Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee’s ‘Late Fame’ Signals a Resurgence in Nostalgic Storytelling
Imagine a film that plunges you back into the electric, often gritty, atmosphere of downtown New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a character in itself, a vibrant echo of a lost era that inexplicably draws a forgotten poet back into the spotlight. This is the tantalizing premise of Kent Jones’ new film, Late Fame, starring Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee, which made its debut at the Venice Film Festival. But beyond the star power and the festival buzz, the film’s focus on rediscovery and the potent allure of past decades hints at a broader cultural conversation about how we engage with memory and artistry in the digital age.
The Allure of the Vanished Downtown
At the heart of Late Fame is Ed Saxberger, portrayed by Willem Dafoe with a “quietly authentic performance.” Saxberger, a New York poet whose active days on the poetry circuit are long behind him, now works in the post office. His life, seemingly mundane, is disrupted when a group of young admirers, deeply nostalgic for the “lost downtown New York” of the late 70s and early 80s, “rediscover” him. This echoes a growing trend where younger generations actively seek out and romanticize cultural touchstones from periods they never personally experienced.
Greta Lee, fresh off her acclaimed role in Past Lives, plays Gloria, a woman similarly embraced by this nostalgic cohort as their “tragic heroine.” The film’s narrative, adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s 1890s Viennese novel by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Samy Burch, suggests a timeless quality to these themes of artistic legacy and the complex personas artists often adopt.
Nostalgia as a Cultural Currency
The resurgence of interest in the 70s and 80s downtown New York scene isn’t isolated to film. We see it in fashion, music sampling, and even in the way contemporary artists re-examine archival material. This phenomenon suggests a societal yearning for tangible cultural heritage in an increasingly digitized and ephemeral world. As Jones himself notes, the script allowed him to see “the New York of now and the New York of a now vanished past, one delicately layered over the other.” This layering is key; it’s not just about remembering the past, but about how it informs and interacts with the present.
The film also features a strong supporting cast, including Edmund Donovan as the leader of the “faux bohemians,” Jake Lacy as a literary agent, and Tom Torn as Saxberger’s flamboyant neighbor. These characters likely contribute to the film’s exploration of authenticity versus performance, a theme particularly relevant in our age of curated online identities.
Beyond the Surface: The Darker Shades of Rediscovery
A first clip of the film reveals a pivotal moment where Gloria is introduced to Saxberger, who is “immediately hooked.” However, her “flamboyant appearance and devil-may-care front hides a darker side and reality.” This narrative thread offers a critical perspective on nostalgia, suggesting it can sometimes mask uncomfortable truths or present idealized versions of the past. It prompts us to consider whether our fascination with bygone eras is always a healthy engagement with history, or if it can sometimes be a form of escapism that overlooks the complexities and struggles of those times.
The film’s very existence, an adaptation of a turn-of-the-century novel set in a specific historical period and now transposed to a different era in New York, speaks to the enduring power of certain human experiences. As Jones, whose directorial credits include non-fiction works like Hitchcock/Truffaut, observes, “I could feel the presence of poetry, forever fragile and at its very best forever free.” This sentiment highlights the artistic impulse to capture and preserve essence, regardless of the era.
Future Implications: The Blurring Lines of Influence
What does Late Fame, and its embrace of a specific historical milieu, portend for future creative endeavors?
- Intergenerational Dialogue through Art: Films like this can serve as crucial bridges, allowing younger audiences to connect with and appreciate cultural movements of the past, fostering empathy and understanding across generational divides.
- The Ethics of Archival Engagement: As more artists mine the past for inspiration, there’s an increasing need to consider the ethical implications of appropriating or reinterpreting historical narratives. Is it genuine homage, or is it diluting or misrepresenting the original context?
- Authenticity in an Age of Simulation: The film’s exploration of characters who might be projecting certain images, particularly Gloria, speaks to our current reality where digital personas often blur the lines between genuine self and curated presentation.
The very fact that a story rooted in a 1890s novel finds its resonance through a contemporary lens, capturing the spirit of a lost New York, suggests a cyclical nature to cultural influence. It reminds us that the past is never truly gone; it’s always being reinterpreted, rediscovered, and integrated into our present.
“What are your thoughts on the resurgence of 70s and 80s nostalgia in film and culture? Share your insights in the comments below!”
