Predrag This film, like other films of Hal Hartley's is something of a quirky character and therefore is a bit of a personal taste. For those who enjoy his special brand of humor this early film in his output has all the characteristics that he revisits in subsequent films. Equally, many of the actors will be seen in later films too and this is as good place as any to start investigating his output. The story evolves around a nun who leaves the convent because she believes that she is a nymphomaniac. But yet, she's never had sex. She decides to start writing pornographic stories for a porn magazine to vent her sexual frustration. Soon, she meets an injured man who has amnesia. Little does the nun know, but this man has ties to the porn industry. She has a spiritual revelation and decides to help this man find out who he is. This leads them both into trouble with hired assassins and crazed accountants. A wild story indeed...Most mystery films focus on the identity of the bad guy. This film instead chooses to explore the bad guy's identity. The film opens with him laying unconscious on a cobblestone street. He awakes but has no idea who he is. With this premise, the audience always knows who the bad guy is. He is in almost every frame of the feature. The rest of the film sets about discovering who the bad guy is. Most scenes are arranged as artfully as a painting, the actors understand and enlarge Hartley's vision, and the music, ranging from Liz Phair to Pavement, is excellent. Great characters, dialogue, and nice tips of the hat to the human condition with some good laughs as well.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

LouE15 Hal Hartley is just my all-out favourite auteur director, brought me through my teens and helped form my world view. When he makes a film you're in for something that is at the very least interesting, and at best, moves you, creates a new world out of the one you're already in, shows you the art in life. That sounds pretentious and some might think his films are too; but that's just the knee-jerk effect that comes with overexposure to rubbish presented as if it's art. But one good Hal Hartley film cures a soul wearied with too much dross. "Amateur" is up there with "Trust" and "The Unbelievable Truth" if you have any time at all for films which are off-kilter, intelligent and which depart from the linear norm. They're also very funny, in a low-key way. His actors are usually regulars, skilled at his unique, poetic and rhythmic script style. His America is intriguing, a place painted with the eye of a true original, and presented with a rigour entirely absent from many more recent so-called independent American films. Another reviewer here noted the strong European flavour in his work; this is quite right; and if you enjoy a varied experience of film I can't see how you wouldn't like his best. The plot of "Amateur" is crazy and contorted, like a dance, with a fascinating premise and a weird logic of its own. Martin Donovan here is Hartley's muse; he perfectly captures the rapid, deadpan delivery and manages to be charming and mysterious, dangerous and vulnerable with minimal changes in expression. Why his career has stayed largely small-scale is beyond me. Perhaps he goes about his work too quietly; perhaps his jaw isn't chiselled enough, I don't know.But Isabelle Huppert is outstanding as the struggling porn writer fresh out of the convent. Says her scumbag-with-a-heart publisher of her attempts: "The problem is, it's quite…bad. It's poetry, and don't you try and deny it." And it is poetry; heartbreakingly so. She looks out at the strange world, uniquely innocent, with her big, solemn eyes, and you instinctively feel with her, and wish her a knight to watch over her. And of course, this being Hal Hartley's world, her protector arrives, uniquely flawed. He could be Grandma; or he could be the Wolf. Excellent, good-looking and intriguing.

Sam-285 This is an interesting movie but not especially interesting. It is a little unusual. However it does get slow in the last half and then eventually dies an undesirable death. It is worth watching but not for the ending.However I think they tried to put too much into Isabelle's character. She did not need to have been a nun and a nymphomaniac. And in fact it is unclear to me whether she was a nymphomaniac; I think you will need to decide for yourself.

milou_le_fou I just adore this movie.I like to remember its precious lines and, particularly, its superb acting. The idea of an ex-nun writing pornography sounds an interesting one, as does her relationship with an amnesiac and an ice-cold porn star. The mystery plot is quite risible but by then you are already so inside the film that the wonderful performances manage to keep you interested. Hartley's rich creation of each of the 3 main characters finds a perfect response in each of the performances carried out by Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan and Elina Lowensohn, creating an incredibly touching sense of vulnerability, interdependence already suggested by the opening credits and its unforgettable music.The conception of the characters finds great help in the paused acting and staticism of the actors, making the most of each single move of their faces. This finds its parangon in Huppert's stunning turn. We already knew how great the red-haired was (see Une affaire de femmes, to name one), but she deals here with a character which could have resulted grotesque in other hands. She provides innocence, freakiness, sympathy and a thousand more in one, making it inevitable to want to embrace her when the curtain is down and tears go down your face. Isabelle, you are the greatest!!!