A Hole in My Heart

Just when you think that the film has done everything it can to shock and disgust you ... it gets worse ! Thinking about scenes in isolation, they shouldn't be too bad - but I guess it's the whole development of the characters that make events so disturbing.

The director was on stage afterwards (London Film Festival) and said that he thought there were something like 68 different messages in the film, but wouldn't expand on any of them, and wouldn't answer questions about why he had blanked out all the logos - other than to confirm that he had done it on purpose. He also claimed that he didn't understand the film himself, and that he would much prefer to be making children's movies rather than this type of film.

Before the film he had predicted that 9% of the audience would walk out during the film - he seemed pleased that the dropout rate was lower than expected !

Worth seeing, if you like being made to feel uncomfortable ...

You'll probably hear a lot about how shocking and unrelenting this film is. My first reaction was to call the film "Pink Flamingoes"-esque, but I knew this was wrong, as this movie never shocks for the sake of shock itself. I've never seen another Moodysson film (although I will now), but his fury really came through and spoke to me here. He is taking our civilization's obsessions with seeing everything, with pushing limits, and shoving it in our face, making us hurt for it. That said, there is much beauty here as well, and a pitch black humour that carries viewers through the darkest moments. The protagonist, a teenage boy who spends most of his time in his room with headphones on, attempting to block out the increasingly depraved porno being filmed by his father and friends in the living room of a tiny apartment, tells a couple of stories based around the theme of beauty existing under the most impossible conditions, life flourishing where no one would've thought it could, and he is referring both to himself and the moments of grace that Moodysson places throughout the film. He even manages to give a feeling of hope by the end, which stuck with me as I walked down the street, although my stomach gave a serious churn as I walked by an adult video store.

I've seen (and loved) Together and Lilya.. - this film is different, and will not appeal to the vast majority of people.

I'm not sure about the themes; that these characters ultimately need each other? The dialogue, although perhaps improvised, is at least free from cliché. The editing is a little annoying, but not really distracting. It's mainly the soundtrack that grates, with its casual use of white noise and drone. The film is essentially a day in the cramped flat filming Rickard's amateur (gonzo) porno movies, while he tries to connect with his introverted goth son / the son has a tentative yearning for the girl / the girl discovers that these people who can be so hurtful are still better than 'normal boring ugly' people / and the actor who is slightly insecure and has a confusing & frustrating habit of falling asleep, but has quite a close relationship with his friend the director. There's more to it (particularly with Rickard, the father/porno director), and the ending is characteristically upbeat (relationships resolving/issues in the open), coming off a real emotional low-point.

The film itself occasionally jumps forward & back in time, and there are a few dream sequences. The surgical cuts (literally and editorially) are scattered through the film, along with blurry out-of-context 'organic' shots, and a parallel version of what's happening in the porno film, as performed by Barbie and Action Man. I'm just not 'deep' enough to understand (or care) what all these bits mean.

Yes, the film is pretty graphic - not so much in the sex, but there is nudity on all counts (although not in a sensational way), there are intimate surgical shots, and one quick scene following a food fight which may make you feel ill (and will burn itself on your memory, whether you want it to or not).

Although I can't be bothered trying to understand or analyse the use of the surgery bits and other possible motifs, the film is mostly pretty straightforward and - if you stick with it - a fairly 'okay' plot/resolution develops by the end of the film. It just takes a while for the characters to reveal enough of themselves, because they all start out as fairly unlikeable.

Moodysson's latest is an intense and disturbing barrage of shocking imagery and an unflinching view of broken people who form an attachment built as much on hatred as it is on need for companionship. The film takes a claustrophobic look at four people who live in a small flat; a porn film making man, his son and the man and woman who 'star' in his porn films. Moodysson blurs the boundaries between the porn they film and their bizarre antics to create a bewildering world of obsession a Marat Sade of contemporary mores. This is a profoundly disturbing film; ugly and noisy but with occasional moments of calm and beauty amongst the ugly sex scenes and close ups of heart and genital operations and doll mutilation. It seems that Moodysson is angry and wants to scream his anger full into the viewers face - neither easy or essential viewing but challenging and interesting.

In many ways i can understand why people would take a disliking to this film, it is very difficult... but it's also one of the most human films i've seen for a long long time.

It's a film for people who don't want to go to see a film to 'enjoy it' it's a film that is what it is, it's not a sing and dance, it's not an entertainment piece.

I found this film very interesting indeed and found all the characters to have a lot of depth to them. This film is much closer to Lilja 4-ever rather than Together, so that may sway you to one way or the other. What makes this harder than Lilja 4-ever is that it isn't addressing issues in a very forward manner, it isn't always clear what this film is 'trying to say'.

But yeah, if you give it the chance and don't come to this film for a laugh or to enjoy yourself and are actually interested in film in it's purest form, then this should prove of worth and an interesting purchase.