七尺男儿

　　老红军路春（赵丹 饰）回到阔别多年的家乡，准备创建伐木场，他的想法得到老战友詹国才（高博 饰）和烈士女儿山雀（祝希娟 饰）的支持。不久，一批上海知青来到林场，路春考虑他们初来乍到，要想留住他们，就必须让他们爱上林区。他从生活上无微不致地关心他们，并让山雀担任他们的组长。随着时间推移，青年们思想产生了变化，有的能安心工作，有的则轻视体力劳动，认为伐木工作对知识青年来说是大材小用。路春针对出现的问题，及时耐心地做说服教育工作，多数青年能安心工作，徐英（吴文华 饰）进步尤为明显，她耐心帮助好高婺远的寄望（黄达亮 饰），把他带到烈士墓前进行反思，寄望终于清醒过来......

　　Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.
　　Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)
　　As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.
　　The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).
　　Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

　　好勇斗狠的小混混阿勇（郑中基饰），喜欢有节奏感的东西，例如打架。可是他情绪不稳，惟独一首在网上发表的神秘Demo，却是他的心灵镇静剂。大哥雄命令阿勇看管一个绑架回来的少女子牧（颜卓灵饰），并将她困在飘浮海上的鱼排内。诡计多端的子牧多番逃走，两人恶斗连场，阿勇惊觉对方正是Demo的作曲人！为了逃走，子牧假意为躁狂的阿勇施以音乐治疗，将本来剑拔弩张的关系，变成一个最奇特荒谬的处境。有作家在坐牢时写成巨著，子牧却在被挟持时灵感涌现。风声、浪声、水滴声，渐渐变成一组节奏。灵感忽至的她，居然在如此处境下写成一首动人的乐章。而子牧更发现阿勇的嗓子其实相当不错，加上他平日打架逃跑，练就强大肺活量，音域辽阔。原来，绑匪都有好嗓子！音乐，令一个人改变，令两个人相知。他们用声音，改变了命运，为自己的人生，配乐。