A remake that both complements the original and adds to it, Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard’s (‘Dheepan’) urban crime drama remains a highpoint in the filmmaker’s celebrated career.
Loosely adapting James Toback’s crazed 1978 Harvey Keitel vehicle ‘Fingers’, 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped' stars a charismatic Romain Duris as Tom, the 28-year-old son of a shady underworld figure (Niels Arestrup). Frustrated with his thuggish existence, Tom has dreams of following in his mother’s footsteps as a concert pianist. But the more he desires change, the harder he finds it to reconcile the two strands of his life. Even when he engages the help of Chinese teacher Miao (Linh Dan Pham) to help him prepare for an audition, his progress is interrupted by the emotional violence that haunts him. Moreover, his growing attachment to his tutor only leaves him more compromised.
Winner of the 2006 BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, Audiard’s film ranks alongside ‘Read My Lips’, ‘A Prophet’ and ‘The Sisters Brothers’ as one of his finest films and has taken its place amongst the canon of the greatest European crime films.
★★★★★ "Stylish and audacious" - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
15
104 minutes
2005
Thriller, Romance, European
France
English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Vietnamese
English
Curzon Artificial Eye