A low key and passionate haiku with Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee.

There are sequences in “Late Fame” where the former poet wanders around Lower Manhattan, he sees different people, signs, and buildings. And it got me to thinking. I do walk around the city on my movie adventures, and I do see different things. And somehow, observing things can be a form of poetry. Like haikus, they don’t have to rhyme; they just have to reflect on life. And it’s all full of life.

“Late Fame,” the new Willem Dafoe indie film from Magnolia Pictures, speaks with the right kind of poetry and passion. It’s speaks for a real character study, and it acknowledges how successful artists can be overlooked back in the day, but people can help bring the art to a new generation. Think of Vincent Van Gogh’s work being overlooked in his time. Think of how Tim Burton’s biopic on “Ed Wood” bombed at the box office, but has warmed critics’ hearts and minds. And now, think of Ed Saxberger (Dafoe), a former poet working in the post office, and acknowledge how he lost his passion for writing through the years. And now, understand that he’s now in the right generation when his talents can be rediscovered.

One day, Saxberger comes across a young fan named Meyers (Edmund Donovan). He is part of a group of young artists and poets known as the Enthusiasm Society, who have always been fascinated by Saxberger’s work and want to give him the comeback he deserves. As cynical as the old man has gotten through the years, he takes an interests in the young artists, including the actress and singer Gloria (Greta Lee), all of whom decide to set up a show and live reading.

Meyers also suggests that Saxberger should write a memoir of his life. And meanwhile, the poet sparks some chemistry with Gloria, who comes in different appearances. She has a short black hairstyle and a big black hat with a yellow feather in it. And she’ll be the one reading his poems at the show. In fact, she was the one who was attracted to him and helps revamp his spirits.

“Late Fame” is based on the novella by Arthur Schnitzler, who wrote it in 1895, but was not published until 2014 when researchers discovered the manuscript in his literary papers. And this isn’t the first time a work of his has been published, as others include his play “La Ronde” being adapted as the German silent film “The Merry-Go Round” and his novella “Dream Story” turning to into Stanley Kubrick’s final masterpiece “Eyes Wide Shut.” And with the screenplay by Samy Burch (“May December,” and the soon-to-be “Coyote vs. Acme”) and direction by the critic and filmmaker Kent Jones (“Hitchcock/Truffault,” “Diane”), this movie can reflect on lost talents being rediscovered in a new generation. And it doesn’t have to oversell itself. Meaning there are no guarantees of anything, and that life can surprise or disillusion you. But whatever the outcome is, this movie is anything but a downer.

We don’t get to know all the young artists in the Enthusiasm Society because they tend to come and go, but we do know that Meyers is seeking for validation, that Gloria is a bohemian muse, and that Saxberger knows the meaning of the word “talent.” Dafoe, Lee, and Donovan are all excellent in their roles, and they craft such passion and life in a low key manner. When Dafoe reads a poem on stage, when Lee sings her cover version of Weill and Brecht’s “Surabaya Johnny” in a cabaret performance, and when Donovan yells at the group at one point, it’s all poignant and electrifying. It shows what talents emerges from people and what their character development contains.

I like to get to know about these people, because they do have personalities, things to say, and voices that are able to ignite. And “Late Fame” has the sensibility to draw us into their lives, and use the right performances and direction to do so.

In Select Theaters This Weekend