Topic: Hal Hartley Marathon

[goodguy]

I have my mind now firmly set on doing a Hal Hartley marathon. It would be nice if someone else joined in, although I'm sadly aware that it is a bit unlikely.

For those of you with at least a slight interest in independent filmmaking but no knowledge of Hartley, I recommend Simple Men and Amateur as a starting point. Both movies are not too far off-center, and I think they can be enjoyed by an audience accustomed to a more traditional fare. Simple Men also happens to be my favorite Hartley movie. Of course, all the other movies are worth watching as well.

All of Hartley's feature-length movies are available on DVD, although there is usually only one release worldwide and there rarely are any fancy extras on them. At least, most of those DVDs are US releases, with the exception of Trust and Flirt, which have been released in Australia. There also seems to have been a French double edition of Trust/Simple Men, but it is no longer available and I know nothing about it.

	The Unbelievable Truth (1989) DVD: R0-US Anchor Bay (2001; UPC 013131139891) Starring: Adrienne Shelley, Robert Burke
	Trust (1990) DVD: R4-AU aztec International (2005; UPC 9322225040793) Starring: Adrienne Shelley, Martin Donovan
	Surviving Desire (1991) DVD: R0-US Wellspring (2002; UPC 720917532127) Starring: Martin Donovan, Mary Ward
	Simple Men (1992) DVD: R1-US Image/New Line (2004; UPC 014381195729) Starring: Robert Burke, Bill Sage, Karen Sillas, Elina Löwensohn
	Amateur (1994) DVD: R1-US Columbia Tristar (2003; UPC 043396009813) Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan, Elina Löwensohn, Damian Young
	Flirt (1995) DVD: R4-AU Madman (2004; UPC 9322225022782) Starring: Bill Sage, Parker Posey, Dwight Ewell, Miho Nikaido, Hal Hartley
	Henry Fool (1997) DVD: R1-US Columbia Tristar (2003; UPC 043396009837) Starring: Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, Parker Posey
	The Book of Life (1998) DVD: R1-US Winstar/Fox Lorber (2000; UPC 720917524825) Starring: Martin Donovan, PJ Harvey, Thomas Jay Ryan
	No Such Thing (2001) DVD: R1-US MGM (2002; UPC 027616877277) Starring: Sarah Polley, Robert Burke, Helen Mirren, Julie Christie
	The Girl from Monday (2005) DVD: R1-US Hart Sharp (2006; UPC 829567031629) Starring: Bill Sage, Sabrina LLoyd, Tatiana Abracos, Leo Fitzpatrick
	Fay Grim (2006) DVD: R0-US Magnolia/HDNet (2007; UPC 876964000857) Starring: Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, James Urbaniak, Thomas Jay Ryan
	Possible Films: Short Works by Hal Hartley 1994-2004 DVD: R0-US Microcinema (2005; UPC 187719000016)

[Najemikon]

They seem expensive in the UK unfortunately. I read an interesting article in one of my film books about him though. They suggest his mid-90s stuff wasn't as brilliant as his first ones, but Henry Fool was a big return to form? They caught my attention with a casual link to Preston Sturges. But I'll follow this with interest and look out for cheapies...

[goodguy]

They seem expensive in the UK unfortunately.

Maybe on eBay? Although, even there I recently paid big money to finally get Flirt. But the US releases shouldn't be that expensive?

They suggest his mid-90s stuff wasn't as brilliant as his first ones, but Henry Fool was a big return to form?

Henry Fool was his biggest commercial success. It also won Best Screenplay in Cannes and was the only one of his movies nominated there besides Simple Men. Personally, I don't like it as much as his other stuff, be it earlier or later. I would go as far as calling it his second worst movie, the worst one - but with a really big gap between both - being No Such Thing.

I agree that his early movies are the really brilliant ones, culminating in Simple Men. I will go in more detail in the marathon. It has been a few years since I've seen most of them, maybe I will get a different opinion now.

They caught my attention with a casual link to Preston Sturges.

Sadly, I have never seen any Preston Sturges movies, so I can't comment on that.

[Najemikon]

I have a feeling you would enjoy his work very much, especially Sullivan's Travels. That inspired O Brother Where Art Thou and it's certainly the kind of story the Coen's would do. Much as I like their work though, they haven't come close. Sturges was a true genius. Beautifully judged writing and performances.

[goodguy]

All of Hartley's feature-length movies are available on DVD, although there is usually only one release worldwide...

It seems my information is a bit out of date.

In the UK, Artificial Eye has recently released Trust, Henry Fool and The Girl from Monday, both separately and as a Hal Hartley Collection. Also available in the UK for quite some time is The Unbelievable Truth from some label called "C'est La Vie". The prices on Amazon UK seem moderate to me. And listed there are also some pretty cheap R1 imports, e.g. Simple Men for less than 6 bucks.

So, no "too pricey" excuses, Jon.

[goodguy]

Argh. Now it's almost October and everyone, even the wussies (Rich  ), will be in a horror frenzy. So I will postpone this until November and maybe even watch a few horror movies myself, although not in numbers that will approach anything marathon-like.

In the meantime, here is the famous (well, to some) dancing scene from Simple Men (which to Pete might already be horror  ):