Independent British distributors Artificial Eye have informed us that they are planning to add four films to their impressive Blu-ray catalog: Hal Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth (1989), Simple Men (1992), and Amateur (1994), and Cate Shortland's Lore (2012), which was selected to represent Australia at the 85th Academy Awards.
Audry (Adrienne Shelly) is a Long Island teenager beset with worries - college, parents, nuclear war - and frustrated by small-town life. When mysterious Josh (Robert Burke) arrives and goes to work as a mechanic for Audry's father, she feels overwhelmingly attracted to him, despite town rumours that he's a murderer. Director Hal Hartley's debut. Street date; May 27th.
What do you do if your father, a former all-star shortstop and mad-bomber anarchist breaks out of jail? You go after him, of course. Even if his trail leads straight into being caught. Two brothers trek through deepest, darkest Long Island, only to discover that sometimes even the oddest things really are just what they seem. Award-winning filmmaker Hal Hartley has fashioned a wryly comic world. Robert Burke (Robocop 3) stars in this critically acclaimed and very unusual film where everything is just the slightest bit off center. Street date: June 10th.
A crackpot ex-nun (Isabelle Huppert) who writes pornographic short stories crosses paths with an amnesiac (Martin Donovan) wandering the streets of New York City. When they set out to uncover his identity, they come face to face with his unsavory past - including a vengeful porno actress (Elin Lowensohn) and ruthless corporate assassins hot on their tail. Street date: May 13th.
Selected to represent Australia at the the 85th Academy Awards. Post-war drama directed by Cate Shortland. When her father, an officer in the SS, and her Nazi-supporting mother are taken into custody by allied troops at the end of the war, Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) and her siblings must travel across Germany to their grandmother's house in Hamburg. On their travels, the group encounter a number of fearful and suspicious people, but it is only when they meet a kind-hearted young Jewish man, Thomas (Kai-Peter Malina), that Lore begins to reassess the feelings of hatred so deeply instilled in her by her parents. Street date: May 27th.
What the hell is going on? Why is no one releasing these Hartley films in the U.S.? Are we too busy re-releasing friggin' Spaceballs for the fifth time? Please, people.
Can't wait for Amateur - it's the only Hal Hartley film I've seen but I found it a truly hypnotic watch, hope it still has the same hold on me all these years later!
Wow - I thought we'd be waiting years for HH on blu! Nice one AE - we haven't even got an R2 DVD of Simple Men in UK yet. Hope Henry Fool, Fay Grim and No Such Thing will follow.
