The Beat That My Heart Skipped

In many ways this French film reminds me of "Good Will Hunting" and the old William Holden film "Golden Boy" combined--though it is far better than either of these previous films.

Thomas (Romain Duris) is a very unsavory young man. His job is a sleazy one--he dispossesses squatters from apartments. In France, it is NOT easy to legally dispossess these folks--so Thomas and his thuggish friends beat the crap out of them or toss rats into the apartments to get the folks to leave. It seems that Thomas learned a lot from his ne'er do well father. However, hidden within is a part of his dead mother. The woman was a concert pianist and Thomas had this as his career goal as well. And, when Thomas happens to see his mother's old manager, the dream of being a respected pianist reignites within him. But just practicing the piano and improving his skills isn't enough- -he must decide if he wants to become respectable or remain a thug. Through much of the film, Thomas bounces back and forth between the two extremes. Where will Thomas eventually land?

The film is much better than the other films mentioned because Thomas' journey wasn't fast and his change wasn't complete and magical. In the other films, the problem was just too black and white and the changes unrealistic. Here, however, with a better script and a really nice performance by Duris, you've got a really compelling film. My only reservation is that this is NOT a film for everyone--it's very violent, sexual and not a neat picture that follow the expected formula. Well worth seeing regardless.

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.

The main character, Tom, is a property developer operating on the edges illegality and lives a small-time gangster's lifestyle. He is following in the footsteps of his ruthless father but is clearly uncomfortable with such a direction. Similarly he is less than satisfied with the friendships and affairs he has. His life takes a new turn as his interest in piano playing is rekindled when he meets his dead mother's one-time concert manager, Fox, who encourages him to return to studying piano. His lifestyle and commitment are contrasted with the skills and dedication of his Chinese teacher, Miao Lin.

A low key, low budget thriller providing character insight as well as action. Unusual story for the genre.

Rising French director Jacques Audiard ("Read My Lips") has naturally relocated James Toback's "Fingers" from New York City to Paris. He's also modified the Mafioso's in the original by creating a tight gang of 'real estate' brokers (brokers that break windows, dump rats, etc. to move squatters off their properties).

Basic plot line involves a young man, 'Tom', who is very much caught up in 'the life' of being a thug like his father. He pals around with his two partners and they work hard by day and party harder at night (usually ending with a barfight). Then one day he spots his deceased mother's old music agent who offers him an audition in gratitude (Tom's mother was a professional concert pianist).

What follows is an intriguing and humorous plot line as Tom takes on a piano coach (from Beijing no less) and tries to regain his affinity with the piano almost ten years after he'd stopped playing.

Extremely well-acted film with Romain Duris (as 'Tom') offering up one of those rare performances that's absolutely mesmerizing (most USA audiences will remember him from "L'Auberge espagnole" - another French film worth your time!).

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.