Henry Fool (1997)
Henry Fool is a bit of an awkward, meandering tale that unexpectedly yet adroitly turns upon some extremely complex emotional human issues. Hal Hartley draws his inspiration for the film from the real-life relationship between James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, Faust, and the story of Kasper Hauser, a boy who mysteriously materializes one day, having a profound affect on everyone who comes into contact with him. The film took the award for best screenplay at Cannes in 1998.
The title character, Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan), with his pomp and flaunts, wit and eloquence, audacity and perversions, appears one day out of the blue and assumes the role of mentor to Simon (James Urbaniak), a socially ill at ease garbage man who works to provide for his lazy oversexed sister (Parker Posey) and sick mother (Maria Porter). While Simon becomes an internationally acclaimed phenomenon, Fool fades into the obscurity from whence he comes.
A curious technique deployed by the film that situates it in a class of its own is its peculiar progression. The first part of the film is more like a novel than a film. The characters pop out as if from a story, their roles exaggerated and distinct. However, through the movement of the narrative, they become increasingly less writerly and contrived and more human and real.
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Grading
- Story A-
- Acting A
- Visuals A-
- Originality/Innovation A-
- Enjoyability A-
- Overall A-
- DVD Extras NA
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