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a theme around social performances that is significant for many of Hartley’s subsequent films.
In chapter 3, I explore one of the most memorable and distinctive aspects of Hartley’s early films—his use of dance. Although Hartley’s films are known for their minimalism, he often allows the performers to express themselves through dance. I explore the use of dance as an extension of narrative space and time, as repetitions of key motifs and character plot arcs. Consequently, I look almost solely at Surviving Desire, a shorter work produced for public television. I draw on theories of dance, repetition, and memory to show how the use of dance relates to narrative action and works as repetition and foreshadowing of narrative action, rather than an arbitrary device that artistically distances the viewer from the narrative and characters, denying empathy. The other issue I discuss in chapter 3 is the use of the musical as an intertextual reference and how the dance in Surviving Desire, in particular, combines common features of the musical to critique the form, a sign of Hartley’s postmodernism that becomes even more pronounced in later films. In order to demonstrate this, I draw on examples from a number of classic musicals and significant critical discourse surrounding the genre by Altman and Feuer. I also look briefly at another dance sequence in Simple Men—perhaps one of Hartley’s most iconic scenes—which, it is argued, differs significantly from the one in Surviving Desire in its cultural focus on gender and gendered power relationships.
In chapter 4, I explore Hartley’s films of violence and forays into the crime thriller. I initially extend the argument from the previous chapter by looking further at Simple Men. In this chapter, I explore the film as a commentary on masculinity and the self-deceiving performances in which the characters are engaged. Using the dance sequence as a starting point, I argue that the film is a comment on weak masculinity that is out of control. Where characters engage in conscious performances, they are often unable to maintain control over their performances and are apt to repeat previous unsuccessful behaviour, leading to frustration, violence, and misery. This is a consequence of characters that are unable to project a coherent image of self, but at the same time maintaining their belief