Hungry Hearts (2015)

This is not a thriller, it's a drama. And drama's are not really my thing. There are some exceptions but this is not one of them. I had mixed feelings throughout the whole movie. After half an hour I was seriously bored and could not wait for this movie to finish. After the boredom I became angry. Very angry. If it was the point of Hungry Hearts to make you angry then they did their job. Alba Rohrwacher played her role very well, if it was her job to make you want to smack her in the face. So after being bored and angry, two things I really don't like when watching a movie, came finally the end. The end is actually the best part of the movie. A good deserved ending, but too late for me to like the movie.

Judging by the comments of previous reviewers, Saverio Costanzo's film has divided reviewers and audiences alike. Perhaps this is due to its combination of tones: the apparently artless beginning that does not prepare us in any way for the film's major issue, that of how to reconcile one's inner beliefs with the realities of bringing up a child. Or perhaps it's because of the desperate measures adopted by the child's grandmother (Roberta Maxwell) in an attempt to ensure the child's future welfare. Some have dismissed them as melodramatic: one wonders what they might do in a similar situation.The main point at issue here is one of obsession: Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) believes that her newly-born son is somehow special and needs to be "protected" from supposedly corrupting influences such as doctors, red meat or sunlight. The fact that this results in the child's attenuated growth is a side-effect. Her husband Jude (Adam Driver) tries to make her see reason (as he perceives it), but fails to do so. Director Costanzo invites us to reflect on the morality of both protagonists - is one "right" and the other "wrong"? Or are there other issues involved here?What gives the film its particular resonance is its style. Very little music appears on the soundtrack - except at the end; hence we as viewers are not guided into making a specific response to what we see. Fabio Cianchetti's camera is fond of consciously out-of-focus shots, transforming the characters into other-worldly beings rather than New Yorkers. This strategy reminds us quite powerfully of how anyone departing from ideological or social behavioral norms is invariably dismissed as "deviant." Sometimes this visual technique seems excessive - as for example, when Mina is shot in such a way as to emphasize a large head and skinny body - but we can understand the purpose behind it.In this kind of film, it is difficult to maintain some sense of dramatic balance. All credit, then, to the three protagonists, whose performances seem inspired by the situations contained in the screenplay, and refrain from dramatic or gestural excesses.

I loved it. Really did. At The next to the last scene, I was shocked and surprised and when it was over we turned to each other and said "that was good" I noticed the not washing the hands in the first scene too. I felt the claustrophobia of the apartment. I felt the desperation of the husband. I felt the psychosis of the mother. I felt sympathy for the grandmother. I was immersed in the film and enjoyed it. The run time is just over an hour. Perfect length. Satisfying ending. Strange stairs into the apartment. cool rooftop garden. I couldn't live in the city like that. I need room. I enjoyed the movie. Took place in New York City.

The movie started out promising with a "meet cute" in a toilet, but the purported "stink" of that opening scene was actually a metaphor for the entire film. Despite valiant efforts by the two leads, the script and direction were so far fetched and over the top that no amount of good acting could save this piece of schlock. Weird camera angles that come and go for no apparent reason, an absurd wedding montage accompanied by the entirety of "Flashdance", again for no apparent reason, a house in Westchester filled with deer heads, again for no apparent reason...and the list could go on for pages. Roberta Maxwell's performance is a hoot for all the wrong reasons...like she has watched too many demonic possession films. And, no, she is not demonically possessed in the movie. The use of horror movie sound effects and strings to underscore the supposed tension actually brought laughs from the audience. And this is not a funny movie. What this film was doing in the Tribeca Film Festival is beyond me; and, yes, I understand that it did well at Venice. But...ugh. I'm guessing we won't see this film released on these shores.