shutterboss

"BEREAVEMENT"

WINNER - Best Cinematography Award - New York Horror Film Festival 2010

"Marco Cappetta's cinematography is one of the film's key assets." Michael Gingold - Fangoria.com

"'Bereavement' is shot with far more care than most studio-produced horror films" Christian Toto - Washington Times

"Almost flawless visually. Virtually every shot is the right one" John Anderson - Newsday.com / New York Film Critics Circle

"the shot selection is superb" Phil Fasso - Icons of Fright

"The cinematography is striking. Spooky visuals that are scarier on their own than the entirety of many films" Bryan Buss - movingpicturesnetwork.com

"the cinematography is gorgeous" Brad Keefe - columbusalive.com

"The cinematography, by director of photography Marco Cappetta, is improbably pretty. The movie looks great." Glenn McDonald - Triangle.com

"a high level of technical polish. The film looks better than many major studio horror productions" John Wirt - 2theadvocate.com

"The cinematography by Marco Cappetta is top-notch, unveiling a landscape speckled with abandoned traces of industry amongst lonesome open fields and dirt roads" Dustin Puman - dustinputman.com

"shots that are disarmingly beautiful" Mark H. Harris - About.com

"the shots of the rural Pennsylvania countryside are quite beautiful" Rob Thomas - The Capital Times/Madison.com

"I really enjoyed the cinematography" Alex DiGiovanna - Moviebuzzers.com

"incredible in terms of camera-work" Perri Nemiroff - Shockya.com

"a convincing atmosphere of chilling dread" Maitland McDonagh - Filmjournal.com

"The set design and cinematography are fantastic. The cinematography is particularly superb, with scenes that are breathtaking" Movieweb.com

"'Bereavement' has a wonderfully artistic look... some truly impressive shots" Jay S. Jacobs - popenterrtainment.com

Some reviews on this board don't do justice to this film. Sometimes I wonder why some "critics" go so hard on indie films, but give passing grades to mainstream Hollywood garbage. "The Fall" is not "The Godfather" nor "The Room". In other words, the film is not brilliant, but neither is a traumatizing event as another reviewer on this board would have you believe. It's true that the lead actor is weak, there are some plot-holes and director John Krueger is clearly an amateur, however the story is interesting, the rest of the cast is quite good, and the cinematography is very glossy and moody. Erica Shaffer and Benny Ciaramello gave really good performances here. There are several great dramatic scenes and a few bizarre ones that were obviously meant to be surreal. Overall I liked this film and I would like to read more reviews on this board to see other people's thoughts.

"Dark Heart" is a very allegoric film, blurring the lines between good and evil. The villains are shown with humanity, their motivations and back-stories are understandable, and one can even feel pity for them because they are indeed villains but they are also victims of society. What I've found intriguing is that both the main villain and the "hero" are actually very similar men, two sides of the same coin. Both men have fought in wars and have deep emotional scars. Finn sees a young and naive version of himself in Matt and Matt sees in Finn the tortured and broken man he will eventually become. Had they met on the battlefield, the two men would have probably become best friends, but in the sad and twisted reality of life they happen to became mortal enemies.

Another thing that is peculiar to this film is the absolute lack of "coolness" in violence, which is portrayed in a very realistic and voyeuristic way, often in single takes without cuts. This cinematic style puts the audience unflinchingly in the midst of the violence, and this is exactly the point of the movie: to show that there is no redeeming quality in violence. Violence is just disturbing and repulsive and "Dark Heart" makes a very powerful anti-violence statement by showing violence for what it really is, disgusting, painful and useless. The film's message is clear... violence only leads to more violence, whether it's a pointless war, a desperate robbery, or justifiable revenge.

"Dark Heart" is not an easy movie and is not for everyone. Its claustrophobic, hopeless feel penetrates the soul with surreal acid-trip images, giving the viewer the uncomfortable feeling of being held captive just like the protagonist of the film. But the movie is also bold and daring narrative work that has won numerous awards and nominations at many film festivals.

The end of this film feels like a punch in the guts. And I loved it.