A Hole in My Heart Movie Review:


Swedish filmmaker Moodysson (Lilya 4-ever) goes further into controversial territory with this unsettling, hard-to-watch film. There's a certain strength here, mostly in its unflinching honesty, but it's a gruelling 98 minutes.

Eric (Almroth) is a lonely late-teen living in a squalid flat with his low-life father Rickard (Flinck), who makes amateur porn films in the sitting room. Today Rickard's making a movie with regular actor Geko (Marjanovic) and newcomer Tess (Brading), who has dreamed of being in porn since age 12. But Tess has no idea what the day will hold. Meanwhile, Eric hides in his room, sharing his philosophical musings with anyone who will listen.

Moodysson directs this guerrilla-style, with hand-held camera work, crashing edits and a garish sound mix that literally jolts us. Clips of anatomical close-ups, surgical procedures and play-acting with Barbie dolls are intercut with the story. And there's also a heavy overtone of reality TV--both action and dialog feel completely improvised, and all brand names are blurred, as are faces of passers-by during a brief trip outside the flat.

The performances are so real that we feel uncomfortable watching them, especially as things get increasingly stressed. There are moments that break this intensity, most notably when Tess tries to befriend/seduce Eric--their disjointed conversations are lively and hilariously real. And the dialog between Eric and his father is also striking for its heavy subtext. And it all takes on new meaning as we learn more about Eric and, especially, Rickard.

Assembled out of order, the film ricochets from witty to insightful to vulgar to horrific. Eric's musings over his pet earthworms are both funny and scary ("Someday they'll turn into butterflies, just like me"). Scenes of Tess and Geko preparing for filming (pumping up, shaving, putting on make-up and costumes) are sweet and sad. Their loss of control after too much alcohol, drugs and food is hideously disgusting. The sex itself is a kind of drug--mindless oblivion from an awful life, and the only time they can escape to still, idyllic fantasy. There is definitely something important in this film, but it's probably too argumentative and experimental for many people to get it.



Rich Cline

 

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