Directed by:
Hal HartleyScreenplay:
Hal HartleyCinematography:
Sarah CawleyComposer:
Hal HartleyCast:
Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum, Liam Aiken, Jasmin Tabatabai, Saffron Burrows, Leo Fitzpatrick, Claudia Michelsen, Anatole Taubman, Robert Seeliger (more)Plots(1)
Fay Grim is a single mother from Woolside in Queens, New York. She has her hands full trying to ensure that her 14-year-old son, Ned, will not grow up to be like his father Henry. Seven years ago, Ned's dad accidentally killed a malicious neighbour, and is now on the run. To this day nobody knows his whereabouts. Fay's brother Simon used to be a garbage man. Now he's a world-famous poet serving a ten-year prison sentence he received for having helped Henry get away. In the isolation of his cell Simon has had plenty of time to think about the heady days he spent with his brother-in-law.
He believes that Henry's allegedly worthless autobiography - his "confessions" - contain encoded messages about atrocities committed at an international level during the second half of the 20th century. The CIA informs Fay that Henry died in a hotel fire in Sweden shortly after he disappeared in 1997. His notebooks are now in the hands of the French government. The agents blackmail Fay to search for her husband's books and bring them back to the USA. Fay soon begins to realise just how little she knew about Henry and learns that he apparently led another existence. On Fay Grim's journey from New York to Paris, and from Paris to Istanbul, this simple and well-meaning American learns more about the ways of the world than one individual can bear. The film is a sequel to Hal Hartley's 1997 work HENRY FOOL.
(Berlinale)
Cast
Hubert Mulzer
Germany
Best movies:
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
The Wave (2008)
Beyond Silence (1996)
Miho Nikaido
Japan
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
The Book of Life (1998)
Flirt (1995)
René Ifrah
West Germany
Best movies:
Beyond the Sea (2004)
Hart's War (2002)
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
Peter Benedict
Switzerland
Best movies:
1864 - Brødre i krig (2014)
54 Hours (2018) (series)
Les Amours imaginaires (2010)
Aoibheann O'Hara
Best movies:
The Invasion (2007)
Fay Grim (2006)
Aeon Flux (2005)
James Urbaniak
USA
Best movies:
Oppenheimer (2023)
You Don't Know Jack (2010) (TV movie)
The Music Never Stopped (2011)
Jef Bayonne
France
Best movies:
Schimanski (1997) (series)
Romy (2009) (TV movie)
Fay Grim (2006)
Adnan Maral
Turkey
Best movies:
Unknown (2011)
Kebab Connection (2004)
Faraway (2023)
Karim Cherif
Best movies:
I Feel Like Disco (2013)
HomeSick (2015)
Lotta & die alten Eisen (2010) (TV movie)
Mark Zak
Ukraine
Best movies:
Maximilian & Marie De Bourgogne (2017) (series)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Never Look Away (2018)
Ercan Özcelik
Turkey
Best movies:
Tatort (1970) (series)
Fay Grim (2006)
Blond: Eva Blond! - Der Zwerg im Schließfach (2004) (TV movie)
John Keogh
Best movies:
The Pianist (2002)
The Constant Gardener (2005)
Equilibrium (2002)
Megan Gay
New Zealand
Best movies:
Sanctuary (2014)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Berlin Calling (2008)
Marko Lakobrija
Best movies:
Tatort (1970) (series)
Fay Grim (2006)
Ein starkes Team (1994) (series)
Efe Can Erdal
Best movies:
Fay Grim (2006)
Homicide Unit Istanbul (2008) (series)
1001 Nights (2006) (series)
Ian T. Dickinson
Best movies:
The Keeper (2018)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Joe and Max (2002) (TV movie)
Chuck Montgomery
Best movies:
Henry Fool (1997)
Amateur (1994)
Stepmom (1998)