by snowy winter landscapes. Stanley Kauffmann emphasizes that Seale 'shoots the seasons of the year like archetypal statements.' The photography creates the film’s dramatic mood; as in Witness, the story is told through images and every image strengthens the story. In this sense, Dead Poets Society is one of Weir’s most controlled works. The director avoids a surplus of dialogue and achieves the emotional impact purely cinematographically, through the precisely composed mise-en-scène. Williams and the group of young actors are in a way submitted by the camera. Faces in close-up, which create intimacy, dominate the frame.The young actors do not act but simply are in the film, totally subjugated to the camera. The atmosphere of Dead Poets Society is achieved by mise-en-scène, camera movement, and music (Maurice Jarre’s fourth collaboration with Weir). ...
In contrast with The Mosquito Coast, the director retains precise control of mood and atmosphere. Dead Poets Society is, however, perceived by some critics as 'overprepared' and 'intensely old fashioned.' Pauline Kael, who is often critical of Weir’s films, notes in her review that this is 'conservative craftsmanship. … The picture draws out the obvious and turns itself into a classic.' According to Kael, like Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society is a prestige picture, 'with a gold ribbon attached to it'. ...
Dead Poets Soeiety is not a fighting film but rather an overtly sentimental work that sacrifices its narrative potential for romantic, cliched imagery. Its ideology of individualism, its call for 'finding one’s own way' and rebellion are portrayed in a safe romantic way. The social reality in the film is sketchy and sacrificed for transparent symbolic gesture. ... There is no real rebellion in the film—everything is lost in the lyrical, lofty romantic mist."
— Marek Haltof: Peter Weir. When Cultures Collide. New York 1996, p. 104-105, 110-113