De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (2005)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Jacques Audiard

Writers:

Jacques Audiard (writer)
Tonino Benacquista (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

16 March 2005 (France)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Music | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Should Tom (Duris) make like his thuggish father or pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?

Plot Keywords:

Piano | Pianist | Real Estate | Chinese | Friend

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 17 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Romain Duris	...	Thomas Seyr
Niels Arestrup	...	Robert Seyr
Jonathan Zaccaï	...	Fabrice
Gilles Cohen	...	Sami
Linh Dan Pham	...	Miao Lin
Aure Atika	...	Aline
Emmanuelle Devos	...	Chris
Anton Yakovlev	...	Minskov
Mélanie Laurent	...	Minskov's Girlfriend
Agnès Aubé	...	Woman
Etienne Dirand	...	Old Man
Denis Falgoux	...	Metreur
Serge Boutleroff	...	Man (as Serge Onteniente)
Sandy Whitelaw	...	Mr. Fox
Emmanuel Finkiel	...	Conservatory Professor
Jian-Zhang	...	Jean-Pierre
Omar Habib	...	Assad
Jamal Djabou	...	Mounir
Vladislav Galard	...	Clerk
Walter Shnorkell	...	Verodin
Marianne Puech	...	Notaire
Alphonse Cemin	...	Pianist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Birgé-Cotte	...	Tom enfant
Estelle Brattesani	...	Passante
Justine Le Pottier
Aleksandra Kacprzak	...	Auditrice au concert de piano (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Audiard

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jacques Audiard		writer
Tonino Benacquista		writer
James Toback		earlier screenplay

Produced by
Pascal Caucheteux	....	producer

Original Music by
Alexandre Desplat

Cinematography by
Stéphane Fontaine

Film Editing by
Juliette Welfling

Casting by
Richard Rousseau
Marion Touitou

Production Design by
François Emmanuelli

Set Decoration by
Marie Cheminal
Sandrine Mauvezin

Costume Design by
Virginie Montel

Makeup Department
Frédérique Ney	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Martine Cassinelli	....	production manager
Laurencina Lam	....	post-production manager
Thibault Spiral	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Serge Boutleroff	....	first assistant director
Denis Kralj	....	assistant director: location

Sound Department
Philippe Amouroux	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nicolas Cantin	....	boom operator
Nicolas d'Halluin	....	sound recordist
Michel Filippi	....	adr supervisor
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nikolas Javelle	....	sound editor
Johann Nallet	....	sound recordist
Sandy Notarianni	....	dialogue editor
Julien Sicart	....	additional boom operator
Brigitte Taillandier	....	sound
Pascal Villard	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Bertrand Levallois	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Michel Carliez	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Arnaud Carney	....	assistant camera: Renfort
Xavier Cholet	....	gaffer
Marie Decourt	....	second assistant camera
Aurélien Dubois	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Isabelle Dumas	....	first assistant camera
Malek Krimed	....	assistant camera
Jean-Claude Lother	....	still photographer
Michel Strasser	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Olivia Lahougue	....	wardrobe
Isabelle Pannetier	....	costume supervisor
Paulette Ribot	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Marie-Pierre Frappier	....	assistant editor
Isabelle Julien	....	color timer
Charlotte Mazzinghi	....	intermediate color grader
Carlos Pinto	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Edouard Dubois	....	music consultant
Frédéric Fortuny	....	music consultant

Other crew
Nathalie Vierny	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Why Not Productions
• Sédif Productions (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Cofimage 15 (in association with)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (participation)

Distributors

• Bio Rex Distribution (2006) (Finland) (theatrical) (DVD)
• 1More Film (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Happinet Corporation (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• JMH Distribution (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Kino Bez Granits (2006) (Russia) (theatrical)
• Media Suits (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2005) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Tour de Force (2006) (Norway) (theatrical)
• UGC Distribution (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Vértigo Films (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Amazonia Films (2005-2012) (Venezuela) (all media)
• BIM Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Genius Products (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Pro Films (2006) (Bulgaria) (all media)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (all media)

Also Known As:

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (International: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:107 min | Japan:108 min | USA:108 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | Russian | Vietnamese | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Taiwan:R-12 | Sweden:15 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Hungary:16 | Iceland:16 | Norway:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Australia:M | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

91 - Café Les Jardins d'Issoire, rue de la Tombe Issoire, Paris 14, Paris, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

Trivia:

The laptop Tom uses to record his piano practice with is an Apple Titanium Powerbook G4 and his cell phone is a Samsung SGH S307.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Fingers (1978)

Maybe the best French film I've seen so far this year- stylish, realistic, not for everyone...

For the particular movie fan, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, is a slice of intensity, wonder, and subtlety that can only come from Europe. The director/co-writer, Jacques Audiard, has taken a film previously made by James Toback called Fingers, starring Harvey Keitel in the role now occupied by Romain Duris, and made it his own. If I had seen the original version I would make a couple of comparisons to it (at the least, for those who didn't see the original the remake makes you want to check out the original, if only for the acting appeal of Keitel). However I did think about another wonderful French film in the vein of this film- Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player.

While Truffaut's film is a little more concerned about the lead's relationship(s) with women, I felt a kind of connection between the material of the two pieces- sometimes intense, usually lyrical, tales of a person trying to find what fits more for them, the more criminal side, or the artistic side. And, much like Truffaut and his other New-Wave counterparts, Audiard successfully takes an American formula picture and forms it well into a French setting.

There are a few reasons to recommend the movie, one would be for the music, which gives repeated but specific renditions of a Bach tune. Another would be just for the technical-side, which is well-done in hand-held, neo-noir style by Stephane Fontaine. Another could even just be for how Audiard tells his story, or sometimes doesn't tell it: a couple of times mid-way through the film, I wondered if the story of this character would 'go' anywhere, which can either make or break a film of this kind. It pleasantly (or intensely) did, bringing a catharsis for a viewer by the final scenes.

But likely for most the prominent reason would be for the realistic acting, in particular by its star Duris. As I said, I can't make comparisons between a heavyweight like Keitel and Duris (whom I've never seen in a film before this), but on his own terms Duris creates his character believably. It's at times a complex character, or sometimes not- he has that kind of attitude and face where you don't know whether he's really a 'street-level' guy or more straight laced. The split that is also apparent in the character's parents, one a classic pianist who's passed on (the mother), and the other a more criminal-type of a father, also gives the film an added boost of psychological energy. The lead in this film, much like with the storytelling (or lack of it), dictates how it may turn out.

In the end, Audiard and Duris make it compelling enough for the film to be about him, his conflicts, his lusts, his music. It's a wonderful movie that seems to have passed under the radar (it's in only a few theaters around the area) amid other independent summer fare, but if you're an enthusiast of character-driven thrillers that give a bitter-sweet edge, it's a must-see.