Michael Lesy's 1973 book ‘Wisconsin Death Trip' is a coffee table volume for people who build their own caskets and use them as coffee tables. It's a haunting account of Blind River Falls , Wisconsin between 1890 and 1900 as told through old photographs, articles from the local newspaper and accounts from the Mendota Asylum for the Insane.

Unfortunately, the film of the same name loses much of the impact of the book. Director James Marsh lifts some of the most arresting images from Lesy's book (lots of babies in caskets, such mementos were in vogue at the time) and places them between wordless slow-mo, black-and-white recreations of settler life with narration lifted from Lesy's collection. After awhile, these faux daguerreotype vignettes feel like a cross between a highbrow rock video and a mutual fund commercial.

To be fair, Marsh never exploits the weirder aspects of Blind River Falls (murder, suicide, drug addiction, incest and downright dementia) for cheap thrills. But it's far too reverent towards Lesy's structure without managing the same kind of hypnotic spell.

Extras include a commentary by Marsh and cinematographer Eigil Bryld which is much more interesting than the film (he obviously planned his approach meticulously, it just doesn't work). There's also a collection of same-old, same-old deleted scenes, liner notes by Greill Marcus, and a surprisingly honest making-of documentary (including a casting director saying “If you're good looking, don't show up.”)

While the effort is admirable, the film is never engaging. You can't forget that you're watching wordless play-acting based on real photographs and real stories. The result is squarely middlebrow, neither as honest as a documentary nor as engaging as fiction. The film might give you a few chills, but it won't make you care.

© 2004 Michael John Derbecker