De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté

THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (Jacques Audiard - France 2005).

It's usually the other way round, but this time the French took a shot at remaking an American film, James Toback's FINGERS (1978), which starred Harvey Keitel. And the result is excellent. This riveting human drama by Jacques Audiard features an impressive performance by Romain Duris as Tom, a 28 year-old hoodlum who seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a property shark working in a sleazy, barely legal twilight zone of the dodgy Parisian real-estate world. But a chance encounter with a former music teacher leads him to believe that he can become, like his mother, a concert pianist. With the help of a young virtuoso pianist, who just arrived from China, he starts preparing for a crucial audition, but soon the pressures from his former pals mount and he gets trapped between two opposite worlds. But Tom is not just a sensible artistic young man desperately trying to escape the world he lives in. He's not entirely sure he wants to leave his old life behind him. He's got a mean streak and when necessary, he takes care of some unresolved matters using whatever means he deems appropriate to take care of unwilling partners, squatters or whoever gets in the way of his (or his father's business interests), really putting the squeeze on people unwilling to cooperate.

Romain Duris injects his role with an enormous amount of vibrancy and energy. I've never seen Duris in another role before, but his character is complex, perennially nervous, strained, angry, but incredibly charming. One moment he's in leather jacket, wiping the blood of his face after a little bashing with some squatters. The next, he's in suit and tie and negotiates with real-estate moguls. The film's atmosphere is dark, moody and downbeat, but Tom's vibrant energy and aggression firmly keeps the viewer's attention. Jacques Audiard's direction is remarkable assured. He seems to know exactly what he wants to present on the screen, never showy and a keen camera eye to give the already top-notch performances maximum impact. What's so refreshing, is that the film doesn't make a big point out of the human relationships. It never becomes overly sentimental, but at the same time all these characters are real and completely believable, just incredibly vivid characterizations. Sharply written, stylish, expertly paced, directed and performed, this is definitely one to catch.

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

The "The Beat that my heart skipped" is an immaculately crafted and relentlessly gripping film. Its existential premise (a dodgy estate broker feels a sudden urge to rekindle his long abandoned passion for piano-playing whose rarefied world comes in contrast with his everyday life and seedy activities) is rooted in the world of film-noir. The escalating conflict between his "duties" and his lofty aspirations is unerringly captured while maintaining an eye for subtle but telling characterization of the supporting characters. Through his inner turmoil, the main drama materializes and the theme of unfulfilled potential due to a multiplicity of factors not always within somebody's control poignantly emerges.

Jacques Audiard, not the most famous but certainly one of the most talented french directors of the last ten years, has remarkably transcribed the mythology and some of the most eminent film-noir themes onto the modern era. The framing, lighting, music (especially its juxtaposition), mood and plot development are spot-on while the main performance my Romain Duris is career defining. The film stands out as one of the best modern neo-noir -a film with a rather singular style, akin to the director's equally commendable previous works.

This is an excellent film, and highly recommended. Its script is absolutely wonderful, showing the protagonist having a dark and ugly side, yet possessing the ability to express his sensitivity, as a classical pianist, through music, as he prepares for an audition with an agent. The juxtaposition of the two opposing sides of the protagonist lends the film an unexpected power and impact. It is a violent film, yet a humorous one at the same time, with great acting. De battre mon coeur is a remake of Fingers, which unfortunately I have not seen (yet). I can only hope that the French film will be released in The Netherlands as well, so I can see it again.

This is a first for the French cinema, the remake of an American film, when just the opposite is what happens always. The Americans love to redo what some French director did before, with mediocre results. "The Beat that my Heart Skipped" was adapted for the screen by Jacques Audiard and Tonino Benaquesta, from the 1978 film by James Toback, an under appreciated director that deserves more credit for his work in this country. Mr. Audiard directed the French version.

As a character study of Thomas, the film somewhat succeeds in presenting his ambivalence as a petty criminal and as a frustrated pianist that is trying to regain his skill in playing the instrument. Thomas is, from all accounts, an ugly character that will engage in all kinds of under handed situations in order to make a living. Most of the motivation in Thomas' actions is driven by his loyalty to his small crook father, who is constantly nagging him to take care of the old man's criminal activities as well.

In Romain Duris, director Audiard gets a multi layered performance that is what keeps the film going. Mr. Duris, an intense actor, is the dominant figure in the movie, and perhaps the excuse for seeing the film. Nils Arestrup, as the father, has also some good moments.

Some of us take a large portion of our DNA from the father's side, other the mother's. With 28-year-old Thomas Seyr (Romain Duris), it's a 50/50 affair. He is just as much as (maybe even more so) of a thug as his father is in his shady activities as a real estate broker, but at the same time promising material for concert pianist following his mother's footsteps. His father, over-the-hill but refusing to quit, we see considerably in the movie. His mother we never see, as she died when he was a youth, shattering his musical dreams.

The plot is not so much of a linear story, but more of a cross-sectional cuts of various aspects of Thomas' life. On the more mundane side are his business activities that alway verge on being criminal, his affair with his partner's neglected wife and his relationship with his father to whom he seems quite devoted.

More interesting is his musical pursuits, triggered by a chance encounter with his late mother's manager who remembers his talent and invites him to an audition "when he is ready". This leads to his seeking help from an accomplished pianist Miao Lin, a young women who studied in the Beijing Conservatory, just arrived in Paris, speaking no French at all and "just a little" English. (Here we see the not unusual sloppiness when an Asian aspect is covered in a "western" movie. There is absolutely no logical reason for a woman from China to be speaking Vietnamese, except for one - the actress IS Vietnamese). Anyway, the communication purely through music and gesture is very well handled.

The shooting style is quite contemporary, and leans towards using darker scenes. Interesting to note that in the two series of piano practicing scenes, it's always dark and gloomy when he plays at home, but is reasonably bright when he is at coach Miao Lin's place.

As with such non-story-oriented movies, the ending is inconclusive. But that does not matter as it is the character study that is of prime interest.