The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)
Like his father, Tom is a real estate agent who makes his money from dirty, and sometimes brutal, deals. But a chance encounter prompts him to take up the piano and become a concert pianist. He auditions with the help of a beautiful, young virtuoso pianist who cannot speak French - music is their only exchange. But pressures from the ugly world of his day job soon become more than he can handle.
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What a waste of my time!!!
n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.
Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Just start the movie, I know how it will end. It is a movie full of typical characters, the characters are drawn as by fifteen year old who make their first scripts.It is very long and the worst of all is that then it solves everything in two minutes, do not stop for so much film. If it were that the character is in progression could understand it but it is not progression, does not advance and then blow is another.The actors are fine that true. Although I do not think the casting is very well done, if we had a friend like that and he told us what happens to him in the movie, we would not believe him.The photograph of the film, if it exists, is too white. It is very French, no information.The address, telling me that I have become long, does not advance, only knows how to make close-ups, does not know how to narrate or compose, let's say I do not like it.In short, it is not what I expected, but I will soon forget it
A nice look at the thug, shows that a thug can change for the better but never really does. Shot nicely and well acted, but as with a lot of French films I often feel that something is missing, a bit of umph, a bit of extra drama to draw you in makes you really feel for the characters, never the less this is the best french film for that I have seen, and therefore gets a well deserved 7/10.Not a must see, but is very enjoyable, one for those French film fans more than just film fans.Extra steps needed to take this from a good film to a brilliant or excellent one.
Not all remakes are made in Hollywood; the industry works the other way round too. I haven't seen James Toback's 1978 film Fingers, but its French remake by Jacques Audiard surely works admirably. Tom (Romain Duris) is a shady young real estate broker who doesn't shy away from using violence to make sure his clients don't forget to pay their rents and other expenses. One day he meets the agent of his deceased concert pianist mother and is invited to an audition, as he has some musical talent himself. To prepare for the audition he takes lessons from a Chinese female pianist Miao Lin (Linh Dan Pham) and despite the language barrier, a wordless understanding develops between them. Combining the tough criminal career and the patience required for practicing music is difficult for Tom though, especially due to his unreliable father Robert (Niels Arestrup) who Tom often has to save from serious trouble involving dangerous criminals.Tom's restless wavering between the two careers is fascinating to follow, thanks to Duris' fidgeting performance full of danger and thinly buried anger. Even though he maintains a tough appearance, it is obvious that the audition means a lot to him, evoking memories from his mother even though we never get to see her on the screen. Niels Arestrup also captures the miserable aura surrounding the father and could have easily stolen the show from a less intense lead actor. Besides the acting, the overall directorial style is in tune with the story and masters both hectic urban scenes and the calmer moments at the piano in Miao Lin's apartment. The shocking but touching ending doesn't provide a simple conclusion to Tom's confusion, but suggests that he has learned that he cannot flee making the decision forever. All in all, the dramatically titled film succeeds in delivering a riveting experience and belongs among the better French film of recent years.
I think the people who have posted rave reviews for this film have seen too many movies and are ready to go nuts if the movie is in French. Honestly, there is nothing interesting about some small time thug trying to re-establish his potential as a classical piano player. I mean come on, who cares? The character is all over the place in terms of emotions and in the end amounts to little. American film buffs who drool over Euro-trash productions and see things in them that are not there, just boggle my mind. Get outside into the sun and pull some weeds, folks, you will be doing yourself a huge favor. Stop stunting your mind with artsy, pretentious movies that you think make you look like an intellectual.