Himlens hjärta (2008) Reviews

• Elegant and engaging

  pbn2008-06-07

  Danish director has directed a marriage drama cast with four excellent Swedish actors. From beginning to end it is beautifully filmed, strongly acted and well written. The story involves two middle-aged married couples who live in lush houses, have good jobs and are set in their ways, perhaps too much so for some or all of them. The dinner conversation when the two couples spend an evening together is the elegant starter of the infidelity drama that follows. This is tough and sometimes excruciating drama, though it does have pieces of playful dialogue throughout; there is also a dose of sweetener added at the end, but interpret it as you wish. The settings are restricted to a few rooms of their two houses and go along with a style of photography and direction that insists on intimacy and requires precision on the part of the performers. The chamber drama style has been compared to certain moments of Bergman's career, usually favourably. There are also some surprising moments where the director draws attention to himself, for instance by allowing the actors to look straight into the camera; I think this helps keep the film engaging for the interested viewer. A sidenote on the film title. It's possible that this double-metaphor romantic cliché is meant as some sort of irony on the part of the director, but it refers to nothing in the movie and almost kept me from wanting to see the it. It's already hard enough for films like these to survive in theatres without sticking nonsense titles on them.

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• Clever intimate play

  pummelruebe10002008-02-11

  I saw this movie on the premier at the Berlinale Festival and liked it a lot. It felt a little like watching a theater play: only four characters and two settings. It showed some really good acting of all four -well known Swedish - actors. Especially with all the close ups and the lack of much "physical acting". The story has a really clever twist right at the beginning which sets the course for the following events. The two couples - Susanna and Lars / Ulf and Ann - have a discussion over dinner about cheating. Lars and Ann say that they never even thought about cheating and that they cannot approve of it it any case. Susanna and Ulf say that they might approve of it, when one really falls in love with someone else. They say one has to follow ones heart even if it ends your marriage. Lars and Ann are shocked that their spouses think that way. They fear that they cannot trust their partners anymore. That and the lack of passion in their relationships leads to an affair between Lars and Ann. They really fall in love because they understand each other and finally get the affection they longed for along time. Susanne and Ulf don't suspect anything, but soon Lars confesses the affair to his wife Susanna. Despite what Susanna said on that first dinner night (Follow your heart even if you have to sacrifice your marriage!), she doesn't show any understanding for her husband and her friend now that she is being betrayed...see for yourself how that ends. I don't know if I liked the ending - it sure is not what you expect. This movie can be compared to Mike Nichols' "Closer", it's just more realistic.

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• Theatrical and clever

  stensson2008-03-21

  It was a long time ago you saw that many staring eyes as in this Swedish movie. You thought this kind of acting ended with "Lord of the Rings". But this is quite another film. Two couples in their middle-ages are best friends. Until something happens. It gets more and more complicated, the lies are more or less clever, until the bubble bursts. Catastrophe is always around the corner here and the viewer feels as much tension as the characters. It's rather creepy, but acted in such an unrealistic way, that you sometimes laugh there you shouldn't. An ambitious try however. A relation story which is very far from all the tiresome comedies you watch about the subject.

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• Himlen's Hjarta (Heaven's Heart) delves into marital hell and back out again.

  srobinson18932012-04-01

  What happens when all of one's worst fears come true? Is it possible that pursuing one's dream could cause this to happen? In the film Himlen's Hjarta, Director Simon Staho focuses his lens exclusively on two married couples and uses their raw emotional force to present a microcosmic view on infidelity, mid-life crises, and unfulfilled dreams. In a plot dripping with intensity, two amicable married couples engage in a conversation about adultery which taps into the deepest fears of Lars and Ann, the two soft-spoken, unassuming members of each pair. In consoling each other over fear of their respective partners' infidelity, Lars and Ann ironically initiate an affair which quickly spirals into a maelstrom of betrayal and emotion. Through unique film techniques, subtle symbolism, and the exquisite facial expressions of the four actors, Himlen's Hjarta strikes close to home with most viewers, and is a poignant foray into the heaven and hell of marriage. Himlen's Hjarta single-minded focus on the relationships between the four main characters is enhanced and emphasized by the narrow filming technique which focuses on minuscule details such as a face or a pair of socks on the floor. One example is series of shots where items of Lars and Ann's clothing are shown on the floor, increasingly becoming more intimate in the progression from shoes to boxers and thong. These few screen shots carry monumental implications in the lives of the four characters in the film, and the elegant simplicity through which it is illustrated is a far cry from the stark nudity and sexuality often portrayed in Nordic films. Throughout the course of the plot, viewers do not catch a single glimpse of city life, nature, or even a garden in the backyard. Neighbors are nonexistent, and even Susanna and Lars's daughter, Elin, remains an ambiguous character who serves a vital role but is never manifested in the film. Himlen's Hjarta is indisputably anthropocentric, and the film technique supports this idea by centering for the majority of the time on the expressive eyes and faces of the actors. In addition to highlighting the anthropocentrism of the film, the narrow-minded filming technique also allows for minute details to take on symbolic significance. For example, in the opening scene where the amicable married couples are sitting down for dinner, Lars and Ann sit on the same side of the table and are both dressed in innocent, unassuming light blue. By emphasizing their similarity, the subtlety of clothing and seat placement foreshadow the deep connection they will soon establish. Wine is also a symbol of fellowship, and reappears throughout the film as an indicator of upper-class culture and medium for social interaction. The recurrent theme of heaven and hell, which is significantly featured in the title "Heaven's Heart" is also cleverly interwoven through details such as Susanna's angry "Go to hell" and Ann's intuitive line when preparing fish for dinner: "let's chop the head off this devil." Even short, seemingly insignificant lines in the film convey hidden meanings which parallel dishonesty of the relationships portrayed. None of the symbolism or filming techniques would be effective without powerful acting and facial expression. The minimalist casting of only four actors results in a focus that is entirely focused without anything to detract from the character's actions, lines and emotions. In a stark contrast to Hollywood use of distractions, such as special effects or sweeping landscape shots, Himlen's Hjarta is unwaveringly focused on the central relationships in the film, creating an unparalleled intensity. One intriguing aspect of the film is the progression from abstract discussion and dreams into harsh reality. In a twist of fate, Susanna's adulterous dream about Henrik, and Ulf fantasizing about the waitress in Tuscany transforms into the nightmare of Lars and Ann's affair, ripping the couples' friendships apart. Ironically, the end of the film depicts a hopeful note of reconciliation and wisdom between the characters. The final scene, portraying Susanna and Lars holding hands, sharply contrasts the impersonal divorce proceedings depicted at the beginning of the film. Despite the tumultuous plot progression, there is an overall upward trend towards what may ultimately lead to healthier marital relations between Ulf and Ann and Lars and Susanna. It is interesting to wonder if several years down the road, the two couples will be able to patch their friendship up. If the marriages managed to emerge from the catastrophic affair, will Ann and Susanna , or Lars and Ulf, ever be able to forgive each other and restore their relationships? Perhaps some wounds will never heal, but regardless of the outcome, Himlen's Hjarta is a hellish nightmare which manages to portray the realistic issues of marriage through an intensely-focused lens.

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• Headshots and More Headshots

  joyce-944-3861392014-04-04

  Heavens Heart is the close examination of the relationship between two couples, and four best friends. Staho relies on dialogue heavily to expose the love, passion, and friendship that come with old friends and marriages of twenty years. The scenes are simple, if not artfully designed and help contribute to the focus of conversation, subtext, and emotion displayed by the characters. In the opening scene, the two main protagonists Lars and Susanna confront the camera and audience with their steeled stares. Lars lies in bed, while Susanna sits in an attorney's office on the day they get divorced. Lars imagines this is what Susanna will do when she finds out about him and Ann. He sees himself leaving as Susanna contemplatively before taking her own departure. When this scene occurs in reality, it is Susanna who is first to leave. Lars did not foresee exactly how sure his wife would be when she found out, and it was him who was left thinking on his decision. Staho wastes no time in bring up the issues between Ulf and Ann, while both Susanna and Lars are steadfast in their belief. The couples sit across from their respective partners. Ann and Lars sit together in blue while Ulf and Susanna contrast each other with creme and brown. Both couples seem to match better with the opposite spouses and as the topic of adultery is breached it is clear that something will occur between one of the pairs. Blue tends to be seen as a loyal color, so when Ann and Lars begin to sympathize with each other, I was not surprised. The pure confidence of Susanna and Ulf contrasted with the quiet acceptance of Lars and Ann led me to believe that they would discover something more than the life they had tolerated. Both couples are mirror images of each other. There is love, deep love with both of them but this love has gotten lost admits the trials of life. Both couples express a need to escape, Ulf and Ann recently returned from Tuscany and Susanna and Lars planning a vacation. For me, this love is represented in the wine they drink. Beginning with the clink of their champagne glasses, in a toast to friendship, the quickly move to a heavy red. Their conversation in addition, changes to heavier topics. For the rest of the film, both couples only drink white. Red appears again at the very end when Lars has returned and Susanna will apparently take him back. While there are many possibilities for this, one possible explanation is that red tends to be dryer, less fruity, and leaves a deep stain. White wine tends to hold the reputation of fruity, light, and of course does not stain as permanently as red, if it stains at all. Love is like the red, since it leaves a lasting impact and is not always sweet or easy, where passion is the white. Passion is sweet but short and does not linger in the same way. Unfortunately both couples had lost their passion for their significant other and this journey of emotions chronicled in Heavens Heart exposes how love persevered with hope that the passion has also been removed. The camera work, like the sets, is simple but powerful. The actors are greatly relied on to portray the emotion and underlying feeling of the movie. Many shots are close up, focusing on the face, leaving a lot unsaid for the audience to pick up on. When the camera does leave the close up shots, it is briefly, to expose the space between the characters. The space between the characters is vitally important to the story line. Any time big conversations are occurring, Staho relies on a straight front camera angle instead of the over the shoulder method. Although I could see this movie being very popular in Nordic countries, I am not sure it would gain much traction in the U.S. While the characters themselves are interesting, I felt myself distanced by the conventional way in which it was shot. At times it seemed to be a Swedish soap opera. Subtle music played giving context to some of the scenes, but did not capture me emotionally. Unfortunately I felt the four-person cast, while all talented actors, was not of enough interest to deal with the rather mundane subject of adultery. Since the audience had no "happy" time to reference it was hard to sympathize with their struggles.

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