(pb; 1992: screenplays, with an interview by Graham Fuller)
From the back cover
“Hal Hartley has one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary American cinema, and the two screenplays brought together in this volume display Hartley’s characteristic verbal dexterity and mordant humor.
“Simple Men tells the story of two brothers, Bill and Dennis McCabe. Dennis is a quietly handsome, inexperienced, bookish student, while his older brother is a rough-hewn ladies’ man who verges on misogyny. Thrown together to search for their long-lost father, the pair crash into confrontations with their expectations of themselves and their attitudes towards women.
“Trust is a droll analysis of family violence and the moral courage it takes to defeat it and assume faith in others.
“Also contained in this volume is an exhaustive interview in which Hartley explores both the personal and creative aspects of his work.”
Review
The two word-spare screenplays,
true to Hartley form, are deadpan funny and clever, with characters who rarely
(if ever) smile, and set-ups/situations/characters whose limited, sometimes violent situations ably
reveal larger themes and commentary. Excellent, worth reading (and whose
resulting films are viewing.
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