The UW-Madison Center for the Humanities is honored to sponsor the Wisconsin Film Festival and this showing of Late Fame.
About the film: Wisconsin’s Own Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a post office factotum who is suddenly “rediscovered” when a group of fervent young artists begin hailing his long-ignored book of poetry as a work of genius. Drawn into their downtown coterie—and into the orbit of the mercurial actress Gloria (Greta Lee) – the increasingly unsettled Ed must decide whether this late-in-life adoration is revelation, delusion, or something in between. Late Fame was adapted from a late 19th century novella by Viennese writer Arthur Schnitzler, whose Traumnovelle was later modernized into Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Working from a screenplay by Samy Burch (May December), director Kent Jones has said he envisioned “the New York of now and the New York of a now vanished past, one delicately layered over the other.” This sense of overlapping eras, including the contrast of old Vienna and present-day Manhattan, gives Jones’ movie its wistful, intimate charge. This is a funny and tender study of what it means to be an artist, the fragile need for recognition, and the sometimes painful ache of time slipping away. (JH)
Showings:
- Sunday, April 12 at 6:30 PM at The Marquee at Union South
- Monday, April 13 at 2:45 PM at Flix Brewhouse, Cinema 8
About the Wisconsin Film Festival: Since 1999, the Wisconsin Film Festival has curated, promoted, and exhibited programs showcasing the art and the history of world cinema. Currently presented under the auspices of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Communication Arts, the Festival supports UW’s teaching, research, and public service mission by exposing the campus and the greater Madison community to films and filmmakers from Wisconsin and beyond. As cinema is an essential art form that enriches the human experience and enhances one’s knowledge of a variety of cultures, the Festival seeks to create a strong sense of community through curating a vast body of films and through the creation of gatherings before and after screenings that welcome diverse communities.