发丘陵冢

　　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.

　　生活在奈良县西吉野村的田原孝三（国村隼饰）一家五口，母亲、妻子、姐姐留下的儿子荣介、还有女儿美智，在这远离城镇的林区平静地生活。人们盼望已久的修建铁路的计划终于实施，为了铁路的修建，孝三极力劝阻那些想要离开村庄的人们。但是，修建铁路的工程中断了，已经动工的隧道废弃在那里。
　　15年后，孝三已经丧失了劳动能力，一家人的生活不得不全部依靠荣介（柴田浩太郎饰）的收入来维持。美智（尾野真千子饰）一直对荣介怀有一种模糊的爱慕，而荣介在暗恋着舅母。有一天，孝三带着自己心爱的8mm摄像机离开了家，从此再也没有回来。这一家人还会留守在这片土地上吗？

　　美国深海勘查潜艇“赛任1号”在一次例行任务中失事，当局命令潜艇设计师（主人公）组织一支由军人和各类科学家构成的小队，乘坐另一艘同型潜艇“赛任2号”下海救援“赛任1号”，成员里面有两个女性，其中一个是潜艇设计师的前妻。
　　搜索的线索是“赛任1号”上面的一只“黑匣子”。救援队据此潜航到一个非常隐蔽的海沟。途中这艘黄色潜艇被一个巨大的白色不明物体包裹住，艇长用电击法驱走这个怪物。三名潜水员出艇勘查，发现这里的海藻发生过变异，大得出奇。一名潜水员遭隐藏在海藻林间的异形生物突袭而亡，另两名生还者采集了一些变异的海藻后返回潜艇。
　　潜艇为了躲避变异生物的袭击，进入了海沟内部探险，结果发现海沟最底部有一个巨大空洞，潜艇浮出水面，艇员们穿着如同宇航服的特种防护衣进入这个幽深的洞穴，发现内部竟然有人工开凿的痕迹，里面到处都是变异生物，有的类似巨型蜜蜂，有的类似海蛇和恐龙的杂交体，并且所有的生物身上都带有剧毒。
　　队员们在留守在潜艇中的通讯指挥员的指示下不断深入，寻找遗失的黑匣子。然而当他们在洞内巡视时，一头异形怪物穿破一名队员的保护罩，进入他的体内，队员们被迫将其击毙。
　　同时，潜艇上的变异海藻入侵了潜艇上的饮水系统，接触海藻或者饮用了被海藻污染的水，都会被侵蚀逐渐变为海藻的饲料，一个杂役兵因此感染而死。
　　队员们划着橡皮筏返回潜艇途中，又被水中的异形逐个消灭。
　　潜艇设计师和两个女队员以及一个男科学家继续在洞中考察。他们发现了一个实验室，在一具干尸面前的电脑上查到了所有的秘密，原来这个海沟是美国政府遗弃的一个研究生物武器的秘密基地，科学家通过生物基因杂交生产出了大量的生物武器，但是不知是何原因试验发生事故，所有的科学家被那些生物杀死，无一幸免。
　　他们试图炸毁试验基地，不料在一个基因交换室遇到了最可怕的怪物------一个竖挂在墙壁上的多脚海星。在大家用步枪抵抗这个海星的时候，一个男科学家被海星巨大的触手卷走，一个女队员则被海星吸进口中……
　　任务结束，旧情鸳鸯回到潜艇上，却被一直呆在潜艇中的通讯指挥员截住并吐露实情：其实根本不存在什么黑匣子，这次行动的真正目的就是取回生物试验的那张资料光盘，所以他才一步步引导队员们接近那个嗜血实验室，而且第一批返回的队员们有两人本来可以免受异形攻击的，也是他从中作祟将舱门反锁，让那两个队员活活的被异形拉进水中……
　　通讯指挥员实现了自己的全盘计划，把幸存的三人：旧情鸳鸯和艇长关在寄生着变异海藻的船舱内，幸而潜艇设计师把那张要命的光盘留在手中，提出和通讯指挥员合作，将其骗入船舱并被海藻感染而死。
　　正当幸存者逃离危险之地时，却发现艇长没有跟随他们一起进入逃生舱，艇长告诉他们，刚才制服通讯指挥员时他不小心被海藻感染了，决定牺牲自己毁灭这个秘密基地。
　　最后，那对夫妻带着光盘乘逃生舱逃离了恐怖深渊，回到陆地上揭露政府的阴谋，而艇长则启动了潜艇的自毁系统，炸毁了海沟的出口，将那些变异生物永远封闭在海底深渊之中。