Willem Dafoe Shines in 'Late Fame' as Rediscovered Poet — SkimNews
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- Willem Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, an aging New York postal worker and former 1970s bohemian poet whose long-out-of-print collection 'Way Past Go' is rediscovered by a group of young literary enthusiasts.
- Kent Jones directs the film and adapts an Arthur Schnitzler novella with screenwriter Samy Burch; Jones previously directed the 2015 documentary 'Hitchcock/Truffaut.'
- Edmund Donovan plays Meyers, a wealthy, well-connected hipster who discovers Saxberger's poetry and engineers a potential republication, with Greta Lee as Gloria, the volatile actor with a crush on the older poet.
- The reviewer ties the story to Schnitzler's 'Traumnovelle' (filmed by Kubrick as 'Eyes Wide Shut'), framing 'Late Fame' as a new variation on the author's theme of lost opportunities for love and success.
- The reviewer warns Saxberger faces a possible 'Gustav von Aschenbach-style humiliation' — echoing Thomas Mann's 'Death in Venice' — because the revival could be revoked as capriciously as it was offered.
- The review calls the film 'a tonic' and singles out Dafoe as 'a pleasure for every moment he is on screen,' while noting the young group's outrage at smartphones is undermined by the ease of finding the book on AbeBooks.com.
Why it matters: The review positions 'Late Fame' as a literate, character-driven addition to the Schnitzlerian tradition, with critics singling out Dafoe's performance as reason enough to see it — and positioning Jones as a film-maker capable of carrying a literary adaptation after his documentary work.
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