Loaded Gun: Life, and Death, and Dickinson

Perhaps this flippant, hip video will engage high school students in a way that a straight documentary or poetic appreciation of Emily Dickinson would not, but it drove me crazy. There's some wonderful stuff here: Julie Harris reads and comments on some of Dickinson's most interesting poetry, and U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins offers astute observations before reading his hilarious fantasy poem about disrobing and making love to Dickinson. Writer/director Jim Wolpaw also interviews biographers, collects period photographs, and uses phrases from the poems to good graphic effect, but apparently that wasn't enough, so he also checks in with four psychotherapists, who attempt annoying armchair analysis. Plus, he found a “sensitive” who channeled the poet and discovered that she had been a Buddhist monk in a past life, persuaded an artist to produce avant-garde works incorporating phrases of poetry, and convinced a rock band, complete with female singer in a tight red dress, to put the poetry to mediocre music. Finally (and endlessly), he auditioned aspiring actresses, in the hopes (who knows why) they would offer some insight into Dickinson's character during the auditions (he asks them, “Miss Dickinson, why don't you ever leave your house?” and “Miss Dickinson, are you in love with death?” and “Do you have a problem with God?”, among other questions). Despite these flaws, the documentary does keep the viewer's attention, and Wolpaw's stated aim is laudable: “What I really wanted to do was to solve the mystery of how this sheltered 19 century spinster was able to produce poetry that still seems ahead of its time in the 21st century.” He may not have solved that mystery, but--thank goodness--his film contains enough of Dickinson's wonderful poetry (she defined her occupation as “the spreading wide my narrow hands/to gather paradise”) to carry it, despite the shrinks, actresses, and rock music. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (M. Pendergrast)