My second film from Ms Bier...and another impressive outing. I can see why she'll soon be working with Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry. She seems to be drawn to awkward love stories, like daisies growing in concrete.
Having a hard time avoiding spoilers, so if you've not seen this film, but appreciate the other films I've reviewed, I'd strongly recommend seeing this and we can discuss reviews afterward.
SPOILERS...
So for those who have seen this film, and perhaps also Brodre, it seems Ms. Bier has some consistency between them.
1) a teenage girl helps to jeopardize a relationship (rightly or wrongly?)
2) she has an aversion to tidy endings
3) she gets excellent work out of Nikolaj Lie Kaas
And again, singlehandedly she seems to pioneer awkward love, something that happens in real life much more often than in reel life. Hmmm, "awkward love" has a clunky sound to it...maybe it would be better to refer to these as star-cursed love stories.
Kaas is so good early on, even in his sweetness there is a little edge that portends the larger edge that erupts. It is interesting that both the male leads in this spurn women who love them, when arguably those men need the women the most. Very heart-stirring for me. Kaas as the paraplegic (and as a powerful actor) could have drawn the film about him, and it could have triggered a wrong focus on the issues of his damaged body and psyche.
Thus his pushing away of Cecilia I think is importantly indeterminate. You could read it as his love for her, or his brutally frank assessment of his situation, or having listened to hard to pragmatic nurses and doctors, or as him seeing his condition as sort of life-ending. No one knows really, and again while that is a difficult and interesting angle, it is not at the heart of this film.
With "Brodre" the tension was amplified, huge emotions swirled around that center of awkward love...war, death, spousal abuse. Here the "bomb" that is dropped is foreshadowed excellently by concerns about an upcoming mountain climbing trip, the car accident is a sudden, swift and oddly almost poetic piece of violence.
So much so that every time someone set forth towards the streets afterward, I felt my heart lurch in my throat. Proof that I've seen too many movies, and was sensing an almost superstitious fear of parallel plotting. I'd be curious if others felt this, or if Biers intended this...
I was often nervous through this film, albeit less so in Brodre where the soundtrack was needed as an anti-anxiety tablet. Here the nervousness often came from just the feeling that people were drifting from themselves. And yet each faux pas rang true. Mid-life crises aren't clichés...and I think they are the elephants many people try not to think of.
Sonja Richter was scintillating as Cecilia, she didn't need soft focus to shed ten years off her actual age. As she wades through the aftermath of the emotional accident following the physical accident, she gathers more grace in dealing with both the men, as well as the "other" woman and the aforementioned teenager. I wish we had been privy to more of the latter interaction...but I understand why we could not be, it would have deflated the tension in the scene with Niels and Marie.
And how about the alternate reality/dream sequences...almost toying with what the audience would like as much as what the individual characters might be wishing for. Capturing those moments when for some reason, we can't seem to find the true thing to do...and not necessarily because we are physically unable to do so! I wasn't sure I liked them as they occurred, but in hindsight they resonate.
The translated title appears to be an odd one, maybe open hearts means open for love and for hurt? Or maybe, as we see with Brodre, Bier has a true love for open endings. Another excellent film that left me painfully curious at the conclusion to know more about the characters.
Thurston Hunger 8/10
Having a hard time avoiding spoilers, so if you've not seen this film, but appreciate the other films I've reviewed, I'd strongly recommend seeing this and we can discuss reviews afterward.
SPOILERS...
So for those who have seen this film, and perhaps also Brodre, it seems Ms. Bier has some consistency between them.
1) a teenage girl helps to jeopardize a relationship (rightly or wrongly?)
2) she has an aversion to tidy endings
3) she gets excellent work out of Nikolaj Lie Kaas
And again, singlehandedly she seems to pioneer awkward love, something that happens in real life much more often than in reel life. Hmmm, "awkward love" has a clunky sound to it...maybe it would be better to refer to these as star-cursed love stories.
Kaas is so good early on, even in his sweetness there is a little edge that portends the larger edge that erupts. It is interesting that both the male leads in this spurn women who love them, when arguably those men need the women the most. Very heart-stirring for me. Kaas as the paraplegic (and as a powerful actor) could have drawn the film about him, and it could have triggered a wrong focus on the issues of his damaged body and psyche.
Thus his pushing away of Cecilia I think is importantly indeterminate. You could read it as his love for her, or his brutally frank assessment of his situation, or having listened to hard to pragmatic nurses and doctors, or as him seeing his condition as sort of life-ending. No one knows really, and again while that is a difficult and interesting angle, it is not at the heart of this film.
With "Brodre" the tension was amplified, huge emotions swirled around that center of awkward love...war, death, spousal abuse. Here the "bomb" that is dropped is foreshadowed excellently by concerns about an upcoming mountain climbing trip, the car accident is a sudden, swift and oddly almost poetic piece of violence.
So much so that every time someone set forth towards the streets afterward, I felt my heart lurch in my throat. Proof that I've seen too many movies, and was sensing an almost superstitious fear of parallel plotting. I'd be curious if others felt this, or if Biers intended this...
I was often nervous through this film, albeit less so in Brodre where the soundtrack was needed as an anti-anxiety tablet. Here the nervousness often came from just the feeling that people were drifting from themselves. And yet each faux pas rang true. Mid-life crises aren't clichés...and I think they are the elephants many people try not to think of.
Sonja Richter was scintillating as Cecilia, she didn't need soft focus to shed ten years off her actual age. As she wades through the aftermath of the emotional accident following the physical accident, she gathers more grace in dealing with both the men, as well as the "other" woman and the aforementioned teenager. I wish we had been privy to more of the latter interaction...but I understand why we could not be, it would have deflated the tension in the scene with Niels and Marie.
And how about the alternate reality/dream sequences...almost toying with what the audience would like as much as what the individual characters might be wishing for. Capturing those moments when for some reason, we can't seem to find the true thing to do...and not necessarily because we are physically unable to do so! I wasn't sure I liked them as they occurred, but in hindsight they resonate.
The translated title appears to be an odd one, maybe open hearts means open for love and for hurt? Or maybe, as we see with Brodre, Bier has a true love for open endings. Another excellent film that left me painfully curious at the conclusion to know more about the characters.
Thurston Hunger 8/10