The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) User Reviews

Don't miss this one (in America it's called "The Beat My Heart Skipped")

[SONNYK_USA · 8/10 · 8 May 2005]

Rising French director Jacques Audiard ("Read My Lips") has naturally relocated James Toback's "Fingers" from New York City to Paris. He's also modified the Mafioso's in the original by creating a tight gang of 'real estate' brokers (brokers that break windows, dump rats, etc. to move squatters off their properties).

Basic plot line involves a young man, 'Tom', who is very much caught up in 'the life' of being a thug like his father. He pals around with his two partners and they work hard by day and party harder at night (usually ending with a barfight). Then one day he spots his deceased mother's old music agent who offers him an audition in gratitude (Tom's mother was a professional concert pianist).

What follows is an intriguing and humorous plot line as Tom takes on a piano coach (from Beijing no less) and tries to regain his affinity with the piano almost ten years after he'd stopped playing.

Extremely well-acted film with Romain Duris (as 'Tom') offering up one of those rare performances that's absolutely mesmerizing (most USA audiences will remember him from "L'Auberge espagnole" - another French film worth your time!).

excellent

[contacttommie · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

This is an excellent film, and highly recommended. Its script is absolutely wonderful, showing the protagonist having a dark and ugly side, yet possessing the ability to express his sensitivity, as a classical pianist, through music, as he prepares for an audition with an agent. The juxtaposition of the two opposing sides of the protagonist lends the film an unexpected power and impact. It is a violent film, yet a humorous one at the same time, with great acting. De battre mon coeur is a remake of Fingers, which unfortunately I have not seen (yet). I can only hope that the French film will be released in The Netherlands as well, so I can see it again.

Slumlords

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 10 July 2005]

This is a first for the French cinema, the remake of an American film, when just the opposite is what happens always. The Americans love to redo what some French director did before, with mediocre results. "The Beat that my Heart Skipped" was adapted for the screen by Jacques Audiard and Tonino Benaquesta, from the 1978 film by James Toback, an under appreciated director that deserves more credit for his work in this country. Mr. Audiard directed the French version.

As a character study of Thomas, the film somewhat succeeds in presenting his ambivalence as a petty criminal and as a frustrated pianist that is trying to regain his skill in playing the instrument. Thomas is, from all accounts, an ugly character that will engage in all kinds of under handed situations in order to make a living. Most of the motivation in Thomas' actions is driven by his loyalty to his small crook father, who is constantly nagging him to take care of the old man's criminal activities as well.

In Romain Duris, director Audiard gets a multi layered performance that is what keeps the film going. Mr. Duris, an intense actor, is the dominant figure in the movie, and perhaps the excuse for seeing the film. Nils Arestrup, as the father, has also some good moments.

Riveting, first-class film-making

[gtzam · 4 October 2005]

The "The Beat that my heart skipped" is an immaculately crafted and relentlessly gripping film. Its existential premise (a dodgy estate broker feels a sudden urge to rekindle his long abandoned passion for piano-playing whose rarefied world comes in contrast with his everyday life and seedy activities) is rooted in the world of film-noir. The escalating conflict between his "duties" and his lofty aspirations is unerringly captured while maintaining an eye for subtle but telling characterization of the supporting characters. Through his inner turmoil, the main drama materializes and the theme of unfulfilled potential due to a multiplicity of factors not always within somebody's control poignantly emerges.

Jacques Audiard, not the most famous but certainly one of the most talented french directors of the last ten years, has remarkably transcribed the mythology and some of the most eminent film-noir themes onto the modern era. The framing, lighting, music (especially its juxtaposition), mood and plot development are spot-on while the main performance my Romain Duris is career defining. The film stands out as one of the best modern neo-noir -a film with a rather singular style, akin to the director's equally commendable previous works.

creative moments, but flawed

[barob2000 · 6/10 · 27 November 2005]

A protagonist leading a double life as a hard man with artistic aspirations as a pianist – neither original nor particularly plausible, but perhaps an interesting premise for a film in the hands of a promising director.

Overbearing sentimentality seems to afflict so many films these days, and opportunity for cliché here was rife. A happy ending would have been nice, of course, but entirely unrealistic and predictable. The film does revolve around a slightly cringe-worthy father-mother-son emotional triangle, although to his credit, Audiard does (largely) side-step such temptations. The ending is in fact particularly well crafted and shrewd, and Romain Duris in the lead role is convincing in pulling off his double persona, so the film does succeed in attaining a much needed degree of realism.

What's more, Audiard is clearly a talented director. The hand-held camera work comes across well, and its play of focus on background lights, particularly on distant car headlamps, serves as an interesting motif throughout. I also particularly liked the nods to film noir – all those profile shots of Duris with only the lower half of his face visible – which lend Duris' character a brooding power.

Several aspects of the plot, however, were weak, which meant the film didn't hang entirely straight. Tom's chancing upon his mother's agent who happens to give him an audition straight off seems rather clumsy, and his friendship with his estate-agent buddies is mysterious – they just seem so horrible, and Duris clearly has an ounce of moral fibre in him, so why attach himself to them? Of course, the film puts it down to his loyalty to his crooked father, but this too seems a little thin. Neither is there much substance in his adoration of the piano – he sits wiggling his fingers for hours on end, wrapped in a classical cocoon, yet listens to hard electronica whenever he wants to relax.

This is a film worth watching then, with plenty of creative spark, but I'm not sure it lives up to the hype generated by impressed critics. 6/7 out of 10

This movie doesn't skip a beat

[Chris Knipp · 10/10 · 15 July 2005]

The premise is far-fetched but simple. Approaching thirty, Tom Seyre (Romain Duris) is working hard as an enforcer and violent rent collector for his dad, a scumbag real estate tycoon (Niels Arestrup). But a chance encounter starts him thinking he might be the talented concert pianist he once dreamed of, in the image of his late mother. Without stopping his usual work he tries to prepare an audition.

Based on a flop more admired in France than the US, James Toback's 70's Harvey Keitel vehicle about a violent would-be pianist, "Fingers," this compulsively watchable, thrillingly accomplished new movie by Jacques Audiard ("De Battre mon cœur s'est arrêté", still showing in Paris as it opens here) echoes his previous compellingly offbeat "Read My Lips" in grafting together two separate moral universes. Read My Lips depicted the odd alliance of a firecracker ex-con (Vincent Cassel) and a mild-mannered but angry hearing-impaired office worker (Emmanuelle Devos). It was an intriguing piece -- but seems low energy in retrospect compared to this. Audiard has made a powerful actors' movie in which Duris blooms, a powerful actor now, playing in effect both the Cassel and the Devos parts and acting out the resulting implosion of violence and frustrated artistic passion with astonishing zest. It's hard to believe he was the tame college student narrator of Klapich's "L'Auberge espagnole" three years ago.

Duris as Tom is good-looking but vaguely burnt-out, his eyes a bit crazy, his hair neatly coifed, his jaw firm, has mouth a smiling snarl. The camera is on that square jaw every minute. Uniformed in boots, smart pants, tie and trim leather jacket, he's an elegant young hoodlum who can switch to a dark suit for a real estate hearing or audition, or wipe the blood off his cuff to enter a café or concert hall. He's angry all the time but brings vibrant energy to both of his conflicting lives. Tom finds a beautiful long-haired young master pianist called Miao Lin (Linh Dan Pham) to coach him in piano. These encounters with the keyboard he approaches like a prize fighter going at a punching bag. If he's an artist it's the hairy-chested, coiled, macho kind. How can you teach anybody pianistic excellence? The impossibility of the process is signaled by the teacher's speaking no French. She harangues Tom in Vietnamese, or just says in English over and over, "again" Or "no." Or "no smoking allowed." A cup of tea in the kitchen at end of session. Tom goes at the same piece over and over, a Bach Toccata. This relationship is an "oasis of calm" in Tom's otherwise 'loca' 'vida' -- the contrasts in such a piece as this are telegraphed without much subtlety -- but the unconventionality of the pair helps the scenes to avoid cliché. And the intensity is just as focused in these quiet moments.

There are other strong relationships. Tom isn't isolated; he works with partners, one of whom uses him to hide his two-timing from his wife. Arestrup, who looks like a French version of late Brando, is superb as the blowsy, burnt out father, a big sensualist, an irresistible presence, always smoking drinking and eating, soft but nasty, irritating but impossible for Tom not to love and protect. Tom pursues Minskov (Anton Yakovlev), a Russian Mafioso his dad has tangled with, and winds up sleeping with Minskov's French girlfriend as well as somebody else's wife. Every encounter he has is reckless and intense. Duris doesn't fail us in any of this. Emmanuelle Devos is his dad's new girlfriend, whom Tom first calls a whore and rejects and then wants to hire on to calm things on the home front. Where's it all going to end? Despite all that's going on, as one French critic said, "there's no fat" in this picture. The pushes and pulls of the hero's dilemma make for fabulously kinetic editing and the action never goes soft. A final sequel resolves things. Some say it's milder than the American version, but that's overlooking the visceral punch of the action throughout. The dialogue underlines that just as in Read My Lips, people aren't communicating too well. It may be music is all that links them.

The shortcomings of such a movie are its simplifications. The crooked real estate life like the classical pianist life can be no more than impressionistically dabbed in. And there's an occasional danger that Romain Duris -- who studied piano for months with his pianist sister for the keyboard sequences -- may be trying too hard sometimes. Since Tom also loves electro which he listens to with big headphones in his car -- as the word is Duris himself does -- classical music maybe doesn't grab the film as wholeheartedly as it ought to. You can't expect profundity but from the sound of "Fingers," this is more accomplished film-making. It may not have as much conviction, but this is wildly entertaining. And more than that, it's a movie where everything comes together, scenario, actors, editing. Audiard, who showed us dark secret places last time, now reveals himself a virtuoso of violence and passion.

a captivating film held by Romain Duris

[nobbytatoes · 7/10 · 19 November 2006]

Tom works in shifty real-estate deals with friend Fabice. Evicting squatters from lots in tasteless ways. Ocassionaly Tom collects debts from clients for his father Robert, also practising in questionable real-estate deals. On a chance encounter of his mothers old manager, his love of playing the piano is rekindled; not since played from his mothers death. Hoping for an audition, Tom enlists the help of Linh Dan Pham, a Vietnamese woman who doesn't speak any French.

The Beat My Heart Skipped is a French remake of Fingers. Usually it is the other way around with America remaking a foreign language films, so this is quite a refreshing film in that regard. Unfilimar with the original James Toback film, director Jacques Audiard; also screenwriter with Tonino Benacquista, have taken the challenge of completely transporting the story into a French setting, and succeeded in this task.

Audiard explores the relationship between parents and their children. Starting as a thug for his father, Tom becomes torn when his love of the piano is reborn. His love of his mother, which becomes tested when Robert decides to remarry, drives his passion to receive an audition. There's a sense of unspoken words Tom never said to his mother, the return to music as a way of redemption. Yet he is drawn back into the seedy world of his father; not wanting to lose him too. The piano is Tom's return to childhood naivety, dropping his responsibilities to emotionally free himself from his father's grip.

Utilising hand held camera work, Audiard creates a chaotic sensibility. The camera is constantly on the move, seeking different angles. This chaos evokes an immediacy, not the urgency its seeking. Scenes are fast, many not lasting very long, for all the frenetic pacing, Audiard keeps it cohesive; along with one very commanding and captivating performance by Romain Duris. A wonderful mix dark brutality and beautiful music are skillfully balanced, with beauty found in the brutal and an emotional darkness in the music.

The Beat My Heart Skipped is a captivating film that immediately draws you in.

simply excellent

[baruch-1 · 10/10 · 8 July 2005]

how do the French do it?? & why can't American film makers come close? this is a remake of the film "Fingers" released in the '70's directed by James Toback & starred Harvey Keitel. this remake is a beautifully told story that grabs you from the beginning & only lets go at the very satisfying end. brilliant acting by all, most notably Romain Duris. briefly, it is a study in the psychological make-up of a late 20's macho guy torn between his artistic nature inherited from his concert pianist mother & his real estate thug of a father. Duris walks/acts on a very high wire balancing the 2 sides & has the audience rooting for his desire to overcome his distaste for the seamy business he has "inherited" from his father. if 1 were to see only 1 film this summer, i would highly recommend this film.

A Nutshell Review: The Beat That My Heart Skipped

[DICK STEEL · 7/10 · 1 August 2006]

I think Thomas Seyr (Romain Duris) could be any of us in the working class. Stuck in two worlds about what he really wants to do, versus what he has to do. In the shady corner of the real estate business relying on underhand tactics, he finds no joy. In the other world which presented itself as an opportunity to start again, he must upgrade in order to be accepted. It never is easy, then again, life never is to begin with.

Constantly frustrated at his predicament, you begin to wonder towards which characteristics of his parents would he gravitate to - the father, who's about to remarry, and is living the life that Thomas secret disapproves, and that he fears he's subconsciously becoming his father's son, or his deceased mom, an accomplished pianist. Given the chance to dig deep into his potential of following in his mom's footsteps, he thought he could find joy in emulating his mother's success, but success always is the outcome of hard work, and plenty of frustrations along the way.

With the help of a Chinese pianist (played by Linh Dan Pham), he sets himself a goal to be ready for an audition to set a new future for himself, and the classical music numbers greatly contrasts with Thomas' choice of Euro-techno music which he plays over his beautiful earphones, and I enjoyed prior to watching the movie, thanks to a friend who introduced me to Telepopmusik's Just Breathe, which was used.

While juggling between real work, and his potential aspiration, things go awry with his love and sex life, when he falls for one of his friend's wife, and when his dad gets mixed up with and swindled by Russian gangsters. I particularly liked the scene where he sought out the Russian Minskov, where he goes about without a clue to try and straighten things out with the mobster, only to have him call and threaten him loudly over the phone, in the sudden presence of a passer-by. And what he did for revenge, was totally comical too, in context.

There are moments in this film which painfully brings out themes of frustration, of being lost at a crossroads, and of deciding for oneself what your calling is. Decide for yourself if you're up for some serious fare about the choices presented in life, and about that leap of faith that you take in trying to achieve some of those goals.

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

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 24 July 2005]

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.

A low key, low budget, successful thriller.

[tao902 · 7/10 · 26 July 2015]

The main character, Tom, is a property developer operating on the edges illegality and lives a small-time gangster's lifestyle. He is following in the footsteps of his ruthless father but is clearly uncomfortable with such a direction. Similarly he is less than satisfied with the friendships and affairs he has. His life takes a new turn as his interest in piano playing is rekindled when he meets his dead mother's one-time concert manager, Fox, who encourages him to return to studying piano. His lifestyle and commitment are contrasted with the skills and dedication of his Chinese teacher, Miao Lin.

A low key, low budget thriller providing character insight as well as action. Unusual story for the genre.

An Old Passion Creates Conflict

[seymourblack-1 · 9/10 · 6 June 2016]

A brief conversation (at the beginning of this movie) about the added responsibilities that can be thrust upon a son when the father is no longer able to cope as well as he had in the past, flags up a situation that has a strong bearing on the drama that follows. The son's loyalty makes him committed to looking after his father but also makes him feel trapped and then, when a passion from his past re-emerges (in this case, an ambition to be a classical pianist), it causes conflict within him as he tries to decide which way to go in his life and also causes conflict with his father who disapproves of his ambition.

Thomas Seyr (Romain Duris) is a 28-year-old Parisian real estate broker who works with his partners on property deals involving run-down apartments which they buy and sell off at a profit. Their work often involves forcefully removing squatters, immigrants and even legitimate tenants that they want to evict in order to facilitate another sale. Where the people involved show any reluctance to move, various tactics, such as releasing rats into their homes or smashing their windows with baseball bats are used to change their minds. Thomas' involvement in this type of work and his propensity for violence are the results of his father's influence. Robert Seyr (Niels Arestrup) has a long history as a slumlord and has, for many years, used his son to collect unpaid rent by any means necessary.

Thomas' mother, who'd died some years earlier, had been a concert pianist and he's pleasantly surprised one night when he unexpectedly meets Mr Fox (Sandy Whitelaw), who'd been her manager. Fox remembers the promise that Thomas had shown as a classical pianist and offers him the opportunity of an audition. This sparks an enthusiastic response in Thomas who, after a long period of neglect, becomes determined to improve his piano skills. After being introduced to Chinese piano virtuoso Miao Lin (Linh Dan Pham) who's a newly arrived immigrant in France, he hires her as his tutor. Despite her inability to speak French, they soon develop a rapport and Thomas works obsessively to be successful in his new endeavour, which he knows can lead him to a better and more fulfilling life.

Thomas' new obsession causes problems with his business partners because he can't keep up with all his commitments to them and similarly, because his father is no longer able to handle the trouble he gets himself into as a result of his shady dealings, Thomas is increasingly called upon to sort his problems out as well. As a result of these conflicting pressures, Thomas fails his audition. However, a way then presents itself for him to achieve the better life he wanted through classical music, albeit by a different route than he'd originally planned.

This movie's direction, cinematography and script are all conspicuously top class and Romain Duris' performance is exceptional. His explosive volatility when he's playing the thug, his understated interactions with Miao Lin and his unrestrained distress in anther key scene are just some examples of the power and range of his acting. The characters in this story are all particularly well-drawn with Niels Arestrup standing out among the supporting cast with his portrayal of Thomas' crude, overweight father who hasn't got the good judgement to know when the time has come for him to get out of his particular line of work. "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" is well-paced, violent and more affecting than many people might expect.

Frenetic and schizophrenic with enough feelgood to hit all the right buttons

[Chris_Docker · 7/10 · 20 August 2005]

The Beat that my Heart Skipped is a beautiful film.

Thomas Seyr is a property dealer. A broker. A fast talker. A fixer. He and his two partners encourage sellers to sell cheap. Encouragement includes releasing rats into the property at night or the liberal use of baseball bats.

But this is a beautiful film.

Mr Shady Adrenalin-Rush Seyr has a past. Not a bad past - more of a silver lining that accidentally gets uncovered. Like his mother, he used to play piano. A twist of circumstances has him suddenly realising he has a chance to be a pianist and he takes lessons to prepare for an audition. An audio flashback has his teacher telling him, "The emotion is not very generous" and at the same time the film slips into a minor key as our emotional involvement with the character kicks in.

Playing piano interferes with Thomas' being a total bastard, much to the annoyance of his colleagues who don't want him pussyfooting around with such a silly hobby, but the audience and Thomas sense a soul struggling to shine through his shitty persona and the amphetamine paced timeframe stops the movie from going gooilly sentimental. More formula as we see him at the piano naked from the waist up after making love, flattering lighting, Chopin, Debussy, Bach and Mozart. Sensuousness and arty mix. Electro moves to classical. The Beat that My Heart Skipped carefully pushes all the right buttons, but still seems fresh given French naturalistic acting, an unpredictable storyline, great soundtrack, and being entertaining and funny. A remake of an American movie with Harvey Keitel, it stands up quite well even if lacking in substance.

Thomas perhaps eventually finds what his heart missed, though not quite as predicted.

Dreary

[BJBatimdb · 5/10 · 11 October 2007]

I like French movies. Most of the time. But The Beat that My Heart Skipped is a real yawn. The story of a thug-for-hire who really wants to play the piano sounds about as pretentious as you can get, but I don't hold that against it. In other hands it could have been brilliant but this episodic disjointed, glum little film is very far from brilliant.

There are some nice scenes and original ideas here, but never nice or original enough to make you care about the characters. Thomas Seyr is good in the lead role but there's only so much he can do in this bitty, unrelentingly downbeat film.

On the plus side, the soundtrack is vibrant and does its best to lift the movie, but every time you think something really pivotal's going to happen... it doesn't.

The best thing about this film is it's lovely title. The film doesn't deserve it.

Superb human drama

[Camera-Obscura · 19 March 2007]

THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (Jacques Audiard - France 2005).

It's usually the other way round, but this time the French took a shot at remaking an American film, James Toback's FINGERS (1978), which starred Harvey Keitel. And the result is excellent. This riveting human drama by Jacques Audiard features an impressive performance by Romain Duris as Tom, a 28 year-old hoodlum who seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps as a property shark working in a sleazy, barely legal twilight zone of the dodgy Parisian real-estate world. But a chance encounter with a former music teacher leads him to believe that he can become, like his mother, a concert pianist. With the help of a young virtuoso pianist, who just arrived from China, he starts preparing for a crucial audition, but soon the pressures from his former pals mount and he gets trapped between two opposite worlds. But Tom is not just a sensible artistic young man desperately trying to escape the world he lives in. He's not entirely sure he wants to leave his old life behind him. He's got a mean streak and when necessary, he takes care of some unresolved matters using whatever means he deems appropriate to take care of unwilling partners, squatters or whoever gets in the way of his (or his father's business interests), really putting the squeeze on people unwilling to cooperate.

Romain Duris injects his role with an enormous amount of vibrancy and energy. I've never seen Duris in another role before, but his character is complex, perennially nervous, strained, angry, but incredibly charming. One moment he's in leather jacket, wiping the blood of his face after a little bashing with some squatters. The next, he's in suit and tie and negotiates with real-estate moguls. The film's atmosphere is dark, moody and downbeat, but Tom's vibrant energy and aggression firmly keeps the viewer's attention. Jacques Audiard's direction is remarkable assured. He seems to know exactly what he wants to present on the screen, never showy and a keen camera eye to give the already top-notch performances maximum impact. What's so refreshing, is that the film doesn't make a big point out of the human relationships. It never becomes overly sentimental, but at the same time all these characters are real and completely believable, just incredibly vivid characterizations. Sharply written, stylish, expertly paced, directed and performed, this is definitely one to catch.

Camera Obscura --- 9/10

Good ideas, imperfect execution, a ton of potential

[secondtake · 6/10 · 18 January 2013]

The Beat that My Heart Skipped (2005)

A striving, serious movie (even the weirdly incorrect title is serious) that ends up being an up and down jumble. I wanted to really get into this because it has a great immediacy at first, some petty violence, some general shyster gangsterism in modern Paris. The filming is fast camera stuff, lots of disorientation alternating with closeups up expressions and other moments of peace and beauty.

There are deliberate contradictions in the style because the main character is a giant contradiction. Played by the charming young actor Romain Duris, we are pulled into his real estate terrorism (extortion of various kinds, kind of low level mob stuff) and then into an utterly high brow pianism as he tries to return to the concertizing career he once considered. So we go from bashing faces in to playing Bach on a Steinway.

This is great. I like the premise. This ends up being the only real premise, however. There are nuances--he sleeps with the opposing mobsters girlfriend as well as his best friend's girlfriend, he has a Chinese piano coach who knows no French (and he knows no Chinese), his father is a bit of a douchebag and yet the son tries to help with his mobster doings, and so on. It's pretty fascinating and yet it all ties to the one large idea of a man searching for his better self. So the problem is a story that has more meat and sense of progression to it. Yes, we eventually get to the recital tryout, as expected, but it's too expected. A little.

There is problem in the filmmaking, too, and for me it is partly editing and partly overall direction, which leads in the end to a flatter character development than a movie like this demands. I mean, compare the characters to those in something like "Midnight Cowboy" or even the contemporary French film "The Piano Teacher" and you'll find a different way of building intensity and meaning. I'm also thinking Duris is more Richard Gere than Al Pacino, in terms of sheer ability.

Because a lot of the effect of the movie is kinetic, or the opposite of kinetic (in the piano scenes), I recommend seeing it big big screen. Which I did. That propels the many scenes of violence and might help keep them from being redundant. There are unlikely moments (landing the girlfriend in the bathroom, even for a hottie like Duris, is taking improbable film noir detective sex appeal rather far), and in a highly realistic film, almost cinema-verite at times, this chips away at the whole. It reveals a feeling of being a movie built on movie-making tricks too often to pull you totally inside.

See it? By all means. It has moments, it has interest, it has fun themes (like the language barriers throughout). It really had potential. But have some perspective on it, too.

Fast, tense with outstanding acting and a clever storyline

[DennisLittrell · 9/10 · 19 May 2007]

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

Jacques Audiard, who previously gave us the very interesting Read My Lips (2001) and the cute and clever Venus Beauty Institute (1999), manages to create here a story about a character who is both a petty gangster and a pianist. Not exactly your usual combination of talents. Romain Duris plays Thomas Seyr who is that character. Duris brings an animal sensuality and an artist's sensitivity to the part. He is an actor of unusual skills and vitality. Audiard gets the most out of him.

In the beginning Tom Seyr is in apprenticeship to take over his father's way of life in a French version of the protection racket. Their particular hustle involves getting properties condemned by trashing them or infecting them with rats or some other vermin, forcibly throwing out squatters or tenants, then buying the property on the cheap, and then finally selling it at a nice profit. In the end, Tom...well, I can't give you the ending, but I can say that it is entirely agreeable and surprising with just a little twist on what we might expect.

Neils Arestrup plays the father. There are some other interesting characters and a lot of macho action, a bit of blood here and there, some quick and easy sex. And then there is an old piano teacher that Tom happens to run into one day who invites him to an audition. Tom has not played the piano seriously for years, but just seeing his old teacher brings back the thrill and the deep intimacy he once had with music, and recalls to him the career of his deceased mother, who was once a concert pianist who had hoped that her son would be too. He had the talent.

But of course playing the piano at that level is not something you can take up, let go, and then go back to. But Tom thinks maybe he can do it with a little practice. But he needs a teacher to prepare for the audition. When he tries to get one he is effectively laughed at since he is 28-years-old and is very much out of practice and indeed never really practiced that much. But by chance (there are a number of plot furtherances in this film that come about by chance--but that is not a problem because the chance meetings seem natural and are events that would probably happen eventually)--and so by chance he is hooked up with a young woman fresh from China who speaks no French, but is an expert pianist who needs a little money. She agrees to help him. Her name is Miao Lin. She is played brilliantly with subtlety and finesse by French-Vietnamese actress Linh Dan Pham, whom I previously saw in Indochine (1992) playing the adopted child of Catherine Deneuve's character.

The acting ability of Romain Duris and Linh Dan Pham are what carry this film. Audiard's direction is a bit scattered at times and especially in the beginning lacks focus, but a clever storyline and his ability to get great performances from the players overcome these faults.

See this for Romain Duris who gives a virtuoso performance and for Linh Dan Pham who captivates with restrained intensity.

Portrait of the artist as a young hoodlum

[howard.schumann · 7/10 · 13 March 2006]

Tom Seyr (Romain Duris) is a nattily dressed 28-year old Parisian real estate debt enforcer who works for his father (Niels Arestrup), a sleazy housing profiteer. Seyr and his low-life buddies, Fabrice (Jonathan Zacca) and Sami (Gilles Cohen), acquire property for resale at a profit, making certain by any means necessary including violence that all squatters are removed. When a chance encounter opens the possibility for the opportunity for Tom to become a concert pianist like his mother, he finds that breaking away from his past is not so easy. Winner of eight César awards including best film and best director, Jacques Audiard's The Beat That My Heart Skipped is a loose remake of James Toback Fingers starring Harvey Keitel. In Fingers, Keitel plays the son of a gangster and a concert pianist who is torn between the efficiency of his father's profession and the passion of his deceased mother.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped is shot with dark colors to create a mood of foreboding. It is not all atmosphere, however. Audiard uses disorienting jump cuts, bizarre camera angles, and a hand-held camera close to the character's anatomy to create a frenetic pace and energy to spare. Romain Duris, a young French actor loaded with talent and charisma, plays the tightly wound Seyr with manic intensity. He is an operator on the lowest level, beating up restaurant proprietors that are delinquent in their bills and unleashing rats in a tenement to drive out the squatters. He seems to relish the jobs he is asked to do but still dreams of becoming a concert pianist. When he runs into his mother's former concert manager, (Sandy Whitelaw) he asks for the opportunity for an audition, then engages a petite Chinese piano teacher Miao Lin (Linh-Dan Pham) to assess his abilities. Since he does not speak Chinese and she does not speak French, the film could have been called Read My Lips II.

Miao is a civilizing influence and tries to stop Seyr from attacking the piano as if he was clubbing a tenant behind in his rent but cannot put a lid on his temperament. Their relationship develops slowly but erupts as both explode in frustration at his inability to follow instructions or master Bach's Toccata. To make life even more complicated, he is having an affair with his best friend's wife, and also brazenly seduces a mobster's girlfriend. While continuing to develop his artistic sensibility, Seyr carries out his father's suggestions to "take care" of recalcitrant payees, presumably out of love or guilt or both. He is very protective of his father and does not refuse his requests, though he has little respect for him, telling him that the woman he is thinking of marrying is a whore.

When Seyr agrees to take on Minskov (Anton Yakovlev), a Russian Mafia boss who does not keep his promises, it is clear that he is in over his head and he begins to rethink his relationship with his father. Audiard captures the character's nervous intensity and brings the macho sub-culture of Paris to life, yet the film lacks any semblance of warmth. The Beat That My Heart Skipped is about choices and the willingness to change our direction in life and we relate to Seyr's struggle with different sides of his personality. While Duris' performance rings with a fundamental honesty, I found it difficult to locate a common humanity with this dark, shady man. His cold, abrasive personality and the film's gratuitous violence make this portrait of the artist as a young hoodlum difficult to embrace. Somehow thuggery against poor people and the humanity of Beethoven or Mozart seem incompatible. While there is a lot to admire here, for me it is a film that my heart skipped.

Another great polar from Audiard

[jorgddh · 10/10 · 3 February 2006]

Theory says that a good movie should be understood even if you don't know the language in which it's spoken. Well, my notions of french are so-so, but I followed pretty well the plot of the movie, thanks to the great performances and visceral emotions described in it. I'll try to propose watching the movie in my french class. I can only hope that Audiard movies grew bigger and bigger in ambition and craftsmanship, in a time where good crime movies are barely seen in and out Hollywood. Great film, and great title. I'll never grow tired of recite it (in french, of course). Now i'll try to see "Fingers", the James Toback film in which "De battre mon coeur s'est arreté" is based.

Nicely varied French crime-drama

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 2 August 2017]

In this drama a man finds himself split between his violent life as an enforcer for his loan shark father and his desire to be a concert pianist.

This French film is somewhat unusual in its combining of disparate genres. What could otherwise be a fairly typical crime narrative about a violent individual at a turning point in his life is given an extra dimension when he decides to take advanced piano lessons from a Chinese woman who speaks little to no French. This improbable turn of events takes the story down a less familiar path. Aside from his criminal and musical activities, the central character also makes time to engage in an illicit affair with the wife of his closest business associate and finds himself in the midst of a dangerous situation in dealing with no-nonsense Russian gangsters who his father is trying to take a debt off. All these differing dynamics result in an entertaining and varied film. Romain Duris is very good in the lead role and carries the dramatics mostly given that he is in every scene. All-in-all, I found this one to be a very satisfying and quite diverse drama which managed to combine a variety of ideas very well.

Audiard is one of our finest artists.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 9/10 · 20 September 2011]

Jacques Audiard once again shows his mastery for exploring morally conflicted characters within a criminal world where the wicked succeed and the decent are thrown in the mud. In Read My Lips and A Prophet he gave us characters that tried to prevail in this world while still keeping their soul in tact, but here he does quite the opposite. Thomas Seyr doesn't try to prevail through crime; he treats it just like he would any other job. The real story for him, what he really strives toward, is becoming a pianist. This is such a beautiful and unique approach to this story and I knew almost instantly that I was going to get attached to this guy. When he's smashing windows and threatening people with a baseball bat, he stands almost in a daze, completely dulled by his surroundings as if it's just any other day. It's when he gets behind the piano that he comes alive, with all of the wonder and fear that comes with that.

Actor Romain Duris and Audiard really make you feel every emotion that goes through Seyr during these scenes. The frustration when he gets something wrong, the anxiety when he's auditioning for a manager and the pure unadulterated bliss that comes when he just stops and lets his love for music flow over him. Audiard again proves his knack for beautifully staging certain scenes, this is shown in particular with all of the musical moments in the film. He also does this thing that he did in A Prophet where he distorts the image when some very beautiful moments are happening and it makes you take even more notice that something truly special is happening currently; be it for good or for bad. Everything with Seyr's love for the piano is what sold the film for me, but I thought that the romantic subplots were remarkable as well.

Everything with his friend's wife was endlessly fascinating and let Audiard shed some great light onto themes of lust, betrayal, deceit and selfishness; the kind of possession and anarchy that can come with love. But what worked the most for me was the dynamic between Seyr and Miao Lin, his piano teacher who is also a Chinese immigrant that doesn't speak a word of French. The two of them together, thanks primarily to the performances from Duris and Linh Dan Pham, don't understand a word that the other is saying but somehow they are able to convey this kind of puppy-dog love that they slowly develop. Through the highs and lows of their dynamic they never understand a word that the other is saying but somehow they still know exactly what the other means. It's really beautiful to watch and further explores that theme of love that Audiard sets up to run underneath the whole story.

The audition scene is staged extraordinarily and really hit me a lot emotionally, but what's even more impressive is how Audiard stages the final scene of the picture. Trying to talk about it could definitely veer into spoiler territory, so I'll avoid that just by saying that it was a moment made of palpable tension and Audiard really hammered this theme that the person you are sticks with you no matter what you try to do. You can escape your life, but the past will always come back and there are parts of you that can just never stayed bury forever. Somehow it will come back out.

Don't Shoot the Piano Player

[Galina_movie_fan · 7/10 · 11 April 2006]

"De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté"(2005)...aka "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" written/directed by Jaques Audiard is a French remake of James Toback's cult movie "Fingers" (1978) with Harvey Keitel. The film tells the story of a young man Thomas (Romain Duris) who is torn by two different sides of his personality - one dreams of becoming a virtuoso piano player and the other - a ruthless debt-collector and enforcer. I think that Duris's was the one of the best performances of last year - so convincing he was as a man who walked on the edge of two realities. The best moments of the film are the ones between Thomas and his piano tutor, the girl whom he hired to prepare himself for an audition that was offered to him by a man who had been the manager of Thomas's late mother, the talented concerto pianist. The man remembers Thomas who had inherited his mother's talent and used to study piano seriously until his mother died when he was 18 and he joined his father in the "real estate" and debt- collecting business. The tutor, a young pianist from China who arrived to Paris recently, does not speak any French and Thomas does not speak any Chinese - so they have to relay to music to understand one another. The film is not perfect, and I am not too fond of director Jaques Audiard's frequent and abrupt cuts of the scenes but it is superbly acted, energetic, and well written.

a hard but realistic film about change & realisation

[frosty_katherine · 8/10 · 1 June 2005]

tom lives an unscrupulous life working for the real estate business. He and his colleagues use the nastiest means to oust the occupants. fighting, tearing the room into pieces, putting snake (or rats?) through the door slit - the beginning of the film is full of violent happenings in the dark. There isn't the faintest sign that this electro lover approaching his 30s can be a talented pianist.

his life is changed when he meets an old colleague of his mother who reminds him that his mom was a brilliant concert pianist. he is invited for an audition and since then his life is filled with his passionate pursuit of his dream. he has lessons every day with a Chinese pianist miao lin. the Chinese girl can hardly speak any french, nor is she very expressive of her emotions. it is quite intriguing to observe how they interact in the film.

the efforts he spends on the preparation has changed him. when he goes back to his real estate job, the beat of his heart "stops" as he comes to see how spiteful a life he has had. it is wise to leave it like this without further description. this makes the ending more enigmatic. two days after watching the film i am still pondering what was meant by the glance at the end, what kind of emotions tom must have & why he does not kill the Russian guy.

Romain Duris is a brilliant actor. most scenes were emotionally intense and very well-acted. i am excited to see how he listens to and plays music. not only are the piano pieces pleasing, the techno also thrills (trance is great!). i like it so much the way it portrays the dark side of his life at the beginning. a hard but realistic film which deserves one's mental efforts.

Sticky Fingers.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 14 May 2017]

Taking part in a poll on ICM on the best films of 2005,I started looking for French flicks from the year. Avoiding the movie due to the twee title,I was surprised to discover that the film was not a Romance,but a remake of 1978's Fingers (which I've not yet seen) that led to me catching up to the beat.

View on the film:

Working as a director for hire, (producer Pascal Caucheteux wanted to do another remake after producing the US remake of Assault on Precinct 13) co-writer/(with Tonino Benacquista) director Jacques Audiard & cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine fluidly play Neo-Noir notes spun from up close,documentary-style "shaky" camera moves pushing the viewers nose into Thomas's grey and grime crime world.

Backed by a warm score from Alexandre Desplat,Audiard finely tunes the darkness with shots of lights,as side shots of Thomas playing captures the notes in life Thomas is trying to hit,as his artistic dreams are plucked by the family life of crime.

Changing the plot after co-writer Benacquista said he hated Fingers, (what a perfect choice to write the remake!)the writers wonderfully string Thomas as a loner in a constant search to find a place to fit in,with a Neo-Noir self-contempt making Thomas believe that he must follow his dad's footsteps.

Focusing on the relationship between Thomas and music,the writers wonderfully contrast between the music hall lights that Thomas escapes to,with the vicious,daily grind of his Noir life of crime.

Joined by a great support cast that includes Anton Yakovlev as Minskov and Mélanie Laurent as Minskov's Girlfriend, Romain Duris (who got taught by his sister to play the piano for the film) gives an excellent performance as Thomas,which flows with the dream optimism of a new life,which Duris grinds down with a nose to the grindstone suspicion from Thomas that a finally piece has been written for his life.

Truly disappointing

[Felix-28 · 4/10 · 24 September 2006]

Having seen Sur mes levres and liked it a lot, and having read reviews of this one that made it sound even better, I had high expectations.

Alas, my initial disappointment with the opening scenes was confirmed as the film went on. I couldn't believe a single character except the father's mistress, Christine, played by Emmanuelle Devos, who made the film live for the two brief scenes in which she appeared. The first of those was quite early on, and I thought that the film was going to pull itself together and turn into something really good; but she disappeared then until another short scene quite close to the end.

I found Romain Duris' performance tedious. He was not bad at the gangster bits, I suppose; but as a classical pianist, he was embarrassing to watch. To be fair, the character was just not credible -- you can't think of becoming a concert pianist if you are 28 years old and haven't practised for 10 years -- but all the swaying and drooping and bellows of anguish were so ridiculous that at times I had difficulty continuing to watch.

I have no idea what point the director thought he was trying to make, and I don't think he had much of an idea either. Was he showing that it was possible to change, or that it was not?

A complete waste of time, unfortunately. I just wish there were more films around with Emanuelle Devos. For an awkward woman with no real beauty, she has a presence and a power of attraction that are hard to withstand.