The Death of Poe

Fascnating and compelling, THE DEATH OF POE not only gives the author his due and creates a remarkable evocation of its era, it echoes Poe's themes unobtrusively within its dramatic construct. The "sorrows of the lost Lenore" (the loss of his teenage wife) are apparent in Poe's subjective hallucinations; the duality of "William Wilson" is an influence in the scene noted above with Redfield and fellow Baltimorian George Stover; the panic and confusion of the protagonist in "Pit and the Pendulum" crops up in Poe's jail scene and his "missing days," and maybe I'm wrong, but I see a whiff of M. Valdemar in the last, near-comatose days of Poe in hospital. But the evocations are not blatant, they are suggestive.

The screenwriters know not to overload their actors with too much period dialogue. Like GANGS OF NEW YORK, there is enough to give the feel of period without making everyone sound like a walking cinematic cliché. Poe himself is almost taciturn on screen, though well-represented in voice-over: a good choice, since the sparseness of dialogue makes a leading character more intriguing.

Costumes, sets and photography are superb, just what is needed. Additional material on the DVD, with appropriate new accompanying music by Jennifer Rouse, is uniformly excellent.