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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780794201814
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0794201814
Label: Wellspring
Manufacturer: Wellspring
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Wellspring
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 09, 2002
Running Time: 86 minutes
Sales Rank: 74606
Studio: Wellspring
Theatrical Release Date: 1991
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Surviving Desire is actually three short films, two of which--'Theory of Achievement' and 'Ambition'--demonstrate writer-director Hal Hartley at his most quirky and abstract. They consist mostly of a series of dialogues, presented out of context, about things like Brooklyn real estate, nonlinear art, and contrasting male and female approaches to suicide. Fans of Hartley will enjoy them; newcomers will probably find them baffling. The third film, however--'Surviving Desire,' from which the collection takes its title--is one of the most charming pieces Hartley has made. This hour-long story follows Jude (Martin Donovan), a college teacher obsessed with a single paragraph from The Brothers Karamazov, who's fallen in love with Sofie (Mary Ward), one of his students who's writing a short story about him. As the romance plays itself out, philosophical conversations turn into metaphysical Abbott and Costello routines, Jude breaks into spontaneous dance, a rock band in the street serenades a woman in her apartment window--and gradually a rueful and whimsical sense of life and love rises out of Hartley's erratic rhythms. Hartley is an idiosyncratic filmmaker who's not to everyone's taste; this short film is probably an ideal introduction to his work. Some of his movies seem to be working too hard for a sense of poetry and end up feeling stilted, but in 'Surviving Desire' all of Hartley's devices take flight. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Interesting to see his first film, but liked Trust a whole lot better
I just bought and watched Surviving Desire and maybe due to my high expectations I was left a bit disappointed. It was definitely all Hal Hartley and the shorts "Ambition" and "Theory of Achievement" were interesting, but something bothered me about the main feature. It takes itself way too seriously. I love Trust and even The Unbelievable Truth and also Kiss Me, Hold Me - there's a lightness to them PLUS the fantastic insight of Hal Hartley and I am thinking it may have to do with Adrienne Shelley. ... Read More
Rating:  - Poetry Disguised as Film
Poets with an appreciation for life above the poverty line wisely select more frequented media like music, movies, or monology as their vehicle. The life of the most celebrated poets are still awash in Ramen and rent. Hartley's films are dense with pause-rewind-replay a line dialogue almost to a fault. I used to take myself as seriously as Hartley's roster of misfits sporting designer melancholy personas and crippled by philosphical dilemmas that serve as a nappy gnarled dreadlock for the movie to comb ... Read More
Rating:  - Typical brilliant Hal Hartley
"Survivng Desire", along with the three shorts are some of Hartley's earliest work. But even at this early stage, Harley's gifts are clearly visable. I first saw the shorts some years ago as part of the PBS series "Alive from Off Center" and was mesmerized. Hal Hartley is one of America's truly great directors and his ability to pull such engaging performances out of his cast is a complete pleasure to watch. His style of film making probably most closesly resembles that of Robert Bresson, in its setup and ... Read More
Rating: - it's all here...
It IS all here.
The be-all end-all "relationship" that we are all programmed and taught and "gened" for in a nutshell.
This film shows the "relationship" as it shuns gravity, takes orbit and then spins off into space.
It is just desire that brings us together after all.
Lust, trust, anger, forgiveness, revenge, and the life after it all (the REAL gravity); this piece of art knows its subjects.
you really have to see this to know you've lived it.
Rating: - "I believe you are sincere & good at heart..."
This was the third Hartley film I saw & has remained my favourite. For me it holds all the quintessential characteristics of a Hartley film despite it not being feature length.Martin Donovan as usual gives a flawless performance as do the rest of the cast. Things to look out for......the bartender & the'dance routine'. GENIUS!
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