Death of Poe, The
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I’ve always enjoyed Edgar Allen Poe’s work. There’s no better way to spend a dreary Saturday afternoon than hunkering down in a bean bag with Poe’s collected works, mixing poems and short stories, weaving a literary tapestry that can warm your soul and chill you to the bone all at once. Even just skimming the surface of his body of work, it’s easy to see that he was a very passionate man who was shouldering two lifetimes worth of depression and maybe a touch of insanity.


For one of the great literary minds of our time, not much is known about his death, so I was very intrigued when I got a chance to check out “The Death of Poe”, which examines the last couple weeks of the author’s life. But, I went in with some trepidation.


“The Death of Poe” was written, directed and starred Mark Redfield. I had seen Redfield before in “Chainsaw Sally” and thought he did a great job, but there’s something about taking on a role of such a famous persona that turns actors into arrogant, scene-chewing, monologue-spewing asses. But not in this case, luckily. While Redfield’s interpretation did make it abundantly clear that Poe was suffering from some sort of mental instability, and his financial situation wasn’t promising, he still maintained an enormous amount of dignity, and the actual events leading up to his death were an unfortunate series of “wrong place at wrong times”.


Since not much is known about what really happened, let’s assume that the events in “The Death of Poe” are historically accurate. The view of the world from inside Poe’s head are what’s really disturbing. His hallucinations were partially in color, which were a shocking change from the very muted B&W of the film. He was hearing voices (a weird mix of memories and premonitions) and seeing visions (another weird mix of himself, his past, and stories), so it’s no small wonder that keeping track of the real world was so difficult. His life and his writings were playing out in his mind, sometimes blocking out the real world.


A dose of alcohol and physical traumas could easily have sent him spiraling into madness and make him lose touch with reality. This is the part of the story where Redfield showed his respect for the man, while also honoring him by not making him out to be some heroic figure. He was a well-known author who was down on his luck that slipped into insanity. There was no triumphant moment of clarity, no epiphany, nor a deathbed diatribe. He somewhat made peace with his demons and died penniless. There was nothing grandiose about it.


“The Death of Poe” is a slow moving story, but because of the tight focus, my attention never waned. While skittering around the perimeter of “artsy” it’s a very straightforward story, and could easily be shown in any American Lit class (hopefully replacing that horrendous “Romeo & Juliet” from the 80s that I was subjected to year after year). The story doesn’t paint Poe in a very majestic light, but it also leaves him with his dignity, and perhaps even a little sympathy and understanding from the viewer.


Would I watch it again? No doubt. The entire cast was incredible, and except for a couple of outside shots that looked a bit cheap, this could easily pass as a big budget production (when you do watch it though, check out the doorknob to Poe’s room at the boarding house – does that look a bit modern to you?) and should absolutely be seen by any fan of the author.


The DVD itself is chock full of extras, and even includes a CD of Redfield reading some of Poe’s classic works. It’s a 4 ½ cans out of 5 endeavor, and something I’d readily revisit on one of those gloomy Saturday afternoons.


Oh, and for those of you who thought I’d stoop to getting in some borderline witty references to Poe’s work, sorry to let you down, but it didn’t quite fit into the mood of the rest of the review. You’ll get my critique, and nothing more.

Added:  Thursday, April 05, 2007

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