When the Realms of James Bond and Intelligent Humour Converge

With Fay Grim a touch of Hollywood glitter from the Avant-premieres Section tinted also the new Kings and Queens Section. Hal Hartley, director and scriptwriter of this comical thriller, who on this occasion also visited Ljubljana, is one of the most renowned auteurs of the American independent film. Nevertheless, the concept of Fay Grim, despite bearing strong auctorial style, places it into the company of Hollywood spy movie blockbusters of the last few years.

Hal Hartley’s latest film is a sequel to Henry Fool, released ten years previously. “When at the end of the film the main character boarded the plane, everybody wondered – is he really going on that plane or is he rejoining the society?” explained the director. This open question spurred the initiation of the new movie, while its resolution determined the course of development. “I wondered who would tell Fay that Henry had not boarded the plane – it was necessary to involve the CIA agents as well as the entire international spy network.”

How about sequels? “The film functions independently” said Hartley, “but I might make the third part and then sell the rights,” he explained more or less jokingly. “Although it would have scared me a bit,” he told Neil Young, “It would have been impossible should they turn Fay into, let’s say, a prostitute.”

The entertaining story about complex spy networks and even more complicated family relationships will please even the rather fastidious film buffs as well as lovers of Hollywood film and is to be screened again on 17 November at the Komuna Cinema.