Reminded Partly of Roman Polanski (***Possible Spoiler***)

This film covered so many themes: art, love, friendship and betrayal, sin and redemption. I was mesmerized by the characters and couldn't predict how they would end up. I liked the complexity of the characters and that of their decisions, as well.

When Henry's crime came to light, I couldn't help but think of Roman Polanski, who is an artist but has a similar crime in his history, and went into exile. It made me wonder if Hartley was in any way influenced by this, in that he portrayed a (would-be) artist as a "fallen" man who tried to redeem himself (by protecting Pearl, although his motives were tragically misinterpreted), then fled into exile (although there are those who think he didn't get on the plane).

At any rate, it's just something that occurred to me, so thought I'd put it out there.

This was my first Hartley film, and I'm looking forward to more. I know some people didn't care for "Fay Grim," but I'm up for watching it, at least for the curiosity factor. (I did watch the first 10 minutes, and agree that it's a lot easier to follow if one has seen "Henry Fool" first.)