Wisconsin Death Trip

Year: 1999

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Marsh

Review

an odd documentary based upon the book of the same name which recalls the events in a small wisconsin town between the years 1890 and 1900. essentially a bunch of people in the area started going insane which lead to several murders, suicides and other crimes. the documentary is assembled using still photography from the time, recollections from a local writer, and reenactments shot in black and white. the score is mostly classical music, but does employ dj shadow on three different occasions. it’s odd because of the tone of the film. it’s not instructive, like a history channel documentary and it’s not a dramatic, fictional recreation of those events. it’s subject matter is heavy, and so is the tone, but it does have some light moments. beautiful to look at and interesting considering the events, but not informative or particularly moving so i wasn’t really sure what the point was.