Mr. Death

Errol Morris' documentary of 1999, Mr. Death, is subtitled The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. This subtitle has a great degree of significance; the film isn't truly about Leuchter's apparent "calling" as an "execution expert" or his strangeness, his queer fascination with the means of execution and the tale of a unique man; rather, it is the chronicle of an ordinary man, caught up in a familiar trap, and abandoned to oblivion. All those little additions to his name, the "A" and "Jr," the very length of the subtitle, these indicate the banality of the narration to follow - which isn't to say that the film is dull or boring, rather that its problems, motivations and subject are tragically mundane. Poor Fred. Not even Frederick. 

The film is lovely though not free of the rather "cute" touches that fill most of Morris' films. That the director of The Thin Blue Line and the First Person television series should allow, apparently relish, a ridiculously Midi soundtrack, and, just as in Fast Cheap and Out of Control, populate the film with useless little clips, is always a bit disappointing. The tale is there, the interviews are there; why is this preciousness necessary? Give the filmgoer a bit of credit.