The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)

Wonderful character development!

People are voting emotionally.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

"From Jacques Audiard, the acclaimed filmmaker," notes the DVD sleeve, "comes this haunting new thriller that fuses two unlikely worlds to create a stunning portrait of a young gangster. Romain Duris, in a standout performance, plays Tom, a 28-year-old who seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a Parisian property shark working in a sleazy and sometimes brutal world. However, a chance encounter with his late mother's music agent leads him to believe that he can become, like his mother, a concert pianist. In earnest, he starts preparing for the audition with the help of a beautiful, young virtuoso pianist who has just arrived from China. She doesn't speak a word of French; music is their only exchange. But pressures from the ugly world of his day job become more than he can handle…" Strange how this film has found its way into my hands before the original, US-made "Fingers" (1978), starring Harvey Keitel; more often, the American re-make of a French film predominates. Probably, the reason is that Mr. Audiard's version was immediately acclaimed as the latest work from a superior director. Re-titled "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" for English readers, this is a nicely performed character-driven crime drama. Twitching and quivering, Mr. Duris is especially memorable as the unhappy degenerate who yearns for respectability through musicianship. Unfortunately, the "shaky camera" technique gets out of hand sometimes, distracting during a couple of scenes; mostly, the wobbling stays in the realm of a sway or bounce - even when the characters are not, of course. C'est la vie.******* De battre mon coeur s'est arrete (2/17/05) Jacques Audiard ~ Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Linh-Dan Pham, Aure Atika

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 did not see yet the last film of Jacques Audiard 'Un Prophete' which enjoyed great success in Europe I did however have the opportunity to see now (from the ARTE TV channel) this previous film that he directed and my feeling is that I have met the work of one of the most interesting and complete directors in the French cinema today.It is usually the European cinema that comes with the original ideas and the American Hollywood industry that creates the remake, with lesser or greater success. Here the path is reversed. A film with a very similar theme about the son of a Mafia head trying to break with the family and with the life of crime in order to get back to the classical music making that was his childhood passion was 'Fingers' made in 1978 by James Toback with Harvey Keitel making one of his finest roles ever. Here with the action is transferred in the Paris of today, the main role is being taken over by Romain Duris, a fine actor who succeeds to make us believe in his character fighting an almost impossible fight for redemption and evasion from his milieu, and especially makes us care about him.Duris is supported by a team of actors which is best selected and do a great job - especially Niles Arestrup as the young man's father for whom he cares, and from whom he must escape in order to have any chance to find a new path in life, and Linh Dan Pham as the Chinese pianist who teaches the hero music lessons in the tentative to help him get back on the track of art, without knowing any French. The scenes between the two, one speaking French , the other Chinese (with no subtitles) and communicating only by mimic and especially by music are both dramatic and moving. It's a solid drama and a complex film, but never a complicated one, so it's a real thrilling cinema experience to watch it.

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.