Late Fame review
Samy Burch’s adaptation of an Arthur Schnitzler novella sees Dafoe’s ageing poet embraced by a younger cohort of capricious hipsters. It’s smart, literate and affecting
TL;DR
- Willem Dafoe plays Ed Saxberger, an old poet in New York who works in the post office.
- A young hipster named Meyers discovers Saxberger's out-of-print poetry volume and declares him a neglected genius.
- Saxberger is flattered and thrilled by the attention from Meyers and his literary friends, including an actress named Gloria.
- Meyers offers to get Saxberger republished, stirring his old thirst for glory and causing him to become dismissive of his old friends.
- The film explores the theme of life's lost opportunities and the temptation to risk everything for a last chance at worldly triumph as mortality approaches.
- The reviewer notes a potential for humiliation for Saxberger, similar to Gustav von Aschenbach, but without the existing prestige.