Hal Hartley

Director

November 3, 1959 (66 years)

Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York, USA

Biography

Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, and composer, who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for his films Trust, Amateur and Henry Fool, which are notable for deadpan humour and offbeat characters quoting philosophical dialogue. His films provided a career launch for a number of actors, including Adrienne Shelly, Edie Falco, Martin Donovan, Parker Posey, Karen Sillas and Elina Löwensohn. …

Filmography

7.4

Red Oaks

A coming-of-age comedy set in the "go-go" 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt about a college student enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end--and the future begins. David Myers, an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in suburban New Jersey in 1985, is both reeling from his father's heart attack and conflicted about what major to declare in the fall. While there, he meets a colorful cast of misfit co-workers and wealthy club members including an alluring art student named Skye and her corporate raider father Getty.

6.1

Amateur

A man wakes up in an alley, bleeding and with no memory of who he is. He stumbles into a coffee shop and is befriended by a charitable ex-nun who is failing in her attempts to write marketable pornography.

6.2

Flirt

The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Tokyo). A lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a "permanent" relationship, what do they choose to do?

5.8

Ned Rifle

Henry’s and Fay's son Ned sets out to find and kill his father for destroying his mother's life. But his aims are frustrated by the troublesome Susan, whose connection to Henry predates even his arrival in the lives of the Grim family.

5.6

Fay Grim

Many years after her notorious husband, Henry Fool, fled after killing a neighbor, Fay Grim receives a visit from CIA agent Fulbright, who tells her that Henry is dead, but that some of his journals have been unearthed in France. She sets forth on a globe-trotting odyssey that soon leads to the discovery that he is alive, and his journals are more than they appear to be.

6.8

Trust

After being thrown away from home, pregnant high school dropout Maria meets Matthew, a highly educated and extremely moody electronics repairman. The two begin an unusual romance built on their sense of mutual admiration and trust.

6.7

Simple Men

Two diametrically opposite brothers set off on a journey to reunite with their estranged father but when their motorcycle breaks down while passing through a small town, they become entangled in local life.

6.6

Henry Fool

An egocentric bum transforms the lives of a shy New Jersey garbageman and his sister.

6.9

The Unbelievable Truth

After serving time for murder, Josh Hutton returns to his home town where he meets Audry Hugo. No one can remember exactly what Josh did...

6.0

No Such Thing

A young journalist journeys to Iceland to find her missing fiancé only to encounter a mythical creature who longs to die.

N/A

My America

21 monologues written by American playwrights form a sort of fractured portrait of the American collective psyche. Ranging from the sad to the hilarious, from the angry to the tentatively celebratory, many of the major and recurrent issues associated with our fraught but beloved union are reconsidered with elegance, wit, brutal honesty, and a little outright insanity.

6.9

Surviving Desire

Jude, a college professor, is obsessed with Sophie, his student. She, in turn, is intrigued by his scholarly charm. Flirtation turns to lust and the two become lovers.

6.4

The Book of Life

New Year's Eve takes on new meaning when the Devil, Jesus Christ, and Christ's assistant Magdalena discuss and debate the End of the World.

9.0

Flirt

In New York, Bill struggles to decide whether he has a future with Emily, while attempting to restrain Walter, the angry husband of a woman he thinks he might be in love with. Later incorporated into a feature film of the same name.

6.3

Opera No. 1

A comical mini opera following the exploits of two goddesses interfering with the lives of mortals. Mistaken identities, miscast spells, and rollerblades abound.

7.3

Where to Land

Joseph Fulton, a famous director, wants to work at a cemetery. Meanwhile, he has his last will and testament drawn up. His girlfriend thinks he's dying. Rumor spreads and soon everyone he knows gathers to say their last farewells.

N/A

La Commedia

Louis Andriessen's opera, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, plays out as a combination of a stage production and filmed elements, which sees Dante as a journalist, Beatrice as a Diplomat and Lucifer as a factory owner.

6.5

NYC 3/94

The mundane circumstances of a city under siege.

4.4

The Girl from Monday

A comic drama about a time in the near future when citizens are happy to be property traded on the stock exchange.

5.8

Iris

The job, should you choose to accept it: two young women playing out roles associated with the purchasing of real estate. Questions regarding the worries of ownership versus the worries of being un-invested. Intimations of a life filled with effort and debt. Tie this all together somehow with lines from the song “Iris” by the Breeders.