Customer Reviews

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Note to consumers: The original release of this DVD contains an authoring error, resulting in an abrupt jump that bypasses the "explosion" scene (which can be seen in the previews). Palm Pictures has been very responsive to email requests for replacement versions of the DVD, and if you purchased a defective item, you should contact them via their web site.

J.T. Leroy's "true" life tale about a teenaged truck stop prostitute and her son was first told in a collection of short stories by the same name. The movie follows the early years of Jeremiah, a boy who experiences child rape, has gender confusion, lives as a scavenger, is brainwashed by evangelical Christians, and experiences a revolving door of his mother's boyfriends and tricks. The big screen version follows the written version closely; however, I highly recommend that viewers also pick up a copy of the book (and Leroy's earlier work Sarah) to answer any questions about the backstory, the red bird metaphor, the story of Sarah's own youth, the inner strength of Jeremiah, and more.

Director/Actor Asia Argento is brilliant, pure and simple. She portays child rape and the harrowing seduction of a grown man (Marilyn Manson) by a teenaged boy in drag with artistic genius. Viewers don't need to see the "monster" in full light, and their imagination of the rest of the scene is far more disturbing. As an actor, she portrays Sarah as a chameleon who shifts from a drop-dead looker to a trashy stripper to a drug-addicted junkie to a loving mother to a hateful creep in mere minutes (and then shifts back again). She is both drop-dead gorgeous and completely hideous. Three young actors portray Jeremiah as a stoic boy who grows up in this chaotic environment, and all of them are excellent.

Some reviewers find this movie depressing, and I couldn't disagree more. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This movie is what you make of it. Viewers can easily find a commentary of the child welfare system, insight into the results of a repressed childhood, social commentary on hypocrisy, and insight into the scarring effects of child abuse if they scratch beneath the surface. It's no pick-me-up, but this is in no way the most horrific film I've ever seen (try Baise Moi or Irreversible for that). It's also not an exploitation film by any means. It is brutally honest about events and situations which go on every day in America.

Is the story a hoax? Once again, the authenticity of the movie is open to interpretation. J.T. Leroy has been exposed as the pen name for a woman who was never a truck-stop prostitute, which recasts the short story collection as a work of fiction instead of non-fiction. Literary magazines and critics have engaged in a never-ending debate about the hoax (especially in the light of the James Frey controversy). The primary criticism is that the story loses its authenticity--how can the reader/viewer trust the insight to such sensitive topics if the author never experienced them? For a play-by-play of the backlash and controversy about Leroy's identity, refer to the Wikipedia article on the subject.

The Palm Pictures promotional web site has embraced the controversy in a fun way, which is how I encourage consumers to view it. Yes, the story is larger-than-life. On the other hand, it is far from the outrageous film every made. I truly believe that the statement made by the film is a strong one that is undiluted by the author's credibility with personal experience. (Hoaxes like Go Ask Alice, with its socio-political agenda, are far more dangerous than this story.)

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Watch this movie with an open mind and look beneath the surface. Develop your own opinions about the news that the story is actually a work of fiction.

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (Asia Argento, 2004)

I've watched a lot of horror movies over the years. Most have all the horror of a dull toothache. Some are disturbing in various degrees. A select few have actually managed to scare me. As with all things, though, the truly scary films-- Johnny Got His Gun, for example-- are not traditional horror films. I say this by explanation of the statement that the opening scene of The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, in all its banality, before we have any idea who these people are or any idea of their relationship beyond what we can infer from their sexes and ages, is arguably the most terrifying scene I have ever watched. In comparison, a couple of hours previously I'd watched Jenifer, a short film by Asia Argento's father Dario. In my Jenifer review, I was planning on calling it one of the most disturbing experiences I'd ever had with a movie. Then I watched the first five minutes of this flick, and that went out the window.

Argento (Asia, this time) shoots the scene with the documentarian feel of a Lindsay Anderson or an Errol Morris-- there's no camera trickery, no out-of-the-ordinary dialogue, no weird set design, there are just two people, whom we assume (rightly, we find out) are mother and son. The fear-- the pure, visceral ugliness that telegraphs in no uncertain terms that neither of these two characters will survive this movie in any real sense (and as I write this, to head off spoiler comments, I will say that I have not finished the movie; I was so affected by the first scene, and some of those that followed, I had to stop watching halfway through, and will finish it tonight)-- comes solely from the mundanity of the set, which could be any messy little house in any part of the country, and the raw power displayed by Asia Argento and Jimmy Bennett playing two people who loathe each other to depths that most of us can't begin to comprehend, and yet realize that they're supposed to love one another. And the movie gets worse from there.

Argento plays Sarah, mother to Jeremiah, played by Bennett as a boy and Dylan and Cole (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody-- and how traumatic is THAT?) Sprouse as an adolescent. Sarah is emotionally bereft, an alcoholic and drug addict who lives only to find the next boyfriend and the next score, who views Jeremiah as a weight around her neck but feels compelled to act as his mother because she knows it's what's expected of her. Even when Sarah's parents intervene after Jeremiah ends up in the hospital and keep him at their compound (a vastly disturbing experience in itself) for three years, Sarah comes back for him. Not that being in any one situation is worse than any other for Jeremiah; with the exception of one early scene when he runs away and is temporarily sheltered at a police station, there's no safe place; adults, on the whole, exist in this world for the sole purpose of abusing, exploiting, and destroying children. The movie is relentless in its nihilism; I can't remember seeing a movie this overwhelmingly dark since the first time I saw Guinea Pig 2: The Flower of Flesh and Blood.

This is not a movie you will enjoy. At all. In fact, you'll probably come to hate it on levels you weren't even aware you had. But there is no surer indication that a movie is doing its job, and doing it exceptionally well, when you hate the movie because the movie wants you to hate it. This is a scary, scary movie. ****

This was never dull. I was riveted (and maybe a little disgusted) throughout the entire movie. I actually thought Asia's directing of this movie was excellent. Far better than Scarlet Diva. I appreciated that the disturbing scenes were mostly left up to your imagination and there was very little violence or "gore". The subject matter was not pleasant, but neither is life sometimes. I got the feeling that if Angelina Jolie had starred in it (and don't get me wrong, I love her) the whole world would have been crowing about how courageous she was for telling such a story. The end was a little confusing, but I found it to be very "real"-as in there aren't always happy endings in real life or neat conclusions. Except for Asia's accent which at times is southern, then italian and other times "american" which I guess was explained with the throw-away line about the mother being from Italy. Other wise, very well done.

Asia Argento was the perfect pick to direct this film. The final product displays Argento's dedication to the spirit of the book. The film is raw and gritty, just like the work of Laura Albert. Unlike the Hollywood movies that the slumbering American audience has grown accustomed to, this film explores the dark crevices of human experience. Works like this one help people like you and me come to terms with life's less kind aspects, the things which we experience or know of that we aren't allowed to talk about. These things shouldn't be confined to the shrink's office, but should be explored in art. It is high time we stop feeling so ashamed of the things which give us depth, the things which complete the human experience. This work is heart breaking but it is also therapeutic. It is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year.

It is not surprising to me that the critics couldn't handle this movie. This movie wears no gloves. This movies is only for the hard core, for those who don't shy away from the dirty truth. I must admit, this film isn't an easy watch. It isn't a movie you put on in the back ground during a fondue party. You don't put it on low in your kid's room after you put them to bed for the night. This isn't that type of movie. This movie challenges you, like a good book would, it leaves a scar, a lasting impression. So if you want to watch a great film and you're not a pansy, you should see this one, as soon as possible!

this movie is awesome, i see it last week and I think that Asia Argento knows perfectly how to show the reality, this movie is so impressive and the kids in the movie do a excellent work, Jimmy Bennet work is wonderful and the sprouse twins take the movie to a higher level. you should see it, but the movie is not recommended for kids because the movie is very realistic and very graphical, too much explicit

Asia Argenta's "Heart" is from the grand guignol school of film making. She deserves credit for attempting to film J.T. LeRoy's cult novel, and her own performance, along with those of the boys who play Jeremiah, is indeed brave, but I am disappointed by the result. To begin with, the story arc of the novel is lost. We are simply thrust into Jeremiah's sick world without any sense of context. Given the fact that this "true" story is anything but, perhaps Argenta was right to leave out the frame story of teenage Jeremiah's penchant for S&M, but others of the stories are missing as well. That the focus has shifted from Jeremiah to Sarah is not so much an indictment of Argenta's own ego as it is a tribute to her failure to deal with some of the more unsavory aspects of the orginal story. Finally, the packaging of the DVD demands some comment. Apparently, a lot of celebrities and others who were duped by the LeRoy saga are now saying they were entertained by the hoax. So be it. But it's unconscionable of the producers to exploit that fact as a marketing ploy. To sum up, this is not a bad movie, but it represents an opportunity lost. A better movie might have moved JT or Speedy or whoever the author is a bit further down the road to redemption.

I have not read this book completely, only a few occasional pages. I only read Sarah completely. And as I've heard from a couple of sources, Sarah is not as powerful book as this one. With that in mind, I have to say that the movie was incomplete, in the sense that many details were missing, i.e. the children of Lot Lizards were completely eliminated from the movie. Most of the scenes were short and independent, and it was sometimes difficult to make out the transition between the scenes. On top of that, most scenes were kinda cut in the end, unclear, as if incomplete or left me with "huh?" It took me two times of reviewing to figure out who was actually sitting on Manson's lap. Should've just let the kids do it. I also did not find this movie as horrifying as people described the book. Honestly, I bought this DVD because Sprouse Twins were in it. And given the subject matter and all that comes with it, it was very interesting to see how they will play the movie out. They were great -- all the actors were pretty good including Jimmy Bennett. Nevertheless, I felt they sold out on playing it safe and keeping it short; Especially after seeing a trailer and some scenes from the movie. Aside from that, the movie was tastefully and very well made.

This is an unforgettable low budget classic cult drama that is written by J.T. Leroy and directed (also starring) Asia Argento. The story is about a little boy who suffers some unspeakable abuse...the film shows you the world through his eyes. Many great actors are in the film such as Winona Rhyder, Jeremy Sisto, Michael Pitt, Peter Fonda, and an surprisingly good performance by Marilyn Manson. I strongly suggest this film. One of the most impressive indy films ever made in the history of history. Warning: Please be prepared to be shocked and offended by the substance matter.

I love this film. It's an excellent film that does not pull any punches...that being said, I wanted to know if anyone else noticed the missing scene near the end of the film. It is right after Jeremiah and Buddy are in the basement. (SPOILER) The house is supposed to explode in the next scene but instead Asia walks into the home with jeremy sisto and then it just cuts to the next scene. I don't know if I have a defective DVD or if Palm Pictures edited the film so it could have an R rating. Anyone else have the same experience?