Our Paul Gratton takes a look at the new film Late Fame which has had a successful festival run and is now in limited run in the US & Canada.
About: In the movie Late Fame, an obscure, aging postal worker and former 1970s downtown New York poet named Ed Saxberger is unexpectedly rediscovered by a young, idealistic admirer named Meyers and his clique of twenty-something artists, who hail Ed’s long-forgotten poetry collection as a masterpiece.
Reaction: Willem Dafoe gives another exceptional performance as an artist (having previously incarnated such luminaries as Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Pasolini, etc. in a filmography of over 150 titles), in this case as a forgotten New York beat poet, Ed Saxberger, who has spent the last several decades working in a local post office. One day, a young admirer shows up out of the blue and invites him to dinner, having purchased an long out-of-print copy of Ed’s book of poems in a used book shop, and concluding that the blue collar “man of letters” is an unsung literary genius. The young man is part of a group of pretentious artistic poseurs from various backgrounds who have formed an arts appreciation group, that seems very New Yorky in its discussions and membership. Ed is Initially amused, but not terribly interested. But the non-stop adulation for an old guy who “once knew Burroughs” starts to disarm the jaded everyday Joe that Ed has become. The young acolytes encourage him to think of starting to write again, and even use their connections to have him meet with a young hip publisher, who wants a memoir, not more poetry. Swanning through the group is a somewhat older Asian actress named Gloria (brilliantly played by Greta Lee) whose charming and flirtatious theatricality even the cynical old poet becomes entranced by. It all culminates in an evening of “new poetry” which may or may not happen, and may or may not result in a public rediscovery and reading. While the young phony pups buzzing around him, flattering his ego, don’t always ring true, Dafoe’s performance remains grounded and always believable, as the film explores the notions of second chances, artistic inspiration and the pretensions of the art scene, especially in New York. Dafoe makes it all work. Premiered at Venice.
Rating: 6 out of 10
