The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)

Instant Favorite.

Boring, long, and too preachy.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

So I went in with no expectations, I thought this was an indie film starring Asia Argento and here she might have an opportunity to shine away from her fathers shadow and creepy insistence on nudity.Immediately I was struck by her similarity to Lily Allen with blonde hair scarily so in fact. I was impressed by her performance but within 10 minutes felt this deep aching you get from films that just aren't nice to watch.90 minutes of the poor upbringing of a child into a horrific life filled with all the things a child simply shouldn't do/see/experience.Mixed in are a remarkable number of famous faces including Winona Ryder, Jeremy Sisto, Ben Foster, Marilyn Manson and in a scene that I'm surprised didn't kill his career Jeremy Renner (Deeply unpleasant stuff) Nasty open ended and almost modern day Shakespeare The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is something to watch to put things into perspective if you feel like your life sucks.Good performances but comparable with cystoscopy for both entertainment and comfort levels. And I mean that literally, I've experienced both and this movie is as fun as having a camera shoved up your urethra.

Asia Argento keeps the tradition of her father's fantastically crazy, brutal and experimental films. She knows how to deal with the darkness, the horror of something people wouldn't even dare to talk about. With a cast that really works, Asia Argento brings a truthful film, a brutal film to ponder about three things: Love, lust and loneliness. All with a sprinkle of religious fanaticism, drugs and deeply disturbed minds.Acting is, by all means, what makes this film so strong. All performances are brilliant. The "experimental", almost child-like cinematography is unnerving and spot-on. The music and all the other elements in sound design are equally chilly. The fact that a little boy is involved in the film, makes it more disturbing. Asia Argento (I suppose) played the main role because I guess it wouldn't be easy to ask any other one to do so in America. I hope no American director or writer will even try to do a re-make of this film, because it's pure giallo in the 2000's, and that's a big thing. Sure, it's a hellraiser for many, but it absolutely shines as what it was intended to be. Many people may not like these sort of genre (giallo is a genre in itself) and will be repelled even by the idea of watching it. So don't. But for people who like European films that usually are honest and brutal, well... you won't easily find anything in this era made in the US so giallo :)Thumbs up for Asia... she's always been a great actress (even when she was pretty young, she appeared in some of her dad's films), a great writer and a daring director.

I stumbled upon this movie 4 days ago. I found this under movies that Marilyn Manson was in, so I clicked on it and the synopsis. It sounded like it had a really good plot, so I ordered it. It was a really good and interesting movie that dealt with drug addiction, child abuse, and child rape! I probably wouldn't recommend that you watch this with your parents. A drug-addict/hooker named Sarah takes her son, Jeremiah back, but he doesn't like her, so he runs away. Sarah finds him and gets with an abusive guy that rapes and beats Jeremiah. Jeremiah is sent to live with Sarah's God-obsessed parents. After three years, Sarah is back and takes Jeremiah with her again. Sarah soon realizes that if she is going to keep her men, then she cannot say Jeremiah is her son, so she persuades him to cross dressing. (Don't think I'm gay, but I honestly think Jeremiah looked extremely sexy dressed as a girl.) It's too bad that Marilyn Manson only had a 5 minute cameo, because he was really good. Sarah and Jeremiah go into hiding because she thinks everyone is after them. She makes him think that certain foods are poisoned and makes him drink ipecac. Asia Argento, and the Sprouse brothers did an awesome job. Asia also did a great job at directing. If you love child abuse, drugs, and cross dressing kids, you'll love THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS!!!

Rented this film out of curiosity towards Ms. Argento's film-making. While the film got off to a shaky start, it quickly evolved into a well-crafted and creatively interesting piece of film-making. While the subject matter of the story itself is upsetting to say the least, it is very well handled. Clearly Ms. Argento has a knack for weaving a compelling and meaningful tale. It will be interesting to see what stories she chooses to tell next and what kinds of characters she will choose to play in her upcoming projects. Overall, this film is worth watching, but make sure you are prepared for some heavy subject matter as it doesn't pull its punches!