Wisconsin Death Trip

Wisconsin Death Trip was originally a non-fiction book published in 1973 and written by Michael Lesy that was inspired by the late 19th century photography of Charles Van Schaick. Schaick's photography centers around the community of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Van Schaick's photography emphasizes the severe hardships of life in the Midwest and features numerous portraits of the dead primped up for their funeral, including many infants. The text of the book consisted of news reports, mostly of crime and mayhem. Director James Marsh uses these news reports as a starting off point for his 1999 film. He has the late Ian Holm, using these press clippings, narrate the film whilst Marsh reenacts the various tragedies using mostly silent, black and white footage. This footage is interspersed with Van Schaick's photography and color footage of the community today. Marsh divides his film into four sections, allied with the seasons, that suggest the continuity of the societal ills presented.

Marsh's flippant tone drew the ire of critics at the time, but I found it appropriate. It reminded me of a favorite book of my youth, Otto Bettmann's The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible! Drawing from his vast archive, Bettmann sought to debunk the mythos of the Gilded Age by showing that America was as beset by social and environmental problems as it is today. Marsh's intent is largely the same and I feel he succeeds. His visual style is unsentimental, but not overly grotesque. What to some displays a lack of empathy, to me is a clear eyed exploration of the outer boundaries of the documentary form.