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Film review by Colin Fraser

THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED

beat my heart skipped
Tom is having an early mid-life crisis and wants out of the often-brutal family business. When he gets an opportunity to become a concert pianist, he jumps at it. score

4
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5 (unmissable) to 1 (unwatchable)
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Cast
Romain Duris, Aure Atika,
Niels Arestrup


Director
Jacques Audiard

Screenwriter
Jacques Audiard

Country
France (subtitles)

Rating / Running Time
M / 107 minutes

Australian Release
June 2005

Official Site




(c) moviereview 2005
ABN 72 775 390 361

Tom (Romain Duris) is having a tough time. He has followed in his father’s brutal footsteps to become a real-estate ‘broker’. He does what has to be done, even if it involves tossing the homeless out of their squats or setting fire to a restaurant. He is a thug. Yet Tom has a purer side that is aching to express itself. When given an opportunity to pursue his late mother as a concert pianist, he takes the chance with both hands. This is the dichotomy of Jacques Audiard’s remarkable work: the dark, heavy soul of Tom’s night, the light and optimistic hope of his day. Based on an American film – Fingers (1978) – Audiard strips back the psycho-sexual tension for a simpler tale of warring allegiance; to Tom’s parents, his colleagues but mostly himself. He longs to escape the vicious physicality of his job and Duris’ stunning performance is revelatory as he twitches and fumes through anger, denial and frustration. It’s a similar case when he’s at the piano, forcing his fingers to provide a way forward, a way out. His tormented passion is simply electric on screen and mirrored in Audiard’s slick direction of the film’s bi-polar symbolism. The balancing act is reflected in tight, powerful scenes that are jumpy (nocturnal violence) or measured (sunlit piano) and combine to create a gripping momentum. Desire underlines everything, neatly illustrated in a cruel affair with a colleague’s wife and the disciplined relationship Tom has with his tutor. The Beat My Heart Skipped is a moving and focused exploration of association, need and longing. Like music, the story will play on your mind long after the film over. // COLIN FRASER