Henry Fool

This, the first installment of Hal Hartley’s trilogy, which won the best script award at Cannes, describes the lives of the family Grim, whose members include Simon (James Urbaniak), a garbageman and local laughingstock, his lazy, vain and high-maintenance sister Fay (Parker Posey) and their drug addicted mother (Maria Porter). The lives of this original trio are stricken at full speed by Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan), a lost and misunderstood genius, vagabond and master of the coaching and mentoring techniques so popular today. Under the tremendous influence of this charismatic visitor, Simon decides in favor of a career change to become an unusually popular although controversial poet. Meanwhile, the businesswoman Fay has her own plans related to Henry. Hal Hartley applies enviable devotion and his characteristic style to this lively dialogue with pop culture and our surrounding reality (also to the unwritten rules of the publishing world). Hartley is no stranger to weaving passionate tales; he’s a master of modern cinematic fables and nonchalant play with language, genre and form.