The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)

Seven year old Jeremiah is pulled from his foster home and thrown into a troubled life on the road with his teenage mother, Sarah.

Director:

Asia Argento

Writers:

Laura Albert (short stories), Asia Argento (screenplay),

Stars:

Asia Argento, Jimmy Bennett, Dylan Sprouse

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Asia Argento	...	Sarah
Jimmy Bennett	...	Young Jeremiah
Kara Kemp	...	Social Worker #1
Brent Almond	...	Cop #1
David Dwyer	...	Cop #2
Kip Pardue	...	Luther
Jeremy Renner	...	Emerson
David Brian Alley	...	Doctor (as David Alley)
Lydia Lunch	...	Social Worker #2
Ornella Muti	...	Grandmother
Dylan Sprouse	...	Older Jeremiah
Cole Sprouse	...	Older Jeremiah
Peter Fonda	...	Grandfather
John Robinson	...	Aaron
Lindy Maguire	...	Girl

Storyline

The dysfunctional twenty-three years old Sarah takes her six years old natural son Jeremiah from the home of his beloved foster parents with the support of the social service to live with her. Along the years, the boy shares her insane and lowlife style and is introduced to booze and drugs and mentally, physically and sexually abused by Sarah, her lovers and her religiously fanatic family.

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Plot Keywords:

foster home | social worker | religious upbringing | prostitute | psychologist | 

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Taglines:

Behind the greatest hoax of our time is the heartbreaking story that started it all.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for intense depiction of child abuse/neglect, strong sex and drug content, pervasive language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Muse Films Official site

Country:

USA UK France Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

A szív csalfa vágyai

Filming Locations:

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,000 (USA) (10 March 2006)

Gross:

$26,092 (USA) (24 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Above All Things Inc., Artist Film, Metro Tartan Distribution Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The montage of Sarah's boyfriends are actually men whom Asia met and dated during filming. At one point, there a still image of Vin Diesel, whom Asia did not date but admitted that she fancied.

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Goofs

When Jeremiah is in the diner pouring sugar into the cereal bowl, the amount of sugar in the bowl changes between shots.

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Quotes

Older Jeremiah: [after being caught by Sarah, eating food in a dumpster she says was poison] But... but I don't wanna die.
Sarah: You ate poison! You ate poison!
Older Jeremiah: If I die, who will watch the walls?
Sarah: You think I need you? You've done nothing but ruin everything for me. I was fine on my own until you came along. I sacrificed everything for you.

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Connections

Features The Dirdy Birdy (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Hypnotic Underworld"
Written and Performed by Ghost

User Reviews

Earnestly tries but fails to captivate

Interesting premise (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets Mary Poppins!), intriguing performances (over the top exploitation of insane plot points), and perceptive direction (occasional drug-induced editing fluidity) do not a good movie make. The harrowing, gritty chronicles of child abuse start off believable enough, but quickly for me devolved into a shallow montage of misery that trampled it's overall impact. While I admire Argento for tackling the material and attempting to remain as faithful to the spirit of the book as possible, she seems way over her head here in a film that just takes us down a deep, dark road with no real reason to feel or care why. Despite having an obvious affinity with the source, Argento fails to imbue any of these characters with any sense of reality, instead insisting on just trudging out nightmare after nightmare of caricature decay, hoping the sometimes potent imagery will perhaps paint a larger picture then what the actual material here is doing.