The Unbelievable Truth

Hal Hartley, USA 1990, 98 minutes

Unbelievable Truth is the first major motion picture by Hal Hartley (though he had made three shorts beforehand) and was made for a no budget $75,000. It utilises Hartley's tight group of actors and friends whom he has used for most of his subsequent films and was filmed in a matter of days.

The film revolves around a girl, Audrey Hugo, who is obsessed with nuclear holocaust and "disgusted" by her jealous exboyfriend. She then finds herself falling in love with a dark mysterious stranger Josh Hutton who no-one is sure whether he is a priest, mechanic or mass murderer (the latter two in this case).

The film works on many levels and is (along with Trust) one of the tightest Hartley works. It has a coherent vision and startling dialogue, made before Hartley fell into a penchant for more whimsical films.

Central themes in the film include people's use of money to buy and corrupt one another. Are people are "only as good as the deal's they make and keep?" Is it possible then have love and trust for others?

The film uses swathes of repetition (as worked so well in films such as Trust and Simple Men) as a way of satirising the characters, and has a sound-track by Ned Rifle (a pseudonym for Hartley himself).

For such a small budget film, the cinematography is startling, with a deliberate use of camera work and group shots reminiscent of 1960s French new wave cinema.

The comedy comes from the pairing of incompetent mechanic Mike against boss Vic Hugo (who is always scheming to make more money and not have to pay for daughter Audrey's education) played against straight man Josh. There are also absurdities such as ex-boyfriend Emmet's constant sparring to win back the hand of Audrey. There is also the fact that although Audrey regularly skips school and tries to procure valium from her mother, she manages to get a place at Harvard. Add to this, Audrey's astronomically successful modelling career and the complete fog which surrounds Josh's past. All of these combine to make up the unbelievability of the title.

However whether you choose to look at the film in the deeper sense, or merely watch and appreciate Mike's atrocious guitar solos (also to be found in Simple Men), sit back and enjoy possibly one of the most underrated gems of American Independent Cinema.

Review by Stephen J Brennan
Taken from EUFS Programme 1997-98