黑金

　　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.

　　1987年，加斯帕尔·诺埃夹着40分钟长度的电影炸弹《马肉》（Carne）进驻了戛纳电影节，拉开了他对社会宣战的序曲。《马肉》开始就是血淋淋的杀马镜头，诺埃采用了后来成为主流电影时髦的“主人公冷叙述法”（《天使爱美丽》的开场叙述），讲述一个马肉店小老板、一个面无表情、缺乏情调、内心封闭的屠夫，日复一日、年复一年过着枯燥生活。面对女儿越来越成熟的肉体他产生了无以自拔的欲望，最终他误以为女儿被人强奸而把屠刀插进了那个家伙的嘴巴。影片弥漫着压抑、干燥、冷冽的气息，画面始终弥漫着血污一样的红，一种暴雨过后阴沟翻滚的腐朽气息，一副肆无忌惮的颓废和末世色彩。奇怪的机位（经常切掉人的眼睛）、僵直的动作，影片除了少量从广播里传出的音乐，令人印象最深的就是不断出现的沉重顿音，让人害怕和不安。
　　《马肉》在视听语言和社会批判上的直接性令人猝不及防、目瞪口呆。影片开始就明目张胆地写出“本片会让青少年观众产生严重的心理不适”等字样，这类对那些已走进电影院、坐在椅子上的观众毫无意义的警示，在他后来的电影作品不断出现，成为他独一无二的标签。他在电影中直接与观众对话，在《我企硬》结尾的暴力幻想戏之前，诺埃以数秒倒计时的方式请某些保守派观众提前离场。看这样一部电影，你不但会被导演的勇气感到不寒而栗，也会感到他就像一个玩世不恭、心思缜密的流氓，带着冷嘲热讽的表情从人性的最底层猛烈强暴这个世界，甚至还有几分幽默感。在西文中，“玩世不恭”与“犬儒主义”是一个词，它代表一种态度，而我们则经常把这两个词分开用，在中国似乎只有王朔身上高度集中了这两个词的共同含义，玩世不恭地一个都不放过。
　　《马肉》获得了戛纳电影节国际影评人周奖，很多人劝诺埃拍一部《马肉》的加长版，于是他用了7年时间拍摄了《马肉》的续篇《我企硬》，走向了偏执狂的极限。1985年，他让他的爸爸在自己的短片里演了精神变态杀手，1997年，他自己在好友让·古南（Jan Kounen）的《太保密码》中客串一个卖土耳其烤肉的混混。诺埃与让·古南出现在一起并不奇怪，他们都是电影偏执狂，都对世界毫不让步，都疯狂尝试致幻剂，都拍摄出令人惊心动魄的画面。