AMATEUR wears its themes on its sleeve, and questions of identity are always on the character's minds; everyone wants to change, to be redeemed, but nobody seems to know how.
Handsome, sharply dressed Thomas (Martin Donovan) wakes up in New York's trendy SoHo, unable to remember who he is or how he came to be lying face down on the cobblestone pavement. He stumbles into the fragile arms of Isabelle (Isabelle Huppert), an enigmatic beauty who tends to his head wound
and assists him in his search for the secret of his identity. But the more Thomas learns about the man he used to be, the more he wants to emulate Isabelle, a former nun who's remaking herself as a literary pornographer.
A brittle comedy of manners for an ill-mannered age, AMATEUR sounds more engaging than it actually is. This elegantly photographed film features blackmail, attempted murder, amnesia, a stylish European porno star (Elina Lowensohn), and a hair-raising episode of torture--but it's more tedious
than piquant. Though fans of Hartley's distinctive blend of coolly arch dialogue and preposterous happenstance won't be disappointed, AMATEUR is exasperatingly clever and ultimately superficial. Surprisingly, the film's last scene abandons the hip detachment that is director Hal Hartley's
trademark and lends the film a genuinely poignant punch. leave a comment
