Sinister: Hal Hartley / B&S

[N.]

On Thu, 2 Oct 1997, klas.ericsson at student.jmg.gu.se (klas ericsson), wrote:

>I don't know how many people noticed the Hal Hartley quote in "I could be
>dreaming", the one from Trust (I think), that goes " A family is like a
>loaded gun, if you point it in the wrong direction...". Has anyone found
>any more Hal Hartley-oriented topics in B&S lyrics. Stuart David mentioned
>him as an inspiration in my interview for the fanzine STATE (which I=B4m
>trying to change to the STATE I am in - of course:-)).
>
>Henry Fool (aka Klas)

Klas, I don't know of any more specific HH references within the lyrics, but
I have noticed some broader connections between the two. As a longtime Hal
Hartley fan (um, please no debates over who's a "real" HH fan! ;-)) I was
thrilled to hear that B&S consider him an inspiration.  FYI to everyone,
there's a great HH web page (http://www.best.com/~drumz/Hartley/), and a
mailing list, too.  So, here are some connections I've made ..

***  Falling:  There's this one B&S photo on the tweenet B&S site
(http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~hahndorf/bas/) that reminds me of HH.
According to the caption, it's of Stuart David and Richard Colburn. RC is
down on the ground in front of a car and SD is crouched next to him. It
looks to me like a scene from a HH film. His films always feature loads of
tripping/falling or down-on-the-ground scenes and Hal has admitted,  "I love
people falling down. I've always got my eye out for flat spaces to have
someone fall down on. Empty highways have this almost narcotic attraction
for me."

This shared fondness with falling or having fallen obviously ties into
larger issues that both B&S and HH address, and everything that
falling can represent on an emotional level.  The word itself has mixed
connotations because of its use in phrases like  "falling in love" and
"falling asleep."  Both the image and the concept of someone on the ground
can be pretty ambiguous. Did he trip or was he pushed or did he lower
himself gently to the ground?  "Now I'm feeling flat you seem miles away /
I'm so tired that down on the pavement I'll lay / Till the blossom on the
tree comes falling on me / Fall on me"  (Dog on wheels) 


Both HH films and B&S lyrics address ambiguity.  X is not necessarily what
it seems to be. But it's not necessarily Y, either!  Neither shies away from
muddled scenarios, nor tries to wrap them up neatly at the end. Hartley says
he's obsessed with "the fumbling attempt to find out what love is, the
constant confusion, the frustration." Part of what draws me to both HH and
B&S is their willingness to examine the messy truth. Obviously, a filmmaker
has more room to do this.  

Other connections I've noticed: 
*** Religion: HH films and B&S lyrics are full of references to religion.
For example, In HH's "Amateur" one of the main characters is an ex-nun and
part of the film takes place in a convent.  In "The Unbelievable Truth,"
Josh is asked again and again,  "Are you a priest?" ("No, I'm a mechanic.")
I don't need to point out all the B&S religious references to you Sinister
listees, right? ;-)

*** Self-referentiality:  HH often uses the same actors (Donovan, Shelley,
Sillas, et al) or a similar character (the street bum, the ex-con) from film
to film. Of course, In "Flirt" he does his own short film in three different
ways, so I suppose that's a broad form of self-referentiality (hey, is that
even a word?).  For B&S, the most obvious example is the way Belle and
Sebastian are characters in songs as well as the name of the band. Also,
things like how in the song "Mary Jo," MJ's reading a book called "The State
That I Am In." 

Ok, there's one more connection and it reaallly stretches it, but hey, i
guess that's what this list is for. ;-)   Have you all read "Belles
Lettres," the series of B&S-inspired stories on the Tangents E-zine?
(http://www.virtual-pc.com/tangent/belle_lettres/index.html)  Well, when the
narrator is in a classroom with the girl he loves, he gets up and writes on
the whiteboard, "I don't love anyone," and then, beneath it, "Belle And
Sebastian are God."  In the great HH film, "Surviving Desire," Jude is in a
classroom with the girl he loves and he gets up and writes on the
blackboard, "Knowing is not enough."

Guess I'll stop rambling on this subject now.  I'm enjoying all the stories
about misheard lyrics, so keep them coming. Um, no, I don't need a copy of
Tigermilk; already have it thanks to Stuart Maclean. ;-)

- Nicole 




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