This blog post examines how Hal Hartley’s film “Hal Hartley” breaks free from the framework of traditional fantasy narratives, overturning the formula of destruction and salvation to pose new questions.
Introduction
I readily answer questions about my favorite directors, but when asked about my favorite genres, I always end up giving a vague response. This is because listing my favorite films reveals almost no commonality in genre, and most are films that defy neat categorization. Due to deep trauma from Hong Kong horror films, I avoid the genre, and noir is too taxing on my failing eyesight. Thus, the genre film that first comes to mind within my rather unremarkable taste is Hal Hartley. Directed by Hal Hartley, a major figure in New York’s independent film scene, this 1998 film is a fantasy depicting Jesus’s dilemma as he lands in New York on December 31, 1999, tasked with judging humanity on the eve of the new millennium. Truthfully, as a fantasy film, its archetypal quality falls short of “The Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter.” Above all, “Hal Hartley” lacks the dazzling spectacle typically expected in fantasy films. This film simply has no interest in the expensive special effects used to depict virtual realities, which are usually expected in fantasy cinema. Whether due to lack of funds or a deliberate choice, the director opts to unfold Jesus’ day—as he carries out God’s command to break the seven seals hidden throughout the city for the final judgment, yet agonizes over his love for humanity—not through visual fantasy, but through the dialogue shared between Jesus and Mary Magdalene as they journey together and encounter Satan. In this assignment analyzing genre, I chose this film over one more faithful to genre conventions because I wanted to select a film I truly love, examine it from a genre perspective I hadn’t previously considered important, and understand what I’d been missing. I also wanted to acquire a new perspective on film by understanding and reading genre.
Therefore, in this blog post, I will examine genre conventions centered on the hero myth of the fantasy genre and the ‘destruction and salvation’ code, and attempt to read Hal Hartley through this lens. However, the goal is not to force the film into a genre formula, but rather to examine where it aligns with and diverges from that formula, and to see where and how the director’s unique style emerges by sidestepping genre conventions.
Hal Hartley Through Fantasy Conventions
No genre relies as heavily on imagination as fantasy film. The word ‘what if’ is what sets this genre in motion. This ‘what if’ allows us to unfold an endless world of imagination. What if we met an alien lost on Earth? (E.T.), What if we could recreate dinosaurs? (Jurassic Park), what if a magical world existed? (Harry Potter).
Thus, fantasy, though unrealistic, originates from subjects that spark real-world discussion. Its source isn’t something entirely new, but rather the things we constantly talk about, the things we wonder about, the things we haven’t seen firsthand but secretly believe in somewhere deep inside. Because it cannot be verified in reality, it draws even more attention and stimulates the imagination.
Hal Hartley’s work begins with questions like: ‘What if humanity were destined to perish before the year 2000? What if Jesus returned on the last day of 1999 for the final judgment?’
This unfolding of imagination requires a hero who becomes the protagonist of the adventure in the fantasy world. Stuart Vail explains the conventional conditions that drive the fantasy genre alongside the hero’s existence as follows.
First, it is the ‘journey between the ordinary world and the extraordinary world’. This could mean a hero living in the ordinary world entering a world of extraordinary adventure, or a hero existing in the extraordinary world coming into the ordinary world—typically the same world we inhabit outside the film. This transition to a new world marks the beginning of the adventure. In Hal Hartley’s film, Jesus descends from the divine world into the human world. His arrival in the city of New York initiates the entire adventure. This journey encompasses not only the departure for adventure but also the ‘return’ process of concluding the adventure and returning to the original place.
Second, the presence of a ‘counselor’ needed for the hero to complete the adventure. This could be an assistant who accompanies the hero throughout the journey, or a mentor who provides motivation or guidance before the adventure begins. In Hal Hartley’s film, Mary Magdalene, who journeys with Jesus and helps break the seal, plays the role of a faithful helper. However, she does not provide decisive assistance when the hero loses courage or play a major role directly influencing the hero’s decisions. In contrast, Satan acts as a catalyst, intensifying Jesus’s internal conflict at the crossroads: “Should I follow the Father’s command to judge humanity, or defy the Father because I cannot harm innocent souls?” This pitiable, shabby Satan, who explains “evil,” makes Jesus hesitate to judge “evil humanity” and deepens his inner turmoil. Though not a literal advisor, he is a crucial character influencing the hero’s journey. Finally, while God’s role of assigning Jesus a mission and setting him on an adventure makes viewing Him as an advisor somewhat strained, when the execution of humanity’s judgment is seen as Jesus’s destiny, God becomes the reason Jesus reaffirms his duty amidst doubt and hesitation, functioning as a spiritual pillar throughout the mission’s execution. Thus, in this film, God can be said to possess characteristics akin to an advisor, alongside being the entity that triggers the adventure and the adversary Jesus rebels against and confronts.
Third, the hero’s special ability. This ability is sometimes cultivated by the ‘advisor’ described earlier, and sometimes arises from the difference between the ordinary world and the special world. When a protagonist from the ordinary world enters the special world, or when a protagonist from the special world enters the ordinary world, what was considered ordinary in their original world can become a very special ability in the other world.
In 「Hal Hartley」, it is not so much the protagonist’s special ability itself that is prominently featured, but rather the divinity he possesses as the son of God that constitutes his ability.
And while Boitilla doesn’t mention it, another fantasy element I’d like to add is the ‘quest’. This is the catalyst that moves the hero from the ordinary world to the extraordinary world, or from the extraordinary world back to the ordinary world. It is the starting point and the endpoint of the story, and the factor that focuses the audience’s attention, making them emotionally invested as the film’s protagonists. Such missions manifest in diverse forms, ranging from escaping a strange world the protagonist accidentally became trapped in (e.g., The Wizard of Oz) to acquiring an object of desire on a personal level (e.g., Dragon Ball) or averting and saving the world from a global crisis (e.g., The Lord of the Rings, Armageddon). In Hal Hartley’s work, the mission is to destroy all humanity except for 144,000 individuals to judge the corrupted race. The protagonist Jesus descends to Earth tasked with executing this judgment by successively breaking seven seals, ultimately opening the final seal inscribed with the names of the 144,000 survivors.
Interestingly, this represents a kind of subversion of the ‘destruction and salvation’ trope commonly found in fantasy films. Rather than the hero’s fated task of saving a world facing destruction, it portrays a hero who saves humanity by fleeing from the fated task of destroying it. This is a crucial element that allows Hal Hartley to create an atmosphere entirely distinct from other fantasy films. Therefore, I wish to examine this point in greater detail.
The Subversion of the ‘Destruction and Salvation’ Story
As mentioned earlier, ‘saving a world facing the threat of destruction’ is the quintessential ‘mission’ assigned to protagonists in the fantasy genre. In this context, the protagonist hones themselves through various internal conflicts and external trials, strengthening their resolve for the ‘mission’ and gradually advancing toward its fulfillment. Here, the ‘mission’ is akin to the protagonist’s destiny. The protagonist initially resents and tries to reject the burden of this mission, but soon feels a sense of responsibility as the chosen one and submits to it. This is the stage where they realize their own heroism—a process of recognizing their special abilities and accepting responsibility for the world in crisis. The protagonist fights against the elements of crisis with all their might, sacrificing themselves, and this forms the climax of the film. Here, humanity’s salvation is the fruit of the hero’s accomplished mission. Salvation is the result achieved by the hero conforming to his destiny.
However, in Hal Hartley’s work, the mission is ‘the destruction of humanity’. Therefore, contrary to the universal hero fantasy where the protagonist agonizes between his own safety and the calling to ‘save the world’, ultimately fulfilling that calling through love and compassion, In Hal Hartley’s work, the crossroads of choice that torment Jesus the protagonist present his calling—the duty to obey his Father’s command—on one side, and the love and compassion for humanity that cause him to hesitate on the other.
Thus, in the former case—the universal heroic narrative—the protagonist’s internal conflict resolves the moment he begins to submit to fate. The story then progresses toward a simple confrontation between a good hero and evil, and the world is saved through the hero’s victory. However, in the story of Jesus, who must reject the fate relentlessly pursuing him in order to save the world, the narrative of ‘destruction and salvation’ manifests in an entirely different causal form. Because the protagonist does not answer his calling but flees from it, judgment remains unresolved. Before those who can raise their glasses without a care at the dawn of the new millennium, one cannot find a clear structure of good versus evil here; the boundary between good and evil is only ambiguous. Did Jesus, who was forced to bear the burden of judgment by God’s command, unable to bear humanity’s wickedness any longer, become good in carrying out that command? Faced with the fate of judging humans—who appear only pitiful to his eyes—by condemning them to death, both humanity’s good and evil, and God’s good and evil, seem to remain nothing but question marks. Even Satan’s character is ambiguous on the scale of good and evil, portrayed merely as a pathetic loser in life. Thus, we hear the director’s ultimate question about good and evil.
Conclusion: Understanding the Genre
Long ago, after seeing Hal Hartley’s film for the first time and leaving the theater, I slapped my knee in realization. The director’s audacious question mark thrown at God and humanity, at the biblical concepts of good and evil, felt like it had pinpointed and scratched an itch I couldn’t reach. Moreover, it was refreshing to see the director attempt to unravel these philosophical questions through clever settings within the fantasy genre. How these mind-bending questions transformed so entertainingly when clothed in fantasy was a major shock to me. That Hal Hartley was the first film that came to mind when facing this assignment was probably because of that.
Regarding the common preconceptions about genre—or more honestly, the preconceptions I myself held—it’s the idea that inserting the word ‘genre’ into the creative act of filmmaking limits that creativity. Once you start thinking that categorizing genres confines a film’s boundless imagination within the constraints of genre conventions, genre becomes the enemy of cinema.
However, when we reconsider what film means to us, we might gain a deeper understanding of genre. The relationship cinema maintains with reality is undeniably solid. Cinema is both a reconfiguration of reality and a cinematic situation that subverts the principles of reality—the unrealistic settings of fantasy films being an example—yet these are not entirely from another world. They emerge as desires and curiosities derived from reality, or as forms of mockery directed at reality. When we, living in the same reality, contemplate a subject, clear common denominators emerge amidst many differences. Thus, we discovered recurring characteristics in how a series of films imagined and expressed the same subject, and in doing so, we arrived at the concept of ‘genre’. However, the formula revealed in films grouped under a single genre is not always the same. It undergoes changes with the flow of time and can be subverted under the director’s intent. Therefore, directors who study genres and make films can secure audience empathy while creating new enjoyment by appropriately placing genre conventions and challenges to them within their films. Audiences who study genres, meanwhile, will enjoy the privilege of deeply viewing and feeling a film. They do this by capturing the points where a film follows genre conventions, or where it breaks away from or subverts them, thereby understanding the director’s intent. Just as we’ve been able to view this film with fresh eyes by identifying both the characteristic features and the exceptional features of Hal Hartley’s fantasy genre.
