Wisconsin Death Trip

Inspired by the bizarre 1973 book by Michael Lesy, Wisconsin Death Trip is an eerily effective study of the dark underbelly of the American dream, chronicling the moral, spiritual, and physical breakdown of the idyllic town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in the 1890s. Whereas Lesy's book used newspaper accounts and archival photos to convey the woes that engulfed this rural enclave of German and Norwegian immigrants, filmmaker James Marsh uses dreamlike black-and-white re-enactments full of madness, murder, and mayhem, enhanced by Ian Holm's subtly sardonic recitation of newspaper clippings from a time when Black River Falls seemed, quite literally, to be a village of the damned. The source of this misfortune--economic collapse, an epidemic of infant deaths from diphtheria, and all manner of eccentric, immoral, and violent behavior--is reported with chilling detachment, resulting in a haunting portrait of late 19th-century America, compromised only by Marsh's attempt to draw subtly ironic parallels to contemporary life in the town (shot in color) that was once a nexus for rampant, unspeakable horrors. A fine complement to Lesy's still-popular book (a cult favorite that's never gone out of print), this oddly beautiful festival favorite is a dark, unsettling example of cinematic impressionism, and while it may not have much of a point when all is said and done, it's still an offbeat history lesson that lingers in the mind. Recommended. (J. Shannon)