Trust (1990)

Just perfect...

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

"Do you miss your kids?" - "Yes" - "Do you hate your ex-husband?" - "Sure" - "Do you want to get married again?" - "Of course".A cavalier convo between a high-school drop-out Maria (Shelly) and her divorced elder sister Peg (Falco) in TRUST, US indie hyphenate Hal Hartley's second feature, gives the gist of the vicious circle that a woman often gets entangled with, and in Hartley's quirky but roundly unconventional girl-meet-boy yarn, he will ensure that the same fate will not befall upon his protagonist Maria. Starting from its opening's drop-dead gambit, TRUST sets its deadpan timbre squarely in the center. Maria naively takes her jock boyfriend's throwaway promise of marriage for granted and gets pregnant, and obliquely is answer for her father's sudden shuffling off this mortal coil (she never knows he has a bad heart!), consequentially is frozen out by everyone else, barely getting out of harm's way from a sex pervert in a liqueur store, she falls in with Matthew (Donovan), a retiring loner but a consummate electronic repairman who has a retrograde affinity of analog over digital and prefers repairing radios over televisions (the latter causes cancer to boot), they hits it off fine, nothing remotely earth-shattering or libido-driven, by choice, Hartley brilliantly teases out the encroaching tenderness which they will grow for each other, a healthier, more humanistic and salutary type of connection between two strangers, which prods both to make some vital decisions: an abortion or keeping the baby, securing a 9 to 5 dead-end job or sticking to one's ground, getting married or stay as friends on the common ground of their mutual affection and trust. There is some bad parenting in the mix too, Matthew is in the receiving end of an abusive father (MacKay), that kind would gut-punch his own son without blinking an eye, who still rankles that Matthew's mother died of giving birth to him (called it narrow-minded or inward-looking is a criminal overstate), from where one can see where Matthew's inchoate violent proclivity comes. More enigmatically misandrist is Maria's mother Jean (played by an unknown Nelson with Janus- faced finesse between astuteness and sangfroid), whose confiding moment of the aftermath of her recent bereavement tellingly vouchsafes the heartening fact: Mr. Hartley is devoid of the usual unsavory male-chauvinism in his chromosomes. The two leads are both excellent, Adrienne Shelly has a cool girl's composure seeping through her trademark elfin air, totally sympathetic as a hapless misfit whereas a subplot entailing a snaffled infant baby singles out Maria's learning curve of motherhood and in those moments, she is unassumingly observant and grown-up. On the other hand, Martin Donovan makes great play of a vastly conflicted persona shrouded by antisocial angst but finds fondness with an unlike match, flagged up by the grenade he carries, Matthew's self-destructive predisposition has only one antidote, a sincere, real human connection based on mutual trust, isn't that what everyone wants? Shot in a shoestring budget within a meagre 11-day span, imbued with an antiseptic, blueish hue and blessed with Hartley's expressive compositions and other winning trimmings, TRUST is whimsical but not cutesy, rapier-like but never doctrinaire, earnest yet at times you can catch its knowing wink: kookiness is the new sexy, and don't forget, Harley juvenilia is made in 1990.

Most popular films delineate their stories in a rather comical and insipid way: the dialogue is often exchanged between characters as if it were bounced off a Spartan gladiator - and, in some cases very little to short-of-nothing is penetrable in the film."Trust" is a film that inverses that idea - and does so with wit, charm, and most importantly: astute cleverness. The story begins with careful sequencing that portrays each character a new journey of life. We see an antisocial protagonist, a pregnant girl who recently dropped out of high school, and a motherly type whose apathy is cunning and partially insane. "Trust" is a love story that defies any cliché of filmmaking. The lead character pours his organism into the film and invokes integrity of personality without apprehension or any constipation (who can forget that wit from Mr Slaughter??) The film is about what happens when we take chances, and don't take chances. In short: it's about being and what happens when we share our being with others.The film's sequencing is what I loved most of all. It's weaved into a fabric that reminded me of early avant-garde films (the envelope of the story is reminiscent of Kubricks's older film "The Killing") and perhaps more-or-less surprising is the protagonist(played by Martin Donovan) exchanges silence; those rare moments in the film that can't help to be compared to the work of Godard. Momentarily, it shines solicitude and violence (the symbolism is slightly ironic and very insincere.) My favorite moments are about jeering characters who feel unwanted.A definite must-watch. I recommend it to anyone, everyone.

Long Island filmmaker Hal Hartley fights the sophomore jinx in the follow-up to his disarming debut feature 'The Unbelievable Truth' (1989). His second film is an overwritten satire drawn around the usual clichés of modern suburban culture (television, dysfunctional families, etc.) and filtered through the director's trademark cast of quirky characters, none of whom resemble anyone raised in a genuine suburb. It lacks the offbeat appeal of his earlier effort, presenting a darker, more emotionally violent story about a pregnant high school dropout and her unlikely friendship with an alienated electronics whiz-kid, who carries a hand grenade "just in case". The odd, choreographed rhythm of Hartley's dialogue is still enjoyable, but this time his characters have nothing amusing to say, and the impression is left of a gifted talent trying too hard to overcome a creative block.

Trust (1990) - 10/10 As a filmmaker, Hal Hartley will forever divide audiences due to his unique story-telling style, dead-pan humour and tendency to favour words over action. His themes are often subtle and can take more than one viewing to fully understand or appreciate. Something which, understandably, can put off many.But whether you adore his style or think it to be moronic, no-one can deny that he is and always will be an inspired writer and director. A director who has influenced many and will continue to do so, I am sure, for years to come. Now I fall into the category of adoration and I believe 'Trust' to be his finest work.'Trust' focuses on the coming together of two characters. Maria Coughlin, a pregnant high-school dropout who has just been the cause of her fathers fatal heart attack, and Matthew Slaughter, an intellectual loner who still lives with his sadistic father. Sound like a standard, if a bit over the top, romance? You couldn't be more wrong.What makes Hartley's films so special, and 'Trust' is no exception, are the characters he manages to create. Though the situations they get into and the characters around them are nothing short of surreal, the way the react to each situation and deal with very serious issues could not be more realistic.A huge reason for this is his dialogue. Reminiscent of early Richard Linklater or Godard, his flowing, straight to the point script has you hooked from the word go. Fantastically direct delivery from both Shelley and Donovan allow this dialogue to shine and have you believe you these characters are friends you have known for years.In 'Trust' I believe Hartley has created one of the most earnest romances ever to be filmed. Utterly believable and almost heartbreakingly beautiful, this is certainly not a film to be missed.10/10