Fay Grim
Encyclopedia
Fay Grim is a 2006 film written and directed by Hal Hartley
. The film is a sequel to Hartley's 1997 film Henry Fool
, and revolves around the title character, played by Parker Posey
, the sister of Simon Grim (James Urbaniak
). The plot revolves around Fay's attempt to unravel an increasingly violent mystery in Europe
. The film was shot almost entirely in Dutch angle
s, meaning the vast majority of shots are framed diagonally, or "tilted." At the Sundance Film Festival
in 2007, Hartley revealed that the two shots in the film's final cut that are not "Dutched" occurred when he and the film crew forgot to tilt the camera.
It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
, and was released in theaters across America on May 18, 2007, with a DVD release the following Tuesday, May 22, in conjunction with Magnolia Pictures
' "day-and-date" release strategy. The film won the "Audience Choice Award" at the RiverRun International Film Festival
in 2007.
) is coerced by a CIA agent (Jeff Goldblum
) to try to locate notebooks that belonged to her fugitive husband (Thomas Jay Ryan
). The notes contain information that could compromise the security of the U.S., causing Fay to first head to Paris to fetch them.
Hal Hartley
Hal Hartley is an American film director, screenwriter, producer composer, who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and 1990s...
. The film is a sequel to Hartley's 1997 film Henry Fool
Henry Fool
Henry Fool is a 1997 American seriocomic film written, produced and directed by Hal Hartley, featuring Thomas Jay Ryan, James Urbaniak, and Parker Posey. As in The Unbelievable Truth, an earlier Hartley film, expectation and reality again conflict....
, and revolves around the title character, played by Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
, the sister of Simon Grim (James Urbaniak
James Urbaniak
James Christian Urbaniak is an American actor. Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Julie and their twins, son Severn Jerzy and daughter Esme Maeve....
). The plot revolves around Fay's attempt to unravel an increasingly violent mystery in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The film was shot almost entirely in Dutch angle
Dutch angle
Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, Dutch shot, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, Batman angle, or jaunty angle are terms used for one of many cinematic techniques often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed...
s, meaning the vast majority of shots are framed diagonally, or "tilted." At the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2007, Hartley revealed that the two shots in the film's final cut that are not "Dutched" occurred when he and the film crew forgot to tilt the camera.
It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival
2006 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 7 to September 16, 2006. Opening the festival was Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn's The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, a film that "explores the history of the Inuit people through the eyes of a father and daughter."In a press release...
, and was released in theaters across America on May 18, 2007, with a DVD release the following Tuesday, May 22, in conjunction with Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....
' "day-and-date" release strategy. The film won the "Audience Choice Award" at the RiverRun International Film Festival
RiverRun International Film Festival
The RiverRun International Film Festival is a regional film festival held annually each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The festival is a 5013 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and short films from all genres, and also presents special events, regional...
in 2007.
Plot
Seven years after the events of Henry Fool, Fay Grim (Parker PoseyParker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
) is coerced by a CIA agent (Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
) to try to locate notebooks that belonged to her fugitive husband (Thomas Jay Ryan
Thomas Jay Ryan
Thomas Jay Ryan is a veteran stage actor who also starred in the 1997 film Henry Fool.Ryan attended Carnegie Mellon University and has worked in such prestigious theaters as the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven...
). The notes contain information that could compromise the security of the U.S., causing Fay to first head to Paris to fetch them.
Cast
- Parker PoseyParker PoseyParker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
as Fay Grim - James UrbaniakJames UrbaniakJames Christian Urbaniak is an American actor. Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. He lives in Santa Monica, California with his wife Julie and their twins, son Severn Jerzy and daughter Esme Maeve....
as Simon Grim - Liam AikenLiam AikenLiam Padraic Aiken is an American actor who has starred in a number of films, such as Stepmom and Good Boy!. He starred as Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, based on the series of books....
as Ned Grim - Jeff GoldblumJeff GoldblumJeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
as Agent Fulbright - Megan GayMegan GayMegan Gay is an actress from New Zealand.From 1986 to 1988, she studied English and German at the University of Auckland before getting her education as an actress at the City Literary Institute in London from 1988 to 1993....
as Principal - Chuck Montgomery as Angus James
- Leo FitzpatrickLeo FitzpatrickLeonardo Aurellio Randy "Leo" Fitzpatrick is an American actor.-Biography:Leo Fitzpatrick was born in West Orange, New Jersey. He was discovered at age 14 by director Larry Clark at Washington Square Park in New York City, skateboarding. Fitzpatrick was trying to perform certain skating tricks,...
as Carl Fogg - Saffron BurrowsSaffron BurrowsSaffron Dominique Burrows is an English actress and former fashion model, who starred as Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lorraine Weller on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
as Juliet - Elina LöwensohnElina LöwensohnElina Löwensohn is a Romanian-born American actress.-Biography:Löwensohn was born in Bucharest, Romania. After the death of her father, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, her mother emigrated to the United States with her, where her mother went on a hunger strike in order to get a visa for...
as Bebe - Thomas Jay RyanThomas Jay RyanThomas Jay Ryan is a veteran stage actor who also starred in the 1997 film Henry Fool.Ryan attended Carnegie Mellon University and has worked in such prestigious theaters as the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven...
as Henry Fool - David SchellerDavid SchellerDavid Scheller is a German actor.Since the early nineties he appeared in many German TV- and film productions and also participated in a few international movies like Fay Grim or Extreme Ops...
as Convict Husband - Sibel Kekilli as Concierge First Istanbul Hotel
- Anatole TaubmanAnatole TaubmanAnatole Taubman is a Swiss actor, who has appeared in many films, such as a henchman in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace and as the monk Remigius in the TV miniseries The Pillars of the Earth.-References:...
as Jallal - Nikolai KinskiNikolai KinskiNanhoï Nikolai Kinski is a film actor, and the only acknowledged son of the prolific actor Klaus Kinski and his third wife, Minhoi Geneviève Loanic. He is the half-brother of actresses Nastassja Kinski and Pola Kinski. Nikolai was born in France, but was raised in California, United States...
as Amin
External links
- Fay Grim at Hal Hartley's Website
- Fay Grim Production Notes
- The Director Interviews: Hal Hartley, Fay Grim at Filmmaker Magazine