This short film was packaged on video with Hartley's featurette "Surviving Desire." It follows a day in the life of a young artist who longs for professional success and the attention of ... See full summary »
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This short film was packaged on video with Hartley's featurette "Surviving Desire." It follows a day in the life of a young artist who longs for professional success and the attention of beautiful women, but who encounters only frustration and violence. Written by
Ethan Straffin <straffin@xenon.stanford.edu>
Voice-over:
Dwell on uncomplicated beauty: The landscape, the sun on your face. Nothing touches you. Keep the image of your death cheerfully before you at all times. Gain perspective. Seek to clarify and comfort, not to obscure or mystify. Your aspirations are pointless; your ambitions come to nothing.
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I like Hal Hartley's stuff and this short film definitely has his signature on it but something's lacking. Basically it's a day in the life of this guy whom the whole world is literally against. Walking to work he must fight for survival against every passerby including one wielding an automatic weapon. Hartley plays with form; shots repeat themselves one after another and one scene has an actor mouthing but not actually saying his angry side of a conversation. Unfortunately there's no real meat to sink your teeth into with this film. It's very similar in style and theme to Hal Hartley's Theory Of Achievement which was made around the same time and is a much better short film.
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I like Hal Hartley's stuff and this short film definitely has his signature on it but something's lacking. Basically it's a day in the life of this guy whom the whole world is literally against. Walking to work he must fight for survival against every passerby including one wielding an automatic weapon. Hartley plays with form; shots repeat themselves one after another and one scene has an actor mouthing but not actually saying his angry side of a conversation. Unfortunately there's no real meat to sink your teeth into with this film. It's very similar in style and theme to Hal Hartley's Theory Of Achievement which was made around the same time and is a much better short film.