AMATEUR
A film review by Eugene R. Ahn
Copyright 1995 Eugene R. Ahn
Directed and written by Hal Hartley
Cinematography by Michael Spiller
Music by "Ned Rifle"
Starring Martin Donovan, Isabelle Huppert, Elina Lowernsohn and
Damian Young
I think this is a fantastic movie to see in the mix of blockbuster summer fare. On a scale of 1-10, I rate this movie an 8. In this review I wanted to concentrate less on the plot and more on how this film compares to Hartley's past works.
To those who aren't familiar with Hal Hartley's past works (UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, TRUST, SIMPLE MEN), AMATEUR is the best flick to get acquainted with this young and talented director. It packs all of the strengths of his past movies--great cinematography, humorous and off-kilter dialogue, and strong central ideas--into the most spontaneous and accessible film from Hartley yet. In fact, after watching this film with two Hartley-neophyte friends, they told me that they felt it was in some ways similar to the now cultural icon, PULP FICTION.
And while that analogy is not entirely accurate, it does best point at what makes AMATEUR so much more wildly enjoyable than his previous works and more accessible. Whereas Hartley's past movies tended to focus in on the suburbs and the tame, this is the first film of his where there are more fringe elements: pornography, mobs, torture. The result is a great mix of Hartley-esque humor with spontaneity, sex and suspense.
But at the same time, AMATEUR is still very much about ideas and it is in every essence a followup to Hartley's last film, SIMPLE MEN. One of the original endings of SIMPLE MEN was Kate (Karen Sillas) telling the Sheriff (Damian Young), "Yes I know this man" before he tries to arrest the protagonist (played by Robert Burke, now of Robocop III fame). That scene was cut from the ending since it wasn't "essential" but it became the nucleus around which AMATEUR was built.
Before I continue, I should mention that the extra information I am drawing from comes from a published text of SIMPLE MEN and TRUST. It features an interview with Hartley which I recommend all Hartley fans to read if you have not. It is very revealing and adds to the enjoyment of watching his films.
Anyhow, one of Hartley's tenets as revealed in the interview is "... there is no escape from inequity. One way or the other he's got to pay ... you don't get something for nothing, ever." He's referring to the reason why he felt Bill McCabe in SIMPLE MEN had to be arrested after returning to Kate. In the same vein, AMATEUR is about a once callous man who suffers from amnesia and forgets who he was and becomes an entirely different, albeit confused persona. The idea behind AMATEUR becomes a question of whether it matters to be sorry for something you did before when you don't even remember doing it. There are many religious overtones, not to mention a character who is a former nun who left the covenant after the Virgin Mary told her she wasn't fit to be one. The Bible has one answer, Hartley has another.
But what I have always liked about Hartley's films is the way Hartley makes tragedy watchable and bittersweetly so. The characters who become pawns in Hartley's tragedy are never victims but are elevated by their thoughtful dilemmas and pains. And I think AMATEUR succeeds more because not only are the stakes higher, but also the very essence of who Thomas, the amnesiac, decides he is is being challenged. Thomas also fights his tragic situation more than past Hartley protagonists (with the guidance of the former nun, Isabelle) which makes the result even more effective.
There's a dialogue in SIMPLE MEN which I feel best sums up the essential of Hal Hartley:
"...the funny thing is, when you desire something you immediately get in trouble. And when you're in trouble you don't desire anything at all."
"I see." "It's impossible" "It's ironic." "It's a fucking tragedy is what it is, Ned."
Hal Hartley paints tragedy beautifully in AMATEUR and the best scene is saved for last as Thomas opens the front door of the church, a gift of faith from Isabelle misconstrued as something more sinister. It's hard to believe, but Hal Hartley is just getting better.
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