Amateur
TiVo happened to record Hal Hartley's Amateur for me, which was a nostalgic surprise as I surfed through the menu last night searching for something more intellectually calming to fall asleep to than the latest explosions in Baghdad.
I'd almost forgotten how much I like this movie -- the deliberate pace, the quirky dialogue, the intentionally stylized movements of the actors and the studied framing of each shot. To me, 'Amateur' is Hal Hartley's best work, the atmospheric point to which all his past movies were straining to reach and from which all his films since have been influenced and informed (yet have not matched).
The soundtrack is a mix of terrific alt-rock performances from such 90's standouts as Bettie Serveert, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement and Yo La Tengo, as well as a number of lovely ambient keyboard-vocal tracks that glide ethereally behind the complicated emotional identities steadily unraveling on-screen.
There isn't a false note to any of the performances, and Hal Hartley's mannered camera work only underscores the cautious nature of each character's approach to the cliff-edge of trust.
"Yes, I know this man."