Hal Hartley Movies
A leader of the 1990s American independent filmmaking movement, writer/director Hal Hartley was one of the most distinctive cinematic talents to emerge at the close of the 20th century. Combining the deadpan aesthetic of Buster Keaton with the lean economy of Robert Bresson, his films are arch comic explorations of truth, communication, and desire. Initially supported by a recurring ensemble of actors including Martin Donovan, Adrienne Shelly, and Karen Sillas, Hartley established a uniquely self-referential vision with a sense of rhythm, atmosphere, and mise-en-scéne all its own, adhering so strictly to the auteur theory that he even composed his own musical scores under the pseudonym Ned Rifle.Born November 3, 1959, in Lindenhurst, NY, Hartley first attended the Massachusetts College of Art, but in 1980 he transferred to S.U.N.Y.-Purchase, where he studied film under the noted director/editor Aram Avakian. Upon completing his graduation film, 1984's Kid (where he first teamed with cinematographer Michael Spiller, a fixture of his later work as well), he accepted a job with his father's construction company, later finding work in Manhattan with a public service announcement production house. After completing two more short films, 1987's The Cartographer's Girlfriend and 1988's Dogs, Hartley's employers agreed to fund his feature-length debut, 1989's The Unbelievable Truth, which he shot for just 75,000 dollars.
The film was a festival hit, and with the aid of the British production company Zenith, Hartley mounted his second feature, 1991's Trust, which like its predecessor was a dry, oblique romantic comedy shot in the director's native suburban Lindenhurst. For the PBS series Alive From Off-Center, he directed a pair of 1991 experimental shorts, Ambition and Theory of Achievement; for the same network's American Playhouse, he also helmed the hour-long Surviving Desire.
Returning to feature projects in 1992, Hartley issued Simple Men, which built on his growing fan base as it garnered a significant amount of critical attention, including an in-competition berth at the Cannes Film Festival. Two years later, the filmmaker fulfilled a lifelong dream to work with one of his idols, Isabelle Huppert, crafting for her the singularly oddball romantic thriller Amateur. Hartley's next project was even more unconventional: A feature-length expansion of his 1993 short Flirt, in which he retold the same story three times with different settings and cast members. In the last of these three segments, set in Tokyo, the director cast himself opposite his soon-to-be wife, actressMiho Nikaido. Returning to his pet themes of love, art, and familial dysfunction in Long Island, Hartley crafted the ambitious Henry Fool in 1997. Inspired by The Devil and Daniel Webster, the film nabbed Hartley the inaugural Best Screenplay award at the 1998 Cannes Festival. Two less-than-feature-length followed: The Book of Life, a comedy produced for French television about the Second Coming of Christ, starring Hartley regular Donovan as Jesus and British rock musician PJ Harvey as Mary Magdalene; and Kimono, a non-narrative erotic short starring the director's then wife-to-be Nikaido.
The doggedly independent Hartley then encountered the biggest obstacle of his career with his next feature, the acerbic fantasy-comedy No Such Thing. Nurtured by executive producer Francis Ford Coppola and given a built-in distribution deal from United Artists, Hartley took advantage of his modestly increased budget to craft a modern-day variation on Beauty and the Beast, complete with location shooting in Iceland, a higher-wattage cast including Sarah Polley and Julie Christie, and a elaborate creature costuming designed by makeup guru Mark Rappaport. Completed in time for the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, the film met with a sour critical response.
Hartley nonetheless continued to work strenuously, in various areas, throughout 2002. During this period, he taught film production at Harvard University, mounted his play Soon at the Orange County Philharmonic, and moved into preproduction on his next picture, The Girl From Monday, starring Sabrina Lloyd and Bill Sage. This eccentric, erotic science fiction tale, about a dystopian state of the near future, confounded many and disappointed most.
Hartley resurfaced at festivals in 2006 with Fay Grim, a much-anticipated sequel to Henry Fool. In this espionage thriller that blithely satirizes the state of world security, Parker Posey reprises her role as Fay, the onetime lover of Henry Fool and the mother of his now 14-year-old child, who learns that Henry's infamous book Confessions actually harbors a number of covert secrets about the inanities and barbarities committed by transcontinental governments. Many considered it a return to form, and Magnolia Pictures gave it a US release in May 2007. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
A single mother from Queens becomes unwittingly embroiled in international espionage in director Hal Hartley's sequel to the critically acclaimed Henry Fool. Fay Grim (Parker Posey) is determined to raise her 14-year-old son, Ned (Liam Aiken), so he won't be like his father, Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan), who disappeared seven years ago after accidentally murdering a vicious neighbor. As Fay's brother, Simon (James Urbaniak), serves time in a prison cell for aiding Henry in his daring escape, he gradually begins to suspect that the man who inspired him to take up writing in the first place is not the louse he appeared to be, but instead the keeper of some potentially explosive government secrets that, if made public, could prove quite dangerous. As Simon begins to explore the possibility that Henry's autobiography, "Confessions," contains coded references to a wide variety of international atrocities committed by governments around the world, the CIA contacts Fay to inform her that her husband was killed in a hotel fire in Sweden shortly after fleeing America, and that the French government is currently in possession of two notebooks containing drafts of "Confessions." Convinced that the notebooks contain information that could endanger the security of the United States, CIA agent Fulbright (Jeff Goldblum) convinces Fay to travel to Paris and retrieve Henry's property before the information falls into the wrong hands. Now trapped in the middle of a cross-continental con and thrust deep into the world of international espionage, Fay is about to find out that her ex-husband is not only still alive, but in more trouble than he could ever imagine. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, (more)
Independent auteur Hal Hartley wrote and directed this satirical exercise in what he calls "fake science fiction." In the near future, following a violent overthrow of the American government, the United States has come under the rule of the MMM, a Multi-Media Monopoly which runs the country as a business. Every citizen now has a personal bar code, which is used to monitor his or her consumption of practically everything, including sex, now that aphrodisiacs have become the nation's biggest consumer product. Jack (Bill Sage) and Cecile (Sabrina Lloyd) are two MMM executives who are vying for the same level of advancement within the organization, while William (Leo Fitzpatrick) is a member of the Partisans, a cadre of anti-MMM activists who are attempting to bring down the corporation's rule, though they are regarded as both dangerous and powerless by MMM's leaders. In the midst of this situation comes a beautiful woman from the planet Monday (Tatiana Abracos), who knows about Jack's little secret -- he's a fellow alien hiding out on Earth. The woman has come to Earth to bring Jack back to planet Monday, but given the currently miserable state of Jack's life, he's more interested in having a relationship with her than heading back home. The Girl From Monday has its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Sabrina Lloyd, (more)
Joe Maggio's second film, Milk & Honey, is a tale of a marriage with problems. Rick (Clint Jordan) and Joyce (Kirsten Russell) go their separate ways into the night after a disastrous appearance together at an office function. The apparently mentally unstable Rick ends up offering money to a stranger if that person will kill him. Shot on digital video, Milk & Honey was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Jordan, Kirsten Russell, (more)
- 2002
In Richard Sylvarnes' debut feature as writer, director, cinematographer, and editor, a beautiful Japanese woman (Miho Nikaido) is found wandering the streets in a daze. She's brought to a hospital where a young doctor, Dr. John Bennett (D.J. Mendel), haunted by a past tragedy, discovers a mysterious connection to her. Bennett has been resisting the advances of Dr. Samantha (Lisa Walter), while grieving over the accidental death of his wife (also played by Nikaido). When the strange, mute woman shows up, Bennett consults a psychic (Thomas Jay Ryan) in an effort to determine whom the woman is. Is she a ghost of some sort? Why has she appeared to him now? As the specifics of his wife's death are explored through flashbacks, Bennett uncovers some disturbing answers as to the identity of the woman. The Cloud of Unknowing was shot on digital video on a very low budget. Hal Hartley produced the film for Sylvarnes, who worked as a still photographer on Hartley's Henry Fool, in which Ryan played the title character. Nikaido and Mendel have also appeared in Hartley's films. The Cloud of Unknowing was shown in competition at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miho Nikaido, D.J. Mendel, (more)
Beauty meets the Beast, and neither is sure just what to make of the other, in a modern-dress comic variation on the ancient folk tale, written and directed by the eternally offbeat Hal Hartley. Beatrice (Sarah Polley) works with the office staff of a sleazy tabloid TV news show, run by a harridan producer (Helen Mirren) eager for something other than the usual spate of violent crimes and natural disasters that are her show's bread and butter. The producer sends her camera crew to Iceland in search of something new and unusual, and they certainly find it when they run across a village that has its own monster (Robert John Burke), a large part-mammal and part-lizard with a short temper and habit of killing people who get on his nerves. The show's camera crew (including Beatrice's boyfriend) doesn't survive their first encounter with the monster, and Beatrice is sent to find out what happened to them. En route to Iceland, Beatrice's plane crashes into the waters off the coast, and while she survives the accident, a group of unsympathetic locals decide (after a few drinks too many) to take her to the monster's lair, where a grim fate doubtless awaits her. Except that the monster is a bit depressed and Beatrice isn't in the mood to take any guff from anyone; after the monster wonders aloud why folks aren't as frightened of him as they once were, he asks Beatrice to help him find Dr. Artaud (Baltasar Kormakur), a mad scientist who might be able to cure him of the curse of eternal life. No Such Thing received its world premiere at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the Un Certain Regard series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Polley, Robert Burke, (more)
- 2000
Adding to his list of less-than-feature-length experimental films, director Hal Hartley offers up this mildly erotic, non-narrative fantasy starring his wife, Miho Nikaido. Presumably abandoned by her husband-to-be after an argument, Nikaido's nameless character wanders through a lush forest in her wedding gown, sullying herself in the dirt, tree branches, and rivers of the landscape. As the ornate clothing eventually tears away from her body, she observes two nymphs spying on her; she comes upon a desolate cabin where, under the supervision of the nymphs, she cleans herself and re-dresses in the loose robe of the film's title. Kimono was first shown at the 2000 Toronto International Film Fest. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miho Nikaido
Hal Hartley directed this French-produced comedy about the Second Coming of Christ (Martin Donovan), with Thomas Jay Ryan in the role of Satan. While a gambler (David Simonds) and a waitress (Miho Nikaido) talk with Satan in a hotel bar, Jesus arrives at JFK airport with Magdalena (PJ Harvey). Jesus has been sent down to end the world by breaking the Seven Seals on a computer disk in a bowling alley locker room. Made in digital video blown up to 35mm, this film is part of the French "Collection 2000 Seen By" television series of one-hour films about the Millennium (and the only one by an American director). Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Donovan, PJ Harvey, (more)
Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) is a garbageman, and his life is about as unpleasant and uneventful as you'd expect given his profession; he doesn't much care for his work, he's treated with violence or contempt by most of the people in his neighborhood, and he shares a house with Mary (Maria Porter), his cranky, pill-head mother, and Fay (Parker Posey), his morally suggestible sister. One day, Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan) appears; he claims to be a writer in the midst of a major project, entitled "Confessions," and needs a place to stay. Henry ends up moving in with Simon and his family, where he wastes no time in bedding both Mary and Fay, and encourages Simon to write in a journal. Simon begins to write in long torrents of words that surprisingly fall together into iambic pentameter; Henry tells Simon that what he's writing is poetry, and he's truly gifted. Simon seems dubious at first, but when several of Simon's pieces are posted on the Internet, he developes a huge and rabid following and is acclaimed as one of the great authors of our time. Henry, however, isn't able to get anywhere with his own book or his own life; as Simon's star slowly rises, Henry's orbit slowly sinks past the horizon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, (more)
- 1995
- R
A lover, an ultimatum, a phone call, and a gun: these elements are found in each segment of Hal Hartley's Flirt, an experimental comedy-drama that essentially repeats the same story three times. But while the basic narrative remains the same -- a congenital flirt must decide whether or not to commit to a current lover, who otherwise will marry someone else -- the details differ greatly, from the location of the film to the gender of the participants. The initial segment, set in New York, tells the tale with a male flirt in turmoil over his relationship with a woman. The film then moves to Berlin, where the same drama is played out amongst a gay male couple, with an added touch of self-reflexive humor. The third and final episode takes place in Tokyo, with a female flirt and a more abstract cinematic approach, including several sequences in traditional Japanese pantomime. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Sage, Parker Posey, (more)
- 1994
- R
Hal Hartley's fourth feature is a significant break from the quirky romantic comedy territory of his previous work -- though all of the deadpan idiosyncracies which make him such a singular filmmaker remain intact, here he tries his hand at the thriller genre, a move yielding typically unconventional and innovative results. Amateur stars Hartley mainstay Martin Donovan as Thomas, an amnesiac who, in the first scenes, wakes up in an alley, badly injured; he stumbles to a nearby coffeeshop where he meets Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert), a former nun and would-be nymphomaniac who now makes her living writing pornographic fiction. She takes him back to her apartment, where in time his past slowly begins to emerge -- a sharp contrast to the sweet, even naive soul that Huppert has befriended, it appears that the old Thomas was in fact a vicious pornographer whose attempted murder was at the hands of his wife, adult film star wife Sofia (Elina Lowensohn). Thomas is also the target of a nefarious European arms merchant whose hired guns are hot on his trail. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan, (more)
A pair of brothers dodge the law while trying to locate their long-lost father in this third feature from independent New York filmmaker Hal Hartley. Robert John Burke stars as Bill McCabe, a failed computer thief who's just been doublecrossed by his girlfriend and partner. Vowing revenge on the next beautiful blonde he encounters, Bill meets up with his younger brother Dennis (William Sage), a philosophy student concerned about their father William (John A. MacKay). It seems the McCabe paterfamilias was a former major league shortstop who became an anarchist bomber in the 1960s, nearly blowing up the Pentagon. On the run for twenty-three years, William was recently caught by the FBI but escaped again. Based on information from their mother, the McCabes travel to Long Island, where William may be hiding. Along the way, the brothers meet the epileptic Elina (Elina Lowensohn) and her friend Kate (Karen Sillas), a beautiful blonde with whom Bill is instantly smitten. While Dennis figures out that Elina is somehow connected to William, Bill contends with Kate's ex-con husband Jack (Joe Stevens) and Jack's best friend Martin (Martin Donovan), both of whom are also in love with her. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert John Burke, Bill Sage, (more)
- 1991
Made for PBS' American Playhouse, Surviving Desire is a very short romantic comedy starring Martin Donovan and Mary Ward. He's an uninspired college literature professor. She's a kooky student, and the only member of Donovan's class who doesn't doze off during his lectures. The comedy relies upon the inevitable pairing of two vague, aimless, but very recognizable campus types. The videocassette version of Surving Desire is filled out with two other short subjects directed by Hal Hartley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Donovan, Mary Ward, (more)
- 1991
One of three short films made by Hal Hartley in 1991, along with Surviving Desire and Theory of Achievement, the nine-minute short Ambition is the shortest and most stylized film of the trilogy. (All three are available on a single videocassette, also entitled Surviving Desire.) Ambition begins with a perfect distillation of Hartley's deadpan style, as a bored man slowly pushes a coffee cup off a table; he then proceeds to break everything else in the kitchen. The film continues along these lines, alternating mundane, day-to-day details with comically exaggerated violence. After breakfast, the man leaves for work; on the way he gets into wordless, hand-to-hand combat with a variety of assailants. At his workplace, an odd, symbolic art gallery, the man is interviewed by a woman about his work. Immediately afterwards, he is chastised by his boss and beaten by two anonymous men in business suits. Hartley builds the film musically, using certain images and bits of dialogue as recurring motifs. The piece is structured as variations on a theme, explorations of the meaning and importance of work. The result is a pensive, sad meditation on frustrated ambition and regret, leavened by moments of witty dialogue and playful experimentation. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Theory of Achievement, a short film by director Hal Hartley, is a droll look at a group of young Brooklynites grappling with the great issues: aesthetics, romance, and real estate. Bob, a broke, aspiring writer, takes advantage of his girlfriend's absence to enter the real estate business. He sublets her apartment to a group of struggling artists, convincing them that Williamsburg, Brooklyn is destined to be "the new art capital of the world." Amongst the tenants are Hartley regulars William Sage and Elina Lowensohn, portraying a couple arguing over the husband's refusal to quit his uninspiring job and follow his dream of becoming a songwriter. Bob and the tenants bond in their mutual poverty and ennui, discussing art, drinking beer, and playing the accordion. All is well, until Bob's girlfriend returns to town early and discovers his scheme. The short is one of three made by Hartley in 1991, along with Ambition and Surviving Desire. All are available on a single videocassette. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
The unlikely relationship between a pregnant high school student and a brooding electronics repairman lies at the center of this droll comedy from writer-director Hal Hartley. Intelligent but unconventional, Maria (Adrienne Shelly) has more to worry about than her pregnancy, as her expectant state drives away her boyfriend and triggers a fatal heart attack in her father. Meanwhile, Matthew (Martin Donovan) has his own problems: an abusive father, a heightened sense of morality that prevents him from taking semi-lucrative television repair jobs, and a suicidal streak that causes him to carry around a potentially deadly grenade. The meeting of these troubled minds at first promises to be beneficial for both, but sours as they are forced to interact with each other's dysfunctional families. As in all of Hartley's pictures, the narrative is filtered through an amusingly detached sensibility that some may consider an acquired taste. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrienne Shelly, Martin Donovan, (more)
Writer-director Hal Hartley's first feature -- shot in less than 12 days in his backyard for a mere $200,000 -- is a dry and dark comedy about the dangerous undercurrents that exist below the surface of normal middle class existence. Over the credits, Josh (Robert Burke), a man garbed in black, is seen hitch-hiking back to his Long Island home. People ask him, "Are you a priest?" and Josh responds, "No. I'm a mechanic." Back in Long Island in the town of Lindenhurst, beautiful and somber 17-year-old Audry (Adrienne Shelly) is busy worrying about the forthcoming apocalypse. Josh arrives in Lindenhurst and is hired by Audry's father (Chris Cooke) as a mechanic at his garage. But Audry's father worries about him, particularly when he falls in love with Audry. Her father's problems compound when Audry dumps her old boyfriend and rejects an invitation to attend Harvard. The whole town is now gossiping about Audry's new boyfriend, with rumors spreading that Josh is a mass murderer who killed two members of the family of local waitress Pearl (Julia McNeal). Pearl tells Audry, "He seems like a nice man." Audry responds, "Even though he killed your father and your sister?" Audry finally makes her father happy when she tells him she won't see Josh again, but dad's relief is short-lived when Audry informs him she's moving to New York to become an underwear model. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrienne Shelly, Robert John Burke, (more)
