Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable Truth'', '' Trust'', ''

Simple Men ''Simple Men'' is a 1992 American film written and directed by Hal Hartley and starring Robert John Burke, Bill Sage, Karen Sillas, and Martin Donovan. It was the debut film of actress Holly Marie Combs, in a supporting role. It was entered into ...

'', ''

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

'' 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 Adrienne Levine (June 24, 1966 – November 1, 2006), better known by the stage name Adrienne Shelly (sometimes credited as Adrienne Shelley), was an American actress, film director and screenwriter. She became known for roles in independen ...

Edie Falco Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Carmela Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), and Nurse Jackie Peyton on the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015). She also ...

James Urbaniak James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: '' Henry Fool'' (1997), '' Fay Grim'' (2006) and '' Ned Rifle'' (2014), Robert Crumb in ...

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), ''Surviving Desire'' (1991), ''Simple Men'' (1992) ...

Karen Sillas Karen Sillas is an American stage and film actress. Early life The daughter of a Greek father and a Swedish mother, Sillas was born in Brooklyn. She graduated from the Acting Conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase. Car ...

and Elina Löwensohn. Hartley frequently scores his own films using his pseudonym Ned Rifle, and his soundtracks regularly feature music by

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

acts

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of t ...

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

and

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

Early life

Hartley was born in Lindenhurst on southern

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, the son of an ironworker.Hal Hartley Biography (1959–)
/ref> Hartley had an early interest in painting and attended the

Massachusetts College of Art Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

where he studied art and developed an interest in filmmaking. In 1980, he was accepted to the filmmaking program at the State University of New York at Purchase in New York, where he met a core group of technicians and actors who would go on to work with him on his feature films, including his regular cinematographer

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.The Unbelievable Truth'', in 1988. Made on a shoestring budget and filmed in his native Long Island, it was an unconventional love story about a suburban Long Island teenager (played by

, a soon-to-be Hartley regular) falling in love with a handsome mechanic with a criminal past (

Robert John Burke Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in '' RoboCop 3'' (1993), '' Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became well known for his portrayal of Mickey Gavin on '' Rescue ...

, also a soon-to-be Hartley regular). The screenplay featured what have become Hartley's trademarks – deadpan humour, offbeat, stilted, pause-filled dialogue, and characters posing philosophical questions about the meaning of life, combined with a degree of stylization in acting, choreography and camera movement. The film received positive reviews and was nominated for the

Grand Jury Prize A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

at the 1990

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

, establishing Hartley as a distinctive new talent in the burgeoning independent filmmaking movement. Hartley's next film, '' Trust'' (1990), followed similar themes and style to '' The Unbelievable Truth'', again an offbeat romantic comedy starring Adrienne Shelly as a Long Island teenager who forms a complex romantic relationship with a mysterious computer repairman (played by Martin Donovan, another Hartley regular). ''Trust'' won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1991

. Hartley followed this with the short feature ''

Surviving Desire ''Surviving Desire'' is a 1991 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Hal Hartley and starring Martin Donovan, Julie Kessler, Matt Malloy, Merritt Nelson, and Mary B. Ward. Plot College professor Jude (Donovan) becomes smitten with a ...

'' (1991), a romantic comedy about a college professor (Donovan) who has an affair with a student (Mary B. Ward). ''

'' (1992), a drama about two brothers (played by Burke and

Bill Sage William Sage III (born April 3, 1962) is an American actor and alumnus of State University of New York at Purchase. He is known for his collaborations with director Hal Hartley. Sage has appeared in more than 80 movies, most notable ''American Ps ...

) who reunite to search for their anarchist father and encounter two women in a small town (Karen Sillas and Elina Löwensohn), was entered in competition at the

1992 Cannes Film Festival The 45th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1992. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Den goda viljan'' by Bille August. The festival opened with ''Basic Instinct'', directed by Paul Verhoeven and closed with ''Far and Away'', directed by R ...

. His next feature, ''

'' (1994), marked a change of pace for Hartley, exploring more somber themes and with a more tragic tone. Described as "a metaphysical thriller", it starred the French actress

Isabelle Huppert Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert (; born 16 March 1953) is a French actress. Described as "one of the best actresses in the world", she is known for her portrayals of cold and disdainful characters devoid of morality. She is the recipient of sev ...

as a former nun trying to write pornographic fiction who meets Thomas (Martin Donovan), a man suffering from amnesia, and Sophia (Elina Löwensohn), Thomas's wife and a porn star who reveals that Thomas was a violent criminal and pornographer. Hartley developed ''

Flirt Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement. I ...

'' (1995) as an extension of his short film of the same name made in 1993. The film is a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

of three separate characters involved in romantic entanglements in different cities – New York,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

– with each story using the same dialogue. The film stars Hartley regulars

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Posey made her film debu ...

, Dwight Ewell and the Japanese actress Miho Nikaido, whom Hartley married in 1996.

Later works

Hartley achieved his greatest commercial and critical success with his next feature, '' Henry Fool'' (1997), a darkly comic drama about a near-catatonic garbageman, Simon Grim (

), and his sister Fay (Parker Posey), who meet Henry Fool (

Thomas Jay Ryan Thomas Jay Ryan (born August 1, 1962) is an American stage and film actor. He may be best known for his starring role in the 1997 film ''Henry Fool''. Early life and education Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ryan attended Carnegie Mellon Uni ...

), a libertine and aspiring novelist who inspires Simon to write and seduces Fay and her depressed mother (Maria Porter). Simon's literary output, an epic poem written in

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...

, becomes a national sensation, winning acclaim and controversy for its pornographic content. Simon eventually becomes a literary celebrity, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. While Henry's writing career fades, he is coerced into marrying Fay, whom he has gotten pregnant, and abandons writing and takes Simon's old job as a garbageman to support his family. The film garnered positive reviews and was entered into competition at the

1998 Cannes Film Festival The 51st Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 1998. American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian Martin Scorsese was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film '' Mia aioniotita kai mia mera'' by Theo An ...

, where Hartley won the Best Screenplay Award. Hartley was invited to contribute the American entry to a series of films financed by French television to celebrate the 2000 millennium. His entry, a black comedy entitled '' The Book of Life'' (1998) was shot entirely on digital video in New York in 1998. The story imagines Jesus (Martin Donovan) returning to Earth on the eve of the 2000 millennium to open the Book of Life (stored on an Apple Mac laptop) which will start the

Apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

. Jesus, accompanied by

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

(singer-songwriter

) becomes enamoured of humanity and argues with

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

(

) as to whether or not to end human civilisation. The film also features

, who appear as a

Salvation Army band A Salvation Army brass band is a brass band affiliated with a Corps, Division or Territory of the Salvation Army. In society, a Salvation Army band playing in public places during Christian events in the calendar such as Christmas has become ...

. Some sources state that

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

is also featured, but according to Hartley, this is actually a shot of the film's production manager doing a Burroughs impression (plus the fact that Burroughs died the previous year). The film screened on French television and had a limited commercial release in cinemas. Hartley's next feature '' No Such Thing'' (2001) tells the story of Beatrice (

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...

), a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

whose fiancé is killed by a monster in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. Beatrice's editor (

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom ...

) orders Beatrice to go to Iceland to interview the monster (Robert John Burke), who is a sensitive philosopher. The pair return to New York where the media turns them into celebrities. The film is intended as a satire of news media's obsession with celebrities and manipulating events to create news headlines. The film also stars

Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...

as a doctor sympathetic to the monster's cause. The film was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

2001 Cannes Film Festival The 54th Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 20 May 2001. Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Italian film '' The Son's Room'' by Nanni Moretti. The festival opened with ...

. ''

The Girl from Monday ''The Girl from Monday'' is a 2005 American film directed by Hal Hartley. The film deals with the consequences of business monopolization and globalization. Filmed in New York City and Puerto Rico, the film was first shown at the Sundance Film ...

'' (2005) continued Hartley's critical and satiric interest in

media manipulation Media manipulation is a series of related techniques in which partisans create an image or argument that favors their particular interests. Such tactics may include the use of logical fallacies, manipulation, outright deception (disinformation ...

and the negative consequences of business monopolization and

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

. Filmed in New York City and Puerto Rico, the film is set in a future

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

where people are encouraged to record their sexual encounters as an economic transaction and thus increase their consumer buying power. The film stars Bill Sage,

Sabrina Lloyd Sabrina Anne Lloyd (born November 20, 1970) is an American retired film and television actress. She is known for portraying Wade Welles in the science fiction series ''Sliders'', Natalie Hurley in the ABC sitcom '' Sports Night'' and Kelly in '' ...

and Tatiana Abracos. It premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and received a limited cinematic release, receiving mostly negative reviews. In late 2005, Hartley moved from New York to Berlin and began preparing '' Fay Grim'', an intended sequel to ''Henry Fool''. The film, which starred Parker Posey, James Urbaniak and Thomas Jay Ryan reprising their roles from ''Henry Fool'', was a comedy-drama in which Fay is coerced by a CIA agent ( Jeff Goldblum) to try to locate notebooks that belonged to Henry (now a fugitive). Fay learns that the notebooks contain classified information that could compromise US security, leading Fay into a search around the world to find them. The film was shot in 2006 in locations in Berlin, Paris, and Istanbul and premiered at the

2006 Toronto International Film Festival The 31st Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's '' The Journals of Knud Rasmussen'', a film that "explores the history of the through the eyes of ...

. It had a limited cinematic release in 2007 and received mixed reviews. Since 1999, Hartley's films have predominantly been shot with digital cameras, including the features '' The Book of Life'', ''

'', '' Fay Grim'' and ''

Meanwhile Meanwhile may refer to: Music Albums * ''Meanwhile'' (Camouflage album), 1991 *'' ...Meanwhile'', a 1992 album by British pop band 10cc *'' Meanwhile...'', a 1995 album by world fusion ensemble Trance Mission * ''Meanwhile'' (Gorillaz EP), a 202 ...

'' (2011), in addition to his short films. His digital aesthetic is significantly different from that seen in the 1990s, and his films shot by

Michael Spiller Michael Alan Spiller (born August 1, 1961) is an American cinematographer and television director.35mm film, which exhibit blurring of the image (due to a very low shutter speed), the use of freeze frames, and shifts between colour and black-and-white footage, also display a considerable divergence from the washed-out colours and straightforward cinematography of the Long Island films from the early 1990s. ''

'' received its World premiere at the Camerimage festival in

Bydgoszcz, Poland Bydgoszcz ( , , ; german: Bromberg) is a city in northern Poland, straddling the meeting of the River Vistula with its left-bank tributary, the Brda. With a city population of 339,053 as of December 2021 and an urban agglomeration with more ...

on 29 November 2011. The hour-long feature was released on DVD in 2012 following a successful funding campaign by Hartley using the

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

website. In November 2013, Hartley funded '' Ned Rifle'', the third film in the trilogy that began with '' Henry Fool'' and '' Fay Grim'', via a Kickstarter campaign. The film premiered on September 7, 2014, at the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...

. Between 2015 and 2017, Hartley directed eight episodes of ''

Red Oaks The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

'', an

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

comedy

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series.

Short films

In addition to his feature work, Hartley has made a number of short films, many of which have been collected and re-released in DVD anthologies.

Theatre

Hartley's stage play ''Soon'', a drama dealing with the confrontation at Waco, Texas, between the religious community known as the

Branch Davidian The Branch Davidians (or the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists) were an apocalyptic new religious movement founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They regard themselves as a continuation of the General Association of ...

s and the US federal government, was first produced at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

and then later that year in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. It was also staged in the US in 2001.

Awards

In 1996, Hartley was made Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic. From 2001 through 2004, Hartley was a visiting lecturer at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

while simultaneously editing '' No Such Thing'', shooting ''

The Girl From Monday ''The Girl from Monday'' is a 2005 American film directed by Hal Hartley. The film deals with the consequences of business monopolization and globalization. Filmed in New York City and Puerto Rico, the film was first shown at the Sundance Film ...

'' and writing '' Fay Grim''. Hartley was awarded a fellowship by The

American Academy in Berlin The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...

in late 2004, where he did research related to a proposed large-scale project concerning the life of French educator and social activist Simone Weil.

Personal life

In 1996, Hartley married the Japanese dancer and actress Miho Nikaido, one of the stars of his film ''

''.

Filmography

Feature films

*'' The Unbelievable Truth'' (1989) *'' Trust'' (1990) *''

'' (1991) *''

'' (1992) *''

'' (1994) *''

'' (1995) *'' Henry Fool'' (1997) *'' The Book of Life'' (1998) *'' No Such Thing'' (2001) *''

'' (2005) *'' Fay Grim'' (2006) *''

'' (2011) *'' Ned Rifle'' (2014)

Short films

*''Kid'' (1984) *''The Cartographer's Girlfriend'' (1987) *''Dogs'' (1988) *''Ambition'' (1991) *''Theory of Achievement'' (1991) *''Flirt'' (1993) *''Opera No. 1'' (1994) *''NYC 3/94'' (1994) *''Iris'' (1994) *''The New Math(s)'' (2000) *''Kimono (film)'' (2000) *''The Sisters of Mercy'' (2004) *''A/Muse'' (2010) *''Implied Harmonies'' (2010) *''The Apologies'' (2010) *''Adventure'' (2010) *''Accomplice'' (2010)

Streaming television

*''

'' (2015–17)

References

External links

* * *
The Director Interviews: Hal Hartley, ''Fay Grim''
at ''Filmmaker Magazine''
Hal Hartley and Parker Posey InterviewHammer to Nail interviewLiterature on Hal Hartley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartley, Hal 1959 births American film directors American male screenwriters Living people English-language film directors People from Lindenhurst, New York Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni State University of New York at Purchase alumni Screenwriters from New York (state) Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners