By Hillary Gunder
It’s an age-old theme, one found in many of the greatest works of literature and cinematography: that of a character struggling in the present to accept events of their past.
“Handsome Harry,” an independent film directed by Bette Gordon, tells one man’s story as he sets out on a journey for forgiveness and absolution for an act committed decades earlier.
The comfortable life of “Handsome” Harry Sweeney (Jamey Sheridan), a middle-aged Vietnam veteran is interrupted by a call from Tom Kelley (Steve Buscemi), an old friend from the war. On his deathbed, Kelley turns to Harry for help securing forgiveness from David Kagan (Campbell Scott), a Navy comrade they betrayed 30 years earlier.
Initially refusing Kelley’s request, Harry eventually concedes and sets out in search of answers about just what happened that night so long ago.
The film follows Harry across the country as he visits three other men involved in the incident, flashing between the past and the present and formulating the sequence of events as they occurred that night. With each successive visit Harry begins to understand the extent to which each man has been affected by guilt and their different methods of coping.
One man turns to religion, seeking salvation from God. Another turns to work, seeking salvation in financial prosperity. A third detaches himself from his troubled past and the boy he once was. And Harry turns to silence, never letting anyone get close enough to discover his secrets.
It isn’t until Kagan, the victim of the crime is introduced that viewers understand the irony of it all, as the perpetrators of the violence appear to have suffered more than the victim himself.
The haunting of these men is mimicked by the eerie jazz music of the soundtrack- an intentional selection on the part of Eugene Gearty, the film’s sound designer.
In a Q&A session conducted following the film, director Bette Gordon explained that the soundtrack wasn’t the only thing chosen for a specific purpose. Gordon intentionally relied upon the silent power of shots rather than their artistic construction to emphasize the extent to which Harry was haunted by his past and the “code of silence” under which he lived the rest of his life.
This process marks a distinct change from Gordon’s earlier work. By creating a film centered on the lives of five men she also deviated from her previous pattern of working mostly with women.
But just as in her other work, Gordon sought to make “Handsome Harry” a film with meaning, depth and density, areas in which she feels most modern films are lacking. Zach Marshall, a third year film student, believes she did just that.
Marshall’s interest in the film was sparked by the role played by Steve Buscemi, one of his favorite actors, and his knowledge of Bette Gordon’s work.
Overall, Marshall enjoyed Handsome Harry, though he explained it was “deeper and heavier than I expected it to be. It had a different, more dramatic tone than I anticipated.”
And indeed, it did. Gordon’s use of flashback and a blurred distinction between past and present provided glimpses of Harry’s innermost thoughts and feelings, causing the film to take on an overwhelmingly dramatic feel.
As he uncovers the truth behind what really happened on that night, buried so far in his past and comes to terms with the impact it has had on his life in the present, viewers are left wondering just what the future holds for Handsome Harry.
