LATE FAME

A film by Kent Jones

Cast : Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee, Samy Burch

drama / USA / Color / status : completed / English / long feature-film / All Rights

Ed Saxberger, a forgotten New York poet, works in the post office. After an eager and flattering young admirer appears on his doorstep, Saxberger is beckoned into a coterie of twentysomething admirers who anoint him as a rediscovered genius. Intoxicated by the attention — and by the alluring presence of Gloria, the group’s “tragic heroine” — Saxberger gradually reckons with the authenticity of his newfound poetic circle.
This thoughtful, witty film is a wistful yet unromantic look at a lost idea of downtown New York.

Wickedly ironic and unexpectedly poignant, LATE FAME is a story about the illusory effect of praise on the soul, and the lingering ghostly presence of the past, whether it’s imagined or vividly remembered.