Product Description

Inspired by the Michael Lesy book of the same name, Wisconsin Death Trip is an intimate, shocking, and sometimes hilarious account of the disasters that befell one small town in Wisconsin during the 1890s. The town of Black River Falls is gripped by a peculiar malaise and the weekly news accounts are dominated by bizarre talk of madness, eccentricity, and violence amongst the local population. Suicide and murder are commonplace, and people are haunted by ghosts, possessed by devils, and terrorized by teenage outlaws and arsonists.
Featuring music by Debussy, Blind Mellon Jefferson, John Cale, and DJ Shadow. Narrated by Ian Holmes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40668 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2004-02-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Black & White, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 76 minutes

Amazon.com
Inspired by the cult-favorite book by Michael Lesy, Wisconsin Death Trip is an eerily dreamlike film about the moral, spiritual, and physical collapse of a small American town in the 1890s. Stricken by economic depression, harsh winters, and a diphtheria epidemic that decimated the local infant population, the citizens of Black River Falls, Wisconsin--primarily German and Norwegian immigrants hoping for a better life in America--fell victim to a rising tide of insanity, murder, arson, and moral breakdown. By creating moody black-and-white reenactments of the horrid events chronicled in Lesy's book (which includes the haunting vintage photographs of the town's official photographer), director James Marsh conveys, through chilling detachment and the subtly sardonic narration by Ian Holm, the impression of sly bemusement, as if Black River Falls was preordained by fate to become a village of the damned. It's both fiendishly macabre and yet strangely compelling, weakened only by Marsh's suggestion (through color sequences of present-day Wisconsin) that things have never really changed since those creepy, ill-fated days when death was seemingly everywhere. Apart from that half-baked attempt at irony, Wisconsin Death Trip is a film you won't soon forget. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Cursed Or A Typical Town?
It is the late 1890's in the town of Black River Falls, Wisconsin and everything is going to hell. There is a diphtheria epidemic that wipes out the children and a long lasting economic depression. Soon after, many of the residents lost their grip on reality and commit suicide and murder in some bizarre and startling ways. James Marsh's documentary pulls the viewer in with these macabre tales and underscores them with color reenactments of some of the events. These reenactments, however, tend to take away from the mysteriousness of the story and keep reminding us that we are over a century away from this event and this is, after all, just a documentary. If only Marsh had kept it all black and white and interspersed more of the real photographs of the townspeople (Black River Falls had its own resident photographer), then it might seem more eerie. It also raises the question that this might not have been that unusual during this period of time in rural America. Black River Falls just happened to have well documented these events. Still, as a reflection of a time when life was hard and times were tough, Marsh succeeds in finding some truly strange occurrences. It's almost as if a curse was placed on this one small town. Iam Holm narrates and his foreboding voice is perfect.

The not so "Good Old Days"
The most striking features of this little dark gem of a film that make it emminently watchable are the beautifully composed black and white shots, often rendered through unusual angles, and the simply elegant soundtrack composed of classical tracks mixed in with modern classical/folk. I found myself being pulled back in time as the film unravelled its stories and slowly steamrolled me over by the sheer volume of misery experienced by the northern immigrant communities. It makes one wonder how much of the small town, everyday life variety of American history is glossed over and forgotten about. Sadly, I think you could have made this film about any number of areas of the US and the human experience between 1850 and 1950 and you would find similar tales of suffering, strife and moral collapse. This should be required watching for those who still believe that there ever was a such thing as the American dream.

Lyrical journey
This great film will stamp an indelible image into your psyche. I saw this at a cinema last year and it has stayed in my mind ever since. A more hauntingly beautiful film has not bettered this faux documentary about the lives our ancestors lived...and how things really have not changed.