Act of the Heart

This is an unusual if disappointing story about a naive, young, God-drunk woman (Genevieve Bujold) who becomes increasingly despairing of the meanness of ordinary life but finds comfort in her religious fantasies and in the notion that she is special. These feelings fuse in her anguished involvement with a monk (Donald Sutherland), whom she meets while singing in a Montreal choir. Though he leaves the church to marry her, she is not content and switches her passion to the idea that a new, Christ-like martyr is needed to revive peoples' faith. In the spirit of selfless sacrifice she immolates herself -- but the horrifying deed is not believable because the film does not establish either the extreme faith or the psychotic personality that would sufficiently motivate such a deed.

This movie was the second of five that Bujold made with her husband-director Paul Almond, and followed the Canadian ghost story, ISABEL (1968).

Initially a gentle portrait of a virginal young farm woman on the north shores of Canada who sings with the church choir and longs to be closer to God; she has toyed with the notion of entering a convent but instead falls in love with a monk, who tells the girl about the primitive practice of self-sacrifice by fire. Writer-director Paul Almond fashioned this tale for then-wife Genevieve Bujold, keeping her busy singing, interacting with the local villagers, working with the children and learning from (and flirting with) Father Donald Sutherland--a relationship which leads her down the wrong path into a religious fervor. Bujold, one of the finest actresses to come from the new wave of foreign personalities to reach Hollywood in the 1960s, responds to the lighter demands of this material with grace (fending off the affections of a lothario while ice-skating, walking forlornly in the snow and catching the snowdrift on her tongue, reading in bed with her glasses on and cutting up the newspaper), but the larger-scaled moments Almond stages for Bujold would be unplayable for any actress. The film is poorly-shot, recorded and edited, a bit monotonous and with a drab production; however, Bujold and Sutherland prove to be an offbeat romantic combination and there are some lovely moments here and there. Almond has higher aspirations, however, then simply observing this troubled woman's life, and the film's third act is a complete and willful self-destruction. ** from ****

In Act Of The Heart an intelligent, talented and beautiful young girl named Martha (played by the stunning Genevieve Bujold) moves from Quebec's north shore to Montreal, where she is to work as a the French tutor for the son of a widowed businesswoman.

Her father's farm is failing, so this relieves him of the burden of having to care for her...as she is expected to find work in the city, and help with him his finances, while she is there.

When not tutoring the young boy, she can often be found at the local skating rink, or singing in the church choir...where she has recently been chosen as a soloist by an Augustinian monk who is overseeing an upcoming concert they will be performing in.

This oppourtunity has seeded, within her, dreams of becoming a famous singer, who gets paid for doing what she loves best.

But when she goes to CBC to try and secure an audition...she is told that her only chance, to achieve this goal, is to become a burlesque singer.

This, however, does not jive with her devout philosophies...as she fancies herself a sort of reincarnation of Mary Magdalene, who's meant to have a relationship with Jesus.

As a result of her looks, outgoing personality, and general sense of innocence...every man, boy...and even monk...tends to fall in love with her...or at the very least...become overcome with desire in her presence.

She shrugs off all their advances, though, preferring instead to indulge in her fetishitic fantasies about being close to Christ.

Thus, while working one-on-one, with the father, on her solo for the upcoming performance, she finds herself falling for the man...as she sees him as being close to Jesus, due to his espoused faith and position in the church.

But things take a darker turn, when the boy she tutors dies as the result of a freak hockey accident, and subsequent botched surgery.

This challenges her faith.

So, to fill the void left in her heart, she pledges her love for the man, as he fulfills both her need for a father figure, and her desire to have a close personal relationship with Jesus, himself.

And this culminates with the couple engaging in carnal acts on the pulpit floor.

Now, he is faced with the choice of retaining his vows, or following his heart, and leaving the church, so that he can be with her.

He opts for the latter.

So they move in together...as she follows her dream of becoming a pop singer, and he attempts to become an actor.

Everything seems to be going well for the two fledgling lovers, up until he imposes a lingering sense of religious guilt upon her.

This triggers memories of a passing comment he had once made to her, concerning ritual sacrifice, as offering up a part of something to God via the act of immolation.

Ultimately leading to the films fiery conclusion.

This film seems to have an autobiographical quality pertaining to both Bujold and Almond.

For Bujold had grown up in a convent school, which she so despised, and sought to escape from by any means necessary.

With acting offering her the oppourtunity to free herself from a life of devout religious sacrifice.

While the male figures in the film, all seem to be representative of Almond, himself.

For he had married Bujold when she was in her early 20's, being a decade her senior.

He has specifically written himself into the story as the man at the party with the separatists, who asks Martha if she had ever considered acting.

They would divorce 4 years after this film was released.

So, I guess it was also a bit prophetic.

All in all, this is a sad story about love vs spiritual guilt, that doesn't have one of those happily ever after conclusions, you might expect from such a love story.

But the acting from both Bujold and Sutherland is excellent, and it was lavished with a number of Canadian screen awards, as a result.

Thus securing it a place in the canon of great Canadian cinema.

7 out of 10.