`HENRY FOOL' (1998) DIR/WTR/COMP: HAL HARTLEY CINEMATOGRAPHY: MICHAEL SPILLER STARS: JAMES URBANIAK, THOMAS JAY RYAN, PARKER POSEY, and MARIA POTTER. SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
The film begins with a dizzying introduction into the life of Queens garbage man Simon Grim. James Urbaniak (Simon) gives a controlled but captivating performance, his eyes and lanky body creating Simon as a missing link between Sam Beckett and Marlon Brando. The sight of ex-con Henry Fool marching down the street signals the end of this quiet, unremarkable life. Thomas Jay Ryan (Henry) is rowdy, crude, and becomes surprisingly sympathetic in his Mephistophelean role.
Henry first finds Simon placing an ear to the ground, as if listening for the approaching steps of fate. `Get up off your knees.' -- Henry commands as he swiftly moves himself into the Grim family basement and into the lives of Simon's sex-dependant sister (Parker Posey), and morbidly depressed mother (Maria Porter). Henry claims to be finishing his ‘Confessions', which he is convinced will provoke and thrill the literary establishment. He offers a spare notebook to the monosyllabic Simon, telling him to stop and write down what he can't seem to express in conversation. When Simon's book length poem becomes infamous almost overnight, Henry and his unaccomplished ‘Confessions' are left in the shadows.
The second half of the film concentrates mainly on Henry; Hartley opens things up to breathe, after focusing almost claustrophobically on Simon's evolution from garbage man to controversial poet. Henry is faced with personal failure, and the looming obligation of someone so aware of life, society, and his surroundings.
Like the films of Robert Bresson, or J.L. Godard, emotion and human relation are heavily dealt with, although not thoroughly expressed thru any individual source, but as a constructed whole. The film can be seen as a modern fable, a performance art piece. Each frame is so carefully designed and controlled, it's undeniable this story could only be told in film. The ‘World of Doughnuts' which Henry & Simon frequent is photographed uniquely for each scene, creating a totally ordinary, yet nearly undefinable space. Like Godard, Hartley's films can be taken as film-criticism. Almost in antithesis to films like Armageddon, takes are long and static. Characters interact in abstract but never embellished dialogue. The screen comes alive with stylized, almost modern dance choreography equal to his earlier `Flirt'.
Is it a good movie? Yes. There's enough scatological humor and mediation on creativity and morality to touch most segments of the audience, although some might find the 2-hour plus running time excessive, or the style too ironic and detached. Surprisingly "Henry Fool" is Hartley's largest, most accessible, and complex film to date. It's a fantastic accomplishment for him and will easily be oneof the best films of the year.
Reviewed by Kian Ahmadian 1998
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