TRUST

US, 1991, 105 minutes, Colour.
Adrienne Shelley, Martin Donovan.
Directed by Hal Hartley.

Trust was written and directed by Hal Hartley, New York small-budget film-maker who built a reputation with The Unbelievable Truth in the late '80s, developed it with such films as Simple Men, Amateur, Flirt, Henry Fool in the '90s. He also made a number of short films as well as films for public television, including Surviving Desire.

Hartley writes a characteristic dialogue, a combination of realistic and naturalistic expression with articulate, though laconic, reflections on life. There is a touch of the deadpan in the humour. The film focuses on characters, their idiosyncrasies, the eccentricities of their interactions.

Adrienne Shelley (a Rosanna Arquette look-alike) is particularly effective as Maria. Martin Donovan, a regular in Hartley films, is Matthew, put upon by his demanding father, attracted by Maria, a man of inherent rage and violence. The supporting cast is particularly strong, some in strong supporting roles, others in effective cameos.

The films appeal to an art-house audience, but have the capacity for attracting, with the humour and characterisation, wider audiences who respond to interesting film-makers.

1.Impact of the film? Small budget? Personal style?

2.New York State, the towns, homes, factories, shops? The musical score and its moods?

3.The work and style of Hal Hartley, writing and directing, interesting characters, language? Humour and irony? His perspective on characters and issues?

4.The significance of the title and its relationship to each character?

5.Audience response to the art-house style, mainstream expectations: cinematic styles, plot, characterisation, incidents, dialogue? The film veering towards tangents and the offbeat?

6.The blend of the serious and the humorous? Articulate and inarticulate?

7.The portrait of Maria, her appearance, character, age? Her place at school, at home? Her relationship with her parents? The demand for the $5? The slap? Her relationship with her father, his death? Her mother blaming her? Her pregnancy, the discussions with Anthony, his callousness, preoccupied with sport? Her going to the clinic, the question of abortion? The shop, the dress? Her return home, her grief, the complaints of her mother, her being ousted? Her wandering the town, meeting the mad lady? The baby and the kidnap? Her wanting to buy the beer, the sexual advances of the man in the store? The bar? The encounter with Matthew, hiding at his house? Sleeping, waking? The mess and Matthew's father? At home with Matthew? The irony of meeting her sister in the bar? Going home? Her relationship with her mother and sister? The question of a job? Her learning, becoming more articulate? Facing important decisions?

8.The intercutting of Matthew's experience? A silent brooding character? Strength and weaknesses? At work, his friends and their support? His way of life? At home, the continual complaints of his father, cleaning the bath...? His carrying around the grenade - and its not going off? His going to the bar, aggressive attitudes and punch-ups? Meeting Maria? Taking her home, coping with his father and Maria? The detail of the incident at home and the clashes with his father? Meeting Peg in the bar, his aggressive conversation with her? The irony that she was Maria's sister? Jean and the defiance? The jobs? His theories about television watching, Beethoven? An idealist - and his idealistic saboteur attitudes? The build-up to the clashes, the violence, watching television? Destructiveness? The issue of Maria's abortion? Marriage?

9.Maria with Matthew, her trust in him - symbolised by the fall?

10.Jean, her relationship with her husband, with her daughters, her grief, angers? Working, dominating Maria? Peg and the break-up of the marriage? The irony of the issues about wanted and unwanted children? Drinking, the gin and the Scotch? Getting Matthew drunk, the bed set up and the substitution of Peg? The consequences? Maria and the abortion, the job?

11.Matthew and the detection? The couple kidnapping the baby? Cars, the visit, the finding of the baby? Their coming forward? The clinic, the abortion? The importance of the theme of wanted and unwanted children?

12.The build-up to the confrontation between Matthew and his father? The fight, the violence?

13.Jean and her plans and the future?

14.The film as an ironic slice of life, glimpses of idiosyncratic characters, their interactions - and their future?