Trust (1990) Review

 

Author's Note: Another long form pieces of writing that I felt really proud of. This is of two segments, the first of which was published on June 22nd 2020, and the other one was published on July 23rd 2021. Liked what I wrote here, probably one of the pieces I'm most proud of in terms of how much I captured the sense of alienation this movie attempts to communicate.

 

Part 1 - June 22nd 2020

Trust centres around the intersecting lives of a high school dropout named Maria who is kicked out of the house because of her increasingly abrasive attitude as well as a surprise pregnancy where the shock of the incident kills her father, and a young man who is very skilled at fixing electronic devices and is shacked up with various jobs from his domineering and abusive father – but his obsessive behaviour as well as his distrust for authorities and an attachment towards producing the best quality work means that he can’t really find a job anywhere, because so many of the businesses that he goes through are run by people with shady business practices that he completely and often abrasively disagrees with – and follows Matthew and Maria’s so called ‘connection formed by respect and admiration’.

The predominant theme in this film is of family dynamics – namely with how both Maria and Matthew are essentially outsiders, both of which come from families that are either controlling or abusive in some sort of way – both of whom have some sort of perfectionist streak towards them. Matthew’s father is physically abusive and often seems to hold him up in his house and force him to clean everything until it’s absolutely meticulous – and he’s someone that seems to always try and play himself off as dependable outside of Matthew’s life, when there’s just so much that’s dislikeable about the character. Maria’s mother seems very emotionally abusive – often in subtle ways where it seems to carry through as though her mother is really protective of her, up until the point where her mother starts demanding for increasingly more petty things – like scolding her for Maria not fetching her a hairclip, and she’s someone that often seems cunning and with some level of care towards her daughter – but then it becomes more clear that she’s much more controlling than she is sympathetic.

And I think Maria in general tends to be incredibly sympathetic and kind at points– whilst also being incredibly self-centred and often frustrated by aspects of her appearance, where she alternates heavily between moments of total confidence that often reaches an end-point fairly quickly and she’s back into a state of confusion again – and I feel that Adrienne Shelley’s performance really stands out because there’s a natural radiance that just shines through with her character, where she’s intelligent – but then there’s an odd curiosity that comes from the character where she has specific anxieties and she’s often curious about the world. Meanwhile, Matthew seems much more cold and distant – and there’s a distinct frustration that comes from his body language and his tone of voice, where he almost doesn’t want to talk to people – outside of moments where he knows he can be confrontational with people, and he’s almost someone that’s been wired to act this way – which is why even his most open moments seem to have some sort of strange stipulation towards them. That, and he seems to have strange habits – such as with how he beats up people constantly for mild annoyances, and with an affixation onto things such as climate change and this strange amalgamation of this sense of never-ending dread which he seems to constantly feed into one way or another.

I’ve seen people having the interpretation that this movie is about the cool rebellious kids who are up against the boring adults – although I think that it’s largely about how these characters are stuck in various systems of work or family that seem apparently normal, but are just detrimental towards their wellbeing – and there’s something completely corrupt about so much of it where every single character is some sort of heightened exaggeration, and it does definitely tap into that mentality and I feel that the dialogue does have an abstract quality that can come across as pretentious at moments and it’s incredibly literal at portions – but then there’s an underlying undercurrent of emotions that I find myself heavily attached to, especially with how the abstract rants definitely serve a purpose in illustrating the character’s underlying frustrations – and I like how there’s a strange efficiency towards so much of the dialogue which is perfect illustrated by the opening scene of the movie, where it’s just a series of back and forwards – and you can absolutely tell who is in charge of that situation.

Admittedly, there is somewhat of a self-righteous attitude towards so much of the dialogue – and it’s definitely reflective of the characters and their underlying frustrations, and the dialogue is often so abstract with the themes of television and technology – and Matthew himself talks like someone who’s entire headspace revolves around technology and just a general disdain for the modern world in general. The two main leads definitely have a lot of moments where they don’t really come across as particularly likable – and yet the relationship still resonates because of how the two begin to notice problems in their lives which they’ve become completely entrenched in. It’s incredibly revealing that each of them are fascinated by their lives – as they are frustrated with just how apparent the aspects of abuse has seeped into their lives, in ways which are obvious to an outsider – but have been so entrenched that it’s like an everyday occurrence to them. And on top of that there just isn’t really any sort of answers with the outside world – where everything has to be uniform and neat, and there’s a thin façade that everything is apparently nice and comfortable. But then we really peer into their worlds and there’s so many obvious frustrations that the characters are just powerless against, often where the only sense of catharsis they seem to have is expressed solely through futile gestures – which is really epitomised by the fact that Matthew carries around a hand grenade with him, an incredibly deadly weapon – which just doesn’t seem to have any sort of practical usage whatsoever.

The cinematography really adds towards the overall atmosphere – where it’s very clean and it seems to be shot pretty much entirely with this navy blue lighting where everything feels distinctly cold, and the general visual design feels very sterile and almost grotesquely modern – with how there’s just the extra emphasis on technology and computers, and with all of the grinding scenes that take place inside of a factory. Everything about this movie just epitomises this sense of a small town that’s built strangely like a sitcom of sorts, where everything seems light on the surface and everyone seems to know each other – yet there’s always an underlying darkness within the small town setting, whether it be from the kidnapping of infants, or coercing a minor into sexual assault. Or with just how much focus is drawn towards the abuse and the underlyingly disturbed psyches of the two main characters – with these strangely long and lingering shots that are oddly powerful, such as with a shot where Maria is in a shower and it’s just a close-up of her pondering and oddly sad expression which occurs towards the end of the movie.

And yet, it’s a very funny movie at portions – especially with all of the dry and sardonic dialogue, and there’s so many different moments that are as about as hilarious as they are deeply revealing and frustrating – and I feel that opening up the central themes of the movie exposes a truly depressing and despairing scenario, and yet it’s often really approachable and relatable because of how well-written and acted it is. As a result, it’s really hard to describe the central tone of the movie – other than just broadly describing the movie as a satire, where it deals with incredibly dark and entrenched themes. It approaches the subject matter almost like a comedy, and yet so much of the film is really well-observed to the point where it just bears the wounds right there and in full fruition – and it’s what really differentiates this film from so many of its quirky imitators is that there’s clearly a method to it. There’s clearly something driving it – and it’s a really odd film with all of its abstract dialogue and the way that it handles the satire, and yet it feels it feels oddly relatable and it allows itself to be much more open as a result of it.

 

Part 2  - July 23rd 2021

Hal Hartley's movies have this strange central tone to them where they generally feel realistic, but then there's something really heightened and particular about them - and that's kind of the key as to why Trust works so well in just capturing all of these central frustrations and feelings of alienation from the modern world. Something about this movie really feels incisive like it's just laying all of these problems out there - and particularly this film's focus on unfair and abusive power dynamics, and the ways in which people compartmentalise problematic aspects about the world.

There's a lot this movie gets at surrounding alienation and exploitation regarding work, and just about broken family structures that hypocritically try to maintain themselves and present themselves like something they're not. As the movie goes on, a lot of the disparities become increasingly obvious and in a way in which you can't help but notice them more and more, and the really abusive nature of both Matthew and Maria's parents - both very much maintaining very strict control over them, and desperately trying to force them into specific roles in life - and also the obvious disparities in how they're treated compared to other people.

I particularly liked a sequence near the beginning where Maria is sitting at a store-front bench and discusses her experiences with family separation to a woman - then the two start elaborating about their experiences with it, but clearly where they're each only really discussing to themselves. But then there's a lot to this movie where it makes you empathise and confront the characters (even when in some cases it just reveals deeper layers of selfishness behind the characters) - and predominantly about feelings of life heading off into a disappointing direction, and about exposing all the different ways the characters can feel and become so entrapped.

Really good stuff.