Arena 2000

Wisconsin Death Trip (2000)

This poetic documentary uses archive newspaper reports, the contemporary photographs of Charles Van Shaick, and reconstructions to portray the mysterious and tragic events that befell the small and unsuspecting American town of Black River Falls in the 1890s. The story was originally told in Michael Lesy's book, which was itself based on newspaper reports and archive photographs from the time. Ian Holm narrates the stories using the words of the local newspaper editor.