X
- 1999
- PG-13
- SundanceNow Doc Club
- 1 h 31 m
- 1999
- PG-13
- SundanceNow Doc Club
- 1 h 31 m
Summary A tale of ignorance, self-deception, and vanity. Documentarian Errol Morris sews together a patchwork of diverse viewpoints that seek to uncover the central mystery behind Fred Leuchter's motivations. (Lions Gate Films)
Directed By: Errol Morris
- 1999
- PG-13
- SundanceNow Doc Club
- 1 h 31 m
- 1999
- PG-13
- SundanceNow Doc Club
- 1 h 31 m
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
78
User Score
Mixed or Average
6.0
Summary A tale of ignorance, self-deception, and vanity. Documentarian Errol Morris sews together a patchwork of diverse viewpoints that seek to uncover the central mystery behind Fred Leuchter's motivations. (Lions Gate Films)
Directed By: Errol Morris
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
78
88% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
78
88% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
12% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Morris's unique blend of realism and surrealism gives the film great resonance as a portrait of one eccentric individual and, more important, a study of the morbid proclivities that run beneath the surface of our supposedly civilized society.
Using archly staged interviews and reconstructions that draw attention to the components of the documentary form, Morris does justice to the complexity of hot-button issues by suggesting several layers of subtext at once, portraying the articulate Leuchter as both rational and prone to rationalize.
With his coolly objective moon's-eye view serving a story that's bizarre by even his long-established career standards, the great documentarian Errol Morris examines the perils of vanity - though others will understandably make more sinister interpretations.
Morris, instead of evoking the solemnity that surrounds most films that touch on the Holocaust, has directed Mr. Death as the blackest of comedies.
(Morris's) strangest and most disturbing portrait yet.
At the heart of all Morris's films -- from "The Thin Blue Line" to "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control" -- is a fundamental belief in the unreliability of truth.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 4 User Ratings
6.0
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
25% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 4 User Ratings
6.0
75% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
25% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Independent Film Channel (IFC),
Channel Four,
Fourth Floor Pictures,
Scout Productions,
Open Society Institute,
Boston Film / Video Foundation
Release Date Dec 29, 1999
Duration 1 h 31 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Awards
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Online Film Critics Society Awards
• 1 Nomination
Directors Guild of America, USA
• 1 Nomination
