Page 8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 5, 1990 Believe the truth The Unbelievable Truth dTr. Hal Hartley by Jon BIltk The secret to The Unbelievable Truth lies in its name, an enigmatic but simple truth about a movie that expresses its truths beautifully but simply, elliptically then surprisingly clear: Characters reveal themselves " yin fragments, concisely yet not im- fimediately to the point, languid and . :slow. Scenes take place un-self-con- sciously against mundane backdrops --that seem surreal, building tension Sbetween the realization that a blue ritucco wall, an auto repair shop, a , bgrass lawn mean nothing, but seem v'ta-assume a heightened reality by .. their isolation and the characters they o'rkrround. The story is irrelevant because Nthe characters create so much, yet it -moves with a serious dynamism, "working in counterpoint with the "A g o sy u a p e itdmerchant, this store .features * - if characters. But ultimately, like the backdrops, the story stands out by virtue of its lack of self-recognition. Of the story, one can say that Josh Hutton returns from prison to his small Long Island hometown. All we know of him is that he's going "home," that he's coming from "prison." Everybody who sees him asks if he's a priest because of his black clothing. "No, I'm a me- chanic." Without pretense, he meets people from his past, walking into scenes in medias res that continue af- ter he leaves, open-ended. The scenes govern themselves without the pretense of utility - they don't seem to have particular narrative purpose, yet they do. The characters and their individual stories all come together in unexpected and believable ways. It's a quietly bril- liant way to tell a story. It's beauti- ful, mysterious, liquid and surreal because it's simple, clear, honest, to the point. Josh meets Audrey, or Audrey meets Josh - it's difficult to say which, but their early relationship has the quality of chance. Audrey is a nihilistic 18 year-old, just gradu- ated from high school, accepted to Harvard but loathe to go because the world could end at any minute. She isn't angry and she isn't cute; she's depressed and she's brutally frank, yet elusively fresh. Which is proba- bly the formative principle of this film, the peaceful tension it paints with contradictions of ideals and atti- tudes. The Unbelievable Truth defies conventional description because it defies conventional form, in its sim- plicity and its complexity. It "explores" themes and relationships, but it achieves a higher simple real- ity that doesn't present itself as any- thing special. Audrey and Josh have an immediate connection that isn't electric, but it's palpable and, some- how, intuitively believable. Before she knows of his past, Audrey gives Josh the address of her father's garage because Josh needs a job. See TRUTH, page 9. Josh Hutton, played by Robert Burke, kisses Audry Hugo, played by Adrienne Shelly. Although you can't see her face, Adrienne is a Rosanna Arquette look-alike. I CARROLL Continued from page 7 to someone, especially if they're reading prose," he told the L.A. Reader. Carroll tries to concentrate on the humorous anecdotes found in his diaries, like the aforementioned "The Poet and the Vibrator" episode. Besides the diaries and the records, Carroll has published two other books. Living at the Movies, a collection of poetry, was Carroll's first published book. The Book of Nods, contains both verse and prose- poetry, more like Rimbaldian Illuminations than journal entries. JIM CARROLL, ALLEN GINS- BERG and JOhN SINCLAIR ANDI HIS BLUES SCHOLARS will per- form their poetry at 8 p.m. tonight at the Power Center. General admission tickets are $12.50 at the Union Ticket Officeor at the Power Center. A ::r.,. i:" %if4:" " -:; :. ::1;: isiX'::?'X.,::':Centerb..t....;."v The Mkligan Dity- ~od eecagodfi.s New Location! V/AwC am- 222 State Plaza 325 E. Liberty 995-2378 995-4222 I I 0. a Major Events presentation a Major Events presentation u/4f S I BEOKE JOE JOE SNEARINI WILLIAMS PASS Become a I edpse 100000 MANIACS "Ar u AHERING6 Of fRIENDS" Da"ily Photographer.. Y q~. r Lrj 1 T* I 0 0