Trust [VHS]

Later, I made a point of finding the next showing and watched and taped it.

I was blown away. The discourse was uniquely deadpan and honest at the same time. The acting was fabulous. Martin Donovan promptly became one of the few actors, and the only actor from North America, whose work is required viewing. I have a somewhat longer list of actresses, but being an unrepentant auteurist, required films are almost always based on director.

After seeing Trust, Hal Hartley was lodged firmly in the mandatory list. The relationship between Maria and Matthew managed to be both realistic and stylized at the same time. Not an easy combination to pull off. They talk to each other, rarely look at each other, and yet the connection is palpable. The film is deeply compassionate. The dialogue is like a sort of music, especially in its rhythms, its pauses. The supporting character roles, especially Maria's father are painted precisely with deft strokes.

Trust is one of my favorite Hartley films. Flirt is the only film of his I have found disappointing, Simple Men and The Book of Life are my favorites. I loved The Unbelievable Truth. I seem to have liked No Such Thing more than most other Hartley fans and Amateur slightly less, although I did like it.

Trust really should be on DVD and, although several Hartley films have just been released on DVD Trust does not seem to be scheduled yet. Tsk tsk. Wait for the DVD.


TRUST   December 1, 1999
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is the film that inspired me to become a filmmaker. It is a beautifully shot, poignant and humorous look at families, life, and love. Hartley is probably the last great voice left in American film.


so where's the DVD?   November 7, 2006
Robert Nagle (Houston, TX United States)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Strangely, at the time I write this, the DVD is not available in USA. Perhaps the added publicity given to Adrienne Shelley's acting career after her brutal murder will cause this to be rectified quickly.

Shelley and Donovan had hipness and chemistry and a great style. It's a minimalist film, but it lingers with you.

Watching Hal Hartley's Trust for the second time 15 years later is exhilarating and somewhat disappointing. The characters are contrived and overintellectualized, and the conflict between parent and child here doesn't ring true (it seems to have the usual bitterness of college sophomores). Also the gestures and dialogue are stagy and slightly pretentious. Never mind that; you're missing the point. The film is not aiming at realism; it's aiming at conveying the emotional turbulence of young adult struggling to break free from the orbit of their parents.

Plot and incident flow naturally and often end up in unexpected places. There's lots of surprises, many of them comic. The film is about throwing characters together and watching how they react. The moment where the girl messes up the kitchen makes you wonder, how will the father react? The dialogue (reminiscient of Stoppard or Mamet) is curt and enigmatic and challenging. And always entertaining. People are learning from one another and changing..possibly improving. The movie Trust is less about plot than a certain attitude toward life--how much trust should we place in family, friends, peers? People don't have secrets or histories; they have metaphysical complaints and frustrated dreams. Martin Donovan and Adrienne Shelly are not only young charismatic actors, they act and react with subtlety and focus. Yet both have chemistry with one another and manage to sustain this intensity without going too far (Kudos to Mr. Hartley for not aiming

for sympathy or making motives too transparent). Donovan seems adept at playing characters about to boil under, but manage to hold it in (He's at his best in the film Surviving Desire,).

Adrienne, that moment when you put on your glasses at the end was a great cinematic moment. Hopeful, assertive and maybe even cocky. Your fans will always have that moment to remember you by.

If you liked Trust, you'd also enjoy: Hartley's Surviving Desire (although it's more arty), Jill Sprecher's 13 Conversations about One Thing and her earlier film, Clockwatchers).