The Heart of Me (2004)

I am not sure what the purpose of this film, The Heart Of Me, a remade The Wings Of The Dove also starring Helena Bonham Carter is but it is pale in comparison however more true to life it could be. Where Wings is heart wrenching Heart is shocking and maybe just a romantic vehicle for Paul Bettany to inspire all possible fans. The Heart Of Me and The Wings Of The Dove are kind of like the double play of Dangerous Liaisons, which I prefer, to Valmont. However if you like romantic tragedy or character weakness with listen dialog The Heart of Me is quite possible for you. Helena Bonham Carter normally a fairly good actress in these period pieces seems absolutely lost and not sure what her character is to accomplish and she comes across that way, unsympathetic where in Wings on course she has the part in her hands. Olivia Williams new to me acquits herself well but still Paul Bettany seems to be the target or missing portion of The Heart Of Me not sure his character is growing or coming out of hiding. Therefore my conclusion is Bettany vehicle not near as good as Linus Roache vehicle, The Wings Of The Dove. Still worth a look for shock value and character assessment.

The players outdid their director in mining the emotional significance of this story. In the first place, i checked this one out because of Paul Bettany--encouraged in the venture by a comment that Helena Bonham-Carter goes into new dimensions with her character, Dinah Burkett. Which she does. A love story with ugly triangle is not easy territory in which to find people particularly appealing. All three of the forces in this triangle are profoundly and consistently themselves, however. And that alone is appealing. Bettany, Bonham-Carter and Williams all cover a heart-wrenching range of human feeling--not just the big stuff (anguish, desire), but the subtleties as well (self-doubt, tenderness, quiet resentment). Too bad the music behind them is exemplary of the concept "sugar-coated". Or, more generously, sort of like wilted lettuce. The look of the film honorably frames each moment of this powerfully acted story. The art direction is as crystalline as the score is murky. Since one cannot "tune out" the way a film looks, the audience wins big-time in this regard. Eleanor Bron, by the way, who plays the rather monstrous mother (a woman of her place, class and time), has shown up recently also in "Wimbledon". I love to see her. She was totally great in "Women in Love" when she was young. I hope there is more of her over-the-top comedy out there for me to find. Happy trails . . . .

`The Heart of Me' is pure, unadulterated soap opera redeemed by the kind of high-toned, stiff-upper-lip seriousness of which the British seem uniquely capable. Set primarily in the 1930's, the film tells the story of two sisters caught in a passionate and quasi-incestuous love triangle. Madeline (Olivia Williams), the older of the two, is an uptight woman whose weak-willed husband, Rickie (Paul Bettany), falls in love with her younger and more free-spirited sibling, Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter). These two in-laws, soul mates for life, carry on a torrid love affair until Madeline discovers the truth – and even for a time thereafter. Given the material, `The Heart of Me' could easily have devolved into a cheap, sensationalistic melodrama for the `Masterpiece Theatre' set. Instead, thanks to truly brilliant performances by the three principal actors and an intelligent, thoughtful screenplay, the film becomes a wholly absorbing drama that offers profound insights into the realities of the human heart. The pain each of these people experiences is so palpable in its intensity that it washes away all traces of artificiality and contrivance. The film becomes a fascinating study of what happens when clanging passions are hemmed in by the restrictions and proprieties of a strict, morally repressive upper class society. Rickie and Dinah choose to turn themselves into social pariahs, then must face the consequences of their convention-defying actions. Of most interest is the emotionally complex relationship between the two very different sisters. What makes the film special is the way in which it allows the seemingly cold-hearted Madeline to become as much a sympathetic figure as the two impassioned lovers. Thanks to Williams' impeccable performance (she played Penelope in the TV movie version of `The Odyssey'), Madeline is allowed to live and breathe and have her own say, making her, in many ways, the most intriguing of the three main characters.`The Heart of Me,' which is beautifully detailed in costumes and settings, transcends the limits of its genre to deliver a heartbreaking tale of love, loss, lament - and hope.

This film played to a packed audience at the closing night of the London Film Festival last week. The story of an upper class English man falling passionately in love with his wife's sister was so involving I completely forgot myself for the duration of the film (and from what I could see,so did the rest of the audience). It is a flawless film. Intensely moving. The complex characterisations were handled with immense integrity. One of the wonderful things about it was that during the course of the story I both liked and disliked all the characters. By the end it is impossible to judge them, only appreciate what they had gone through. A most wonderful and uplifting film. Paul Bettany is a discovery. An actor of immense subtlety who is not afraid to play a character who appears simply weak on the surface but is actually very complex. A very detailed and brave performance. Olivia Williams is transformed by the character. She plays Madeline, a woman who lives by the strict rules of her class. No emotion is allowed to get in the way of how this class organises their lives and Madeline respects that. When we see her years later in life, Williams makes us utterly believe the immense changes that she has endured. Madeline must forgive her sister Dinah for her betrayal. This seems impossible given what Madeline has endured at the hands of her sister, yet Williams makes us believe in that forgiveness. This was a great lesson to me. To see how you must move on in your life. Helena Bonham Carter is more vulnerable, sensitive and outrageous than I have ever seen her. Her character is on a knife edge. She falls passionately in love with her brother- in- law and from that moment on the film takes you on an emotional roller-coaster ride that I still can't get out of my mind. The film also has one of the best scores I've heard in ages - romantic and tuneful without being slushy or sentimental. It's also a ravishing looking film (maybe that's why I cant get it out of my mind) and yet the powerful images never interfere with the story but add to it all the time. Real cinema.