Corazón

...from William Irish's (aka Cornell Woolrich) "the bride wore black" which François Truffaut adapted for the screen in 1968.What remains is more Ruth Rendell style.Although full of implausibilities and plot holes,it's an entertaining thriller which smartly uses old songs such as "anyone who has a heart" or "this heart of mine".A lot of sex and violence (and surgery) and not enough humor.But the plot is original enough to sustain interest till the end ,even if this end is "déjà vu".

In England, Gary Ellis (Christopher Exxleston) is a very insecure and jealous pilot, who owns an airplane. He loves his wife Tess Ellis (Kate Hardie), but maybe because of his physical condition, she cheats him with the writer and her colleague Alex Madden (Rhys Ifans). One day, after his wife has had sex with Alex, Gary has a heart attack. Meanwhile, a seventeen years old man has a fatal accident with his motorcycle, and Gary receives his heart, through a successful operation. Gary decides to look for the donator's mother, Maria Ann McCardle (Saskia Reeves), a very religious woman and she becomes obsessed for Gary. The explosive combination of jealousy, affair and obsession leads the quartet to a tragic end. This movie is a really frightening thriller about obsession. The screenplay is very tight, the direction is very sharp, the atmosphere is scary and the four lead actors and actresses have really a great performance. It works perfectly on DVD. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available – I Saw It in an Imported DVD

The only way to see this film is on the big screen. It's dark, menacing, disturbing but has some moments of great power punctuated with lighter scenes of typical McGovern dialogue. The acting is first class as is the subtle direction. You may need a cast iron stomach for some of the sequences, especially at the end which is pretty shocking. Not exactly a deep movie, but a good watch none the less.

"Heart" is an engrossing study of extremes.This film takes us on an extremely profound journey of obsessions,manifested in four characters. Maria,the mother grieving over the loss of her son.Gary,the husband tormented by his wife's infidelity.Tess,the unfaithful wife & Alex,the lover. Each characters arch,is the fact that they are so human that it is easy to lose yourself in each characters personal journey.The plot itself is perfectly structered to allow the story to unfold itself. One of the best Brittish films I have seen in years.

"Heart", a lean and taught psychodrama, peers into the life of a heart transplant patient as a strange and aberrant relationship develops between him and the heart donor's mother. An excellent film for those into razor sharp, no frills drama, "Heart" qualifies as an under-rated "sleeper". The film's only deficits are (on the DVD version I watched), mediocre video quality and poor sound with no English subtitles or CC. I listened to it via headphones so as to not miss a syllable. (B+)