Film Review: SIMPLE MEN (1992, Hal Hartley)

Stars: 5 of 5.
Running Time: 105 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Robert John Burke (Robocop in ROBOCOP 3, DUST DEVIL, COP LAND), Bill Sage (AMERICAN PSYCHO, THE INSIDER), Elina Löwensohn (NADJA , SCHINDLER'S LIST, BASQUIAT), Karen Sillas (TRUST, FLIRT), John MacKay (TRUST, REGARDING HENRY) , Martin Donovan (TRUST, WEEDS, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX), Damian Young (AMATEUR, IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA).
Tag-line: "There's no such thing as adventure and romance, only trouble and desire. "
Best one-liner: "Not only is she pretty, but she's got a nice personality, and she's the mother of God."

"All money is dirty money, Mom, now will you shut up and take it before I dont wanna give it to you anymore?" SIMPLE MEN is one of those perfectly realized Hal Hartley films where aesthetic detail (compare the bold reds and deep blues here with the pastel purples and baby blues of TRUST), stilted comedy, and Long Island profundity are exquisitely blended in one crisp, cool, indie package. Tough guy Robert John Burke and horn-rimmed Bill Sage play brothers in search of their (possibly) anarchist father.

Along for the ride are waifish underground legend Elina Löwensohn:

a scraggly, brutish, ballcap-wearin Martin Donovan:

Donovan freaks out.

and the reassuringly salt-of-the-earth Karen Sillas.

Its your typical on the lam crime flick, except the hero's preferred mode of transportation is a beat-up Chevy Corsica, it's of vast importance how far $15 can get you, the 'nemesis' lawman is paralyzed by ruminations on the nature of love,

and the most action involves a fracas between nun and a cop. But this isn't the manufactured quirk with which 2010 audiences are all too familiar- this is art that (to paraphrase TRUST) is dangerously sincere and sincerely dangerous. It's simple men living in the shadow of a mysterious, venerated father. Hartley calls it a world of 'trouble and desire,' a quote he culls from Fritz Lang's 1922 DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER. When we finally meet said anarchistic papa (John MacKay) he appears grizzled and wild-eyed, like Rudolph Klein-Rogge (who played Mabuse in the original film).

The anarchist shortstop.


Mabuse.

So how does the filmmaker come to grips with the artistic influences of their heroes (who sometimes seem like absent, worshipped parents)? How do you escape the hold of Lang, Godard, Ozu, et al.? Maybe you can take those flickering-shadow progenitors and simply mold them into your own likeness (deadpan, heartfelt, Long Island sincerity)- and Hal does: the most memorable scene mirrors the famous Anna Karina groove-session from BAND OF OUTSIDERS (now restaged with Hartleyian stiffness, Sonic Youth, and entirely different stakes).



Five stars.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: TRUST (1990, Hal Hartley)

Stars: 5 of 5.
Running Time: 107 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Adrienne Shelly (THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, WAITRESS), Martin Donovan (THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, WEEDS), Merritt Nelson (HENRY FOOL, SURVIVING DESIRE), John MacKay (REGARDING HENRY, KRUSH GROOVE), Edie Falco (THE SOPRANOS, THE ADDICTION, COP LAND), Bill Sage (SIMPLE MEN, MYSTERIOUS SKIN, GLITTER).
Tag-line: "A slightly twisted comedy."
Best exchange: "Your job is making you boring and mean." –"My job is making me a respectable member of society."

"I had a bad day at work. I had to subvert my principles and kow-tow to an idiot. Television makes these daily sacrifices possible. Deadens the inner core of my being." TRUST is probably my favorite Hartley- it's a romance of sorts between two characters who have the unfortunate distinction of nearly everyone in their lives, consciously or not, conspiring to make them feel worthless. Hartley is not afraid to call a spade a spade, and his films are peppered with the harsh truth that nearly every human interaction is a pseudo-capitalistic 'exchange' of sorts. [Gimme five dollars. Let me have some beer, though I'm underage. Give me a kiss. Gimme a cigarette. Let me have a place to sleep.] Through the matter-of-fact, stylistically stilted presentation, these grim facts are alternatingly hilarious and devastating.


It's modern suburban malaise, Long Island style: the constant cleaning of rooms that are already spotless, the allotment of chores, the soul-crushing boredom and daily 'selling out' at the office, two people having a conversation without listening to each other... how do we rise above this 'safe,' quasi-abusive bullshit?

Hartley provides some possibilities:

A. Destruction. A hand grenade held in the pocket at all times..."just in case."

B. Tranquility. A mandala formed by two fallen lovers. Perhaps they've accepted that 'love' in a pure sense cannot exist in this world, but mutual respect and admiration are enough... perhaps just as Hartley doesn't let his actors smile, but he allows them to smoke?

Martin Donovan is excellent- an erudite James Dean, a twenty-something bookworm REBEL WITHOUT HIS OWN APARTMENT.

Adrienne Shelly (R.I.P.) is dangerously cute but with extraordinary depth,

balancing her steadfast resolve with the weight of crippling worries that no one should have to face alone. A profound, exemplary entry into the American indie canon and a personal favorite, alongside METROPOLITAN and KICKING AND SCREAMING. Five stars.

-Sean Gill

Availability Note: Not available on DVD currently in the U.S., it occasionally appears as an Instant Watch on Netflix, but there is a solid Region 4 Australian disc, which I own. There are rumors it will one day be released in Region 1 through the Criterion Collection.