After a lot of hype I was looking forward to this. What is 'rivetting' about it? There is no real hook it is terribly miscast. (piano prodigy turned tough guy?). Really not very impressed. And no I am not an action film fan and yes I love subtitled films. Watched the edukators the same day as this and that is far far superior.
sharethis movie is not ment to give a hook. it's like a cut-out from a short period of time from the protagonist. i don't think the piano "turned" the guy. not at all. it's not that simple. the movie just shows the total chaos and him kind of trying to deal with that stuff, with his father. there's no real message, no real clue, it's in a special way surrealistic, and without a big fad happy-end with a lot of explosions and a guy + chick kissing scene. and ya, it's a very quiet movie, which leaves a lot of questions, but i depends on you if you feel the need for answers.
share"Piano prodigy turned tough guy" ? Well, you get it wrong, Whitnail. This movie's not about a "piano prodigy" (we're not in Hollywood here, "The beat my heatt skipped" is not "Shine", "A Beautiful mind" or whatever glossy biopic), but a tough, lost and helpless guy searching redemption through beauty/music... The fact that he ultimately fails at his audition shows clearly he's no genius, just a man struggling with himself. And the last scene says it all : he chooses to "accompany" beauty rather than trying (and failing) to express it himself.
shareYes, I'm in agreement with Withnail69. Agreat deal of positive noises were being made about the film, but when I saw it I was terribly disappointed. The film is a rather dull drama. There is a certain cultural critical snobbery, particularly in England, about French cinema that often assumes a cultural superiority on nationality alone. However, this film meanders around, with a boring and uninteresting lead performance, for an interminable amount of time. If you compare it to a film like, for example 'L'Enfant', which deals with similar themes and characters, it is simply left in the dust. Fans of innovative and exciting cinema need not apply.
shareI hate A Beautiful Mind. That crap is a torturer.
The Beat That My Heart Skipped doesn't smack you on the lips. It warms up in your palms. I like it handily well.
i agree, the film was very good, deep, French cinema is fully capable of making such movies, they have sense of emotions, human approach and kinda humour. Hollywood makes 1000 movies a year and maybe a pair of them would reach The beat that my heart skipped´s ankles.
shareI truly enjoyed this film. The performance by the leading actor was superb. The music was great and it is a joy to be able to see good French films once in a while. The French sure know how to make a diiference.
sharethe acting was superb (it always is with duris) the themes were interesting the music was great, the filming, the colours etc.
there's nothing wrong with this movie as such, but it just seemed like another french movie..just look at the themes..
-existential predicaments: check, should i be a thug or a piano player, what is life etc
-parental issues: check, with father, and mother's death
-complicated love affair with strange woman: check...his colleague's wife
-a death marking the climax, check
of course you could argue this has been the form of all narratives since ancient greek tragedy so what i just said was useless, but i just felt like voicing an opinion
of course this film was very very good..i just watch french movies nonstop so i get a bit blasé sometimes..
it's a dirty world Reich, say what you want
hm you could say that about almost any film:
Star Wars III anakin vader: existential predicaments check, should I be a good or bad person
:parental issues check, my "mentor" is a an old killjoy
:complicated love affair, check (padme is just strange... look at the hairdo in Epsode one)
:a death marking the climax, check. Well sort of a death at least. You gotta keep it PG you know!
My point: your point is, like you said, useless.
It wasn't bad but nothing outstanding, either. I have seen many dramata and I remember many of them. This one just doesn't manage to be much better than a TV-drama with a french kick.
share[deleted]
Quick poll: how many of you play an instrument? Ive seen this film with several musically orientated individuals and I must say that their reaction to the film was somewhat intense. My other friends dont seem to be as much disturbed by it.
I suppose the overall themes applies to everyone, but to musicians in particular, it strikes hard.
For example: one such friend jumped out of his chair during the scene when the protagonist joins his "buddies" on a night raid, the evening before the audition. As all the screaming and hitting started, my friend just started murmuring to himself: "What the **** are you doing, you are gonna ruin your fingers!" I though it was very amusing as he is usually very nonchalant about practically everything regarding cinema.
"I love subtitled films" hahaha.
shareI totally agree with withnail69.....it is not worth the hype, nor the time..it is just a good entertenaining story...I was not impressed.
shareI'm french and this movie doesn't make me proud. The OP is right imo. This movie was very tedious, pretentious and dull. Duris might be "hot" but he's a terrible actor, he's too shallow and bland. Like most of the french new generation of actors... Laurent Lucas for instance.
Also, I don't see how this movie "makes the difference"... it's a typical Hollywood-like movie, with the same clichés (we're shown a "tough guy" who's actually sensitive inside... how original *yawn*).
Jacques Audiard is very pretentious too and he embodies well this kind of snooty french "intellectuals"... all these people act as if they understood everything about life when they actually have nothing to say. Arrogance to hide their lack of substance.
This is not real cinema. "Seul Contre Tous" was. But "De battre..." is a fraud.
not a huge fan of this film either. the protaganist was hateable, and i was confused as to where this film was going. He treated everyone very poorly, and never got his just desserts. there were many question marks and questionable developments. a prophet was a masterpiece, this was just a movie