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) (as J.T. LeRoy), Asia Argento (screenplay)

Stars:

Asia Argento, Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse

1 win & 2 nominations.

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-year-old Sarah takes her six-year-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 low lifestyle 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:

child abuse | written and directed by cast member | prostitute | child molester | female nudity | 

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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

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 USA:

$10,000, 12 March 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$29,058, 30 March 2006

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$176,153, 27 February 2005

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

Some of the Region 1 DVD copies of the film contain an error where the meth explosion scene appears to be missing. This is due to an authoring error during mass production.

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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: Its ok, I'll protect you.

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Connections

References Santa Sangre (1989)

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Soundtracks

Sailor Says Goodbye
Written by Faith Gazic & Gretchen Gonzalez (TATO)
Performed by Terror at the Opera
Published by Ghostrace (BMI)

User Reviews

Beautiful, ferocious and engrossing....

I'd been wanting to see this movie ever since I'd heard about it. I didn't manage to catch it at the cinema, it had a very limited release, but wow, it's worth waiting for.

Based on the book by JT Leroy, which is in turn based on his early life, and directed by and starring Asia Argento, this book charts the early years of Jeremiah, a child taken back from his foster parents by his mother, and dragged around from seedy motel to violent relationship and back again. He ends up with his fanatically religious grandparents for a while, which is little better, before being taken away by his mother again.

I was bowled over by the sheer quality of the acting, the direction, the cinematography, everything. It's a shocking, painful film, but it has a strange beauty. I was expecting it to be hard to watch, but the film just flew by. Really worth seeing if you fancy something different.