尼罗河上的惨案

　　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.

　　这是一部关于癌症的喜剧。一位德高望重的外科医生主任、一个医生乐队的主唱，拥有一个富裕的家庭、优雅的律师妻子和一个叛逆期的女儿——博莱的生活看起来似乎完美。然而他忽然得知自己还有六个月可活。为了不让爱自己的人受苦，他打算隐瞒病情并变成一个混蛋让所有爱他的人都远离自己。终于如他所愿众叛亲离，而之后发生的一切却出人意料……

　　讲述了72岁的花样青春"末顺"(罗文姬 饰) 与从未听说过的孙女"小公主"(金秀安 饰)出现后开始的令人不可思议的同居故事。

　　改编自契诃夫的小说札记《没意思的故事》，电影主要讲述教授尼古拉得了神经衰弱症之后行为举止心理轨迹变化的故事，前半部分印象深刻的是拒绝给学生做毕业论文，后半部分则是关于女儿婚姻大事的抉择。第一次看窗户时学生走了，第二次看时，女儿也离他而去，再也没有回头。