- Henry Fool
Infobox Film
name = Henry Fool
caption = Promotional one-sheet
director =Hal Hartley
producer = Hal Hartley
writer = Hal Hartley
starring =Thomas Jay Ryan James Urbaniak Parker Posey Liam Aiken
music = Hal Hartley
cinematography =Michael Spiller
editing =Steve Hamilton
distributor =Sony Pictures Classics
released =September 7 , 1997 (Toronto Film Festival )June 19 , 1998 (wide)
runtime = 137 min.
country = flagicon|United States
language = English
followed_by = "Fay Grim " (2006)
imdb_id = 0122529"Henry Fool" (1997) is a seriocomic film directed, written, and produced by
Hal Hartley , featuringThomas Jay Ryan ,James Urbaniak , andParker Posey . As in "The Unbelievable Truth", an earlier Hartley film, expectation and reality again conflict.Henry is supposed to be a literary genius, with a multi-volume work of art he carries around with him and an always ready quip about the artist's place in the world. His problem is, his work is garbage, but he inspires garbageman Simon Grim, who is regularly beaten and ridiculed in his neighborhood, to write his own extended poem that turns out to be a work of literary genius.
The story of Henry Fool occurs in the
New York City borough ofQueens . The neighbors regard Simon's poem differently: to some, it'spornography ; to others, poetry. Ultimately, Simon lives the life Henry wanted to live and Henry becomes a garbageman, but they are both given a unique opportunity to trade places. TheMPAA rated "Henry Fool" R (Restricted) for its adult content of sexuality,violence , and language.The film won the best screenplay award at
Cannes Film Festival , where it was also nominated for theGolden Palm .A sequel, titled "Fay Grim ", was released in 2007.Plot
Socially inept garbageman Simon Grim is befriended by Henry Fool, a witty rogue, but untalented novelist. Henry opens the world of literature to Simon, who then writes "the great American poem.” As Simon begins his controversial ascent to the dizzying heights of
Nobel Prize -winning poet, Henry sinks to a life of drinking in low-life bars. The friends fall out and lose touch until Henry’s criminal past catches up with him and needs Simon’s help in fleeing the country.Cast
*
Thomas Jay Ryan as Henry Fool
*James Urbaniak as Simon Grim
*Parker Posey as Fay Grim
*Liam Aiken as Ned Grim
*Maria Porter as Mary
*James Saito as Mr. Deng
*Kevin Corrigan as WarrenTrivia
A passage from this movie is featured at the beginning of the
Rise Against song "Reception Fades", from their debut album "The Unraveling ", released in 2001.External links
*amg movie|id=1:158680|title=Henry Fool
*imdb title | id=0122529 | title=Henry Fool
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