Film Review - Beating Hearts

Images courtesy of Palace Films.

Beating Hearts is a film of great indulgence, over saturating you with love, violence and earnestness, and asking for no more than an open heart and a not-so-critical mind. It’s obvious the director, Giles Lellouche, put his heart and soul into the directing - everything is done with such gusto and when needed it’s a great watch, however, 3 hours of gusto becomes exhausting. This coupled with depthless writing, unfortunately means the film ultimately feels flat and soulless. 

Before getting into the worst, Laurent Tangy, the cinematographer, worked wonders with the film's treatment and cinematic shots. Bringing a sense of cohesion to the tonal whiplash throughout the film; from oppressive rooms to dance sequences visually, it’s always pleasing to look at. 

In comparison, the most unsatisfying part of the film was the complete lack of originality in the writing. A young girl (Jackie), damaged and witty, meets a boy (Clotaire) whose life is tainted by violence but luckily, he has a heart of gold. After a meandering opening hour Clotaire becomes involved in gang violence and eventually goes to jail. Consequently, Jackie falls into disrepair and soon self-destructs. After he returns home Clotaire becomes a gang leader, kills a few people but manages to never get caught and eventually lives a small life with Jackie, still sassy, still deeply in love. 

The overwhelming issue in this film is its trivialisation of very real world issues. Admittedly not every film has to rise to the realism of a documentary, but to explore love and violence in a supposed 3 hour epic, might lead one to expect a sense of depth and understanding be paid. The story feels not only like a trivialisation of gang violence, but also of young love - Jackie without Clotaire becomes a non-character; she lacks motive and critical thinking, her decision making and obsession feels simulated for the story. Clotaire gets more air time and therefore more depth, his hatred and pull to violence makes sense even if a little shallow. Beating Hearts feels superficial and consequently lacks empathy, and with 3 hours to play with it loses even its credibility as a casual easy romance.

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Beating Hearts is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.