LATE FAME Trailer: Willem Dafoe Steps Back Into His Poetry Roots in Kent Jones’ Evocative Drama
Following his winning 2018 narrative debut Diane, film critic & programmer-turned-director Kent Jones returns with a New York tale that pays tribute to a bygone artistic generation. Late Fame stars Willem Dafoe, giving one of his best performances, as former poet Ed Saxberger, who finds himself unexpectedly returning to the craft he left behind decades ago when he falls in with a younger group of artists. Among its members are an actress with a starlet-like personality (an exuberant Greta Lee) and the group’s privileged host (breakout Edmund Donovan). Oscar nominee Samy Burch (May December) penned the script based on Arthur Schnitzler’s posthumously published novella, written in the late 19th century. After screening at last year’s Venice Film Festival and NYFF, Magnolia Pictures will release the film in NY on August 7 and LA on August 14, before expanding to further cities.
I wrote in my NYFF review, “With Late Fame, Kent Jones excels in blending the past and present of the New York City art scene – blending archival footage, sound effects, and even Carisa Kelly’s vintage costume design to reawaken the ghosts of the city’s unconforming artists. Dafoe, who himself has gained a much wider appreciation in the last number of years, brilliantly channels his quiet energy into a multi-layered performance as someone in conflict with himself and his past dreams. A vivacious Greta Lee shines in a role that highlights her many dimensions as a performer. But the clear breakout of this film is Edmund Donovan, who excels as someone whose faux-admiration and opinionated nature only emphasize his narcissism. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for what he does next. This gently flowing, atmospheric depiction of an ordinary existence succeeds in humanizing all its characters, even as it’s shown through one man’s perspective. Not everything is resolved by the end, but it doesn’t deprive us of the hope that lies ahead.”
Check out the official trailer and poster below.
