Hand aufs Herz

A story of kids helping a friend handle a tough situation, this film dragged enough during the first half hour that I thought of turning it off. But, I kept watching it just to see a little more and ended up seeing the entire thing. Good portrayals of the age group, especially of the awkwardness that accompanies such unnerving events as first kisses. I wish I could say more for this film, but I can't think of anything else.

This is one of those bittersweet treasures that come along from time to time. It does not make a universal declaration, it is not an "art" movie, it is just a simple tale, but one that haunts, makes one remember the day when it was kids v. adults and the kids were supposed to win.

Loss and the way we experience it even when finding first love, what isn't to like about such an effort? I watched it with a group of 14-15 year old high school students and they loved it-that should say it all.

Realistic? maybe not, but like a dream it stays true to its own logic and the solutions to problems are, perhaps the result of adult wish fulfillment, but never the less stay true.

In the world we live in movies are not often original,it seem now that everything had been done ,so, when I found films like this one , it really made me happy. The story is about a boy who ,one morning, find his mother dead in bed...with a premise like that you guys are probably thinking that this film is a big heavy drama,right? Well no,its actually a very sweet film with a lot of comedic moments. After his friends find out about the death of their friends mother , they decide to all come together to help the boy hide the death from the adults because he knows well that he will be put into a home. Thats were the film turn into one of the most beautiful homage to friendship I have seen on film. The kids (none of them were actors) were so natural that at time I forgot that was a film i was looking at.They acted like real kids they were not super smart yet they organized a funeral (you gotta see the movie alone for that) Of course what has to happen,happen in the end for the sake of realism but even with the bittersweet ending , I give this film a 8 out of 10 , for having the balls to tackle such a serious subject in such a unconventional manner. In an interesting side note this film was originally made for television.....if only TV film could be all of that quality.

For me, only French directors can do good films with children, because in their movies, children acts like real children. In American films, children are always full of tears, little beast for the pleasure of adults. In Canadian films, kids always talks like an adulte screenwriter. But in France, kids are really kids, like in this one! I can name a lot of others films with children like that : La Guerre des Boutons, Promis Juré, Le Petit Prince a dit, etc. Here is a warm story about solidarity between young people face to the adult world. They protect each other from the incomprehension of the adults. I saw La Fracture du Myocarde in a movie theatre in 1991, and I have it on video cassette. I look at it from time to time and still really love it, because it's fun and very human.

As a teacher of the french language in one of the school systems in Massachusetts, I was delighted to be able to present "Cross my Heart" to my students. It was presented to 9th through 12th graders. The general reaction was quite positive. Students truly enjoyed the film. Some felt the story was unbelievable but most felt that the thinking of "false sense of loyalty" (i.e. covering for one another, at that age) was very much possible. Actually it happens on an every day basis in today's schools. I would rate the film as 9 on a 9 to 10 basis.