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Hal Hartley cemented his reputation as one of America’s leading independent filmmakers with this sometimes very black but always emotionally involving comedy about two misfits who fall in love. Adrienne Shelley is Maria, a woman constantly bullied by her lovers and her family, who falls in love with a drifter, Matthew (Martin Donovan). Matthew has been hurt too often in the past to trust women easily and his testing of Maria’s love becomes more and more fantastic and dangerous as the relationship progresses. Only through challenging her to risk life for him does Matthew believe he can be assured of her love. How these two damaged people get together, learn to have faith again, and how they remove themselves from the absurd complications of life in the late 20th Century is the theme of this fresh, contemporary and engaging film.
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How to watch
Stream, rent or buy via
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
306550
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Love
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)