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71 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Transcendent in every sense, October 22, 2002
What is heaven? More importantly, how do we, as imperfect people, transcend our daily limitations and transgressions to reach heaven - be it here on Earth or elsewhere? The master Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, who wrote the screenplay for "Heaven" shortly before his death in 1996, uses the film's story and dialogue as a final opportunity to expand the core humanist philosophy that underlies nearly all of his films ("Decalogue", "Trois Couleurs", "Double Life of Veronique".) Philippa, played by Cate Blanchett, is a widowed English teacher living in Turin. Disillusioned from the mounting death toll that drug abuse has claimed on several of her young students and her recently deceased husband, Phillippa executes a desperate plan to kill Turin's drug kingpin, Vendice, by deposting a bomb in his office trashbin. When the bomb is unknowingly intercepted by a cleaning woman on her daily rounds and taken to an elevator transporting a father and his two daughters, Philippa's plan goes horribly wrong. She has unwittingly killed 4 innocent people. Philippa is arrested and interrogated by the Turin police, who accuse her of politically motivated terrorism as a way of masking their professional involvement with Vendice, the kingpin. Philippa readily acknowledges her guilt, only to have a complete breakdown upon learning of the innocent bystanders who lost their lives in her vengeful plot. Her interpreter during the interrogation, handsome Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi), is moved by Philippa's story, quickly falls in love with her, and ultimately hatches a plan to help her escape from the carabinieri, who see her as a problem to be "eliminated", because of her knowledge of Vendice's operations. Philippa herself is less concerned with escape than with killing Vendice, once and for all. Once Philippa and Filippo do escape into the Tuscan countryside (in a very deftly directed and edited sequence), you know that justice will eventually extract its due punishment. And while the last third of the movie quietly builds on this sense of dread, "Heaven" is no "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Thelma and Louise"; Kieslowski is more concerned with Philippa's redemption and transcendence; and so the final scenes employ a sublime poetic imagery (and a meditative pace) to reveal Phillippa's transformation. In a Tuscan church, not 20 feet from a confessional booth, Phillippa recounts for Filippo her many transgressions and failings, then reveals why: "I've lost any belief - in justice, in sense, in life." Filippo's response? "I love you." Later, in a clandestine meeting between the pair and Filippo's father, Philippa acknowledges that, despite all her cynicism and failings, she does indeed love Filippo. Director Tom Twyker perfectly captures, in this scene, the innocence and renewal at the core of Phillippa's declaration - as close to a marriage vow as the couple will get. By this time, Philippa and Filippo have assumed a hypnotic Adam and Eve persona, shaving their heads and dressing alike, and finally disrobing at sunset on the Tuscan hills to consummate their love. (Several moviegoers in my theatre gasped at the striking beauty and imagery of the scene). When the carabinieri finally close in on them, Kieslowski suggests that the physical aspect of their fate (whether they are captured and killed) is less important than their spiritual fate (their complete redemption and transcendence). But Kieslowski and Twyker balance the competing demands for physical and spiritual resolution by leaving us with a stunning closing scene that implies both. (Some critics didn't understand this, but oh well.) And so Kieslowski reiterates his core philosophy: That chance and fate are often better instruments of justice than mankind itself, that goodness and evil exist in each of us, and that even the most flawed among us can achieve transcendence, through contrition and love for one another. In a world of escalating terrorism and global wars, the ever-prescient Kieslowski is already sorely missed.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Triumph Of Substance Over Style, February 15, 2002
In his first English language film, "Heaven", German director Tom Tykwer abandons his earlier displays visual pyrotechnics, fast cut editing, and adrenaline laced pacing, to present us with heart felt meditation on the nature of unconditional love. This may disappoint some fans of his brilliant trilogy of films ("Night Sleepers", "Run Lola Run" and "Princess and the Warrior") which explored the themes of syncronicity, metaphysics and causality. It is the blissful performance of the cameleon-like actress Cate Blanchett that allows Tykwer the space to breathe and expand his artistic vision. "Heaven" begins as a thriller involving a woman obsessed with avenging the death of her husband, but quickly shifts gears and becomes an exploration of love between doomed outsiders, another favorite Tykwer theme. Tykwer shot the film in Italy and it is technically a bi-lingual film, because much of the dialogue is in Italian. Giovanni Ribisi, whose career has alternated between lackluster and compelling acting efforts, presents a starkly well crafted perfomance of an Italian policeman who becomes obsessed with Cate Blanchett's school teacher character. The langorous pacing of "Heaven" allows us linger on the voluptuous camera work of Frank Griebe, Tykwer's brilliant cinematographer. Griebe's sensual, impressionistic lens has become the trademark of a Tykwer film. In his last film, "The Princess and the Warrior", Tywker gave ample notice that he was maturing as a director, and was becoming more concerned with character development over technical gimmickery. Many of Tykwer's younger devotees may point out logical flaws in the script or find the film's more tender moments absurd. "Heaven" is about the frailty of the human psyche and, for Tykwer, it is the triumph of substance over style.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful, thought-provoking film, July 18, 2002
By A Customer
This is one of the most beautiful films I have seen in a long time. The director knows how to create magic moments, and the slow tempo of the film allows the viewer to reflect upon not only the intrigue, but also the visual pictures. If you like films where something happens all the time, this is not a film for you. Instead, the film is almost floating forward in a way that makes you think about not so much what happens, but the deeper issues that are embedded in the film. Human beings are not good or bad, and there is no such thing as a black and white world. Instead, the nuances matter. Being human is to make mistakes, sometimes. The director does not spell out any answers to the questions that the film poses, rather, provides one perspective on how they could be viewed, but is not trying to convince the viewer that this is THE truth.
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