戏剧性的一夜

　　一伙盗墓贼潜入古墓，盗宝未果，却受困于墓道之中，他们依靠饮用“绿水”存活，但逃离墓穴后却相继离奇死亡。月河市环保局环境监察大队队长发现几人死亡特征与喝了被六价铬污染的“绿水”一致，遂带领大学生林一展开深入调查，山中一座破旧的老宅院引起了他们警觉……

　　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.

　　1948年，洛杉矶的经济突趋繁荣，满怀希望的军人伊斯退役后到洛杉矶寻找工作，满怀信心的他，以为像他这样出色的黑人在洛杉矶不难找到合适的位置，怎料好不容易才找到一份在机场内当技工的工作，但不久又被老板解雇，更被房东催收欠租。就在绝望边缘之际，他受聘于神秘男子狄维去找寻一个失踪女子黛芬，而伊斯也因此而堕进狄维的圈套，他也不知不觉间被牵涉到恐吓、谋杀、政治的纠缠之中。