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Title: A Hole in My Heart (2004)
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| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Thorsten Flinck | ... | Rickard | |
 |
Björn Almroth | ... | Eric |
|
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Sanna Bråding | ... | Tess |
|
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Goran Marjanovic | ... | Geko |
Eric is a teenager who lives in a shabby flat with his father, Rickard. Eric spends most of his time holed up in his room, blaring industrial music in order to drown out what's going on around him. He has just cause to be a bit disturbed by his surroundings -- Rickard is an amateur filmmaker specializing in extreme sex videos, and he's taken over the living room, where his emotionally disturbed friend Geko and a blank young woman, Tess are "starring" in his latest project. As shooting progresses over the course of several days, Rickard and his cast lose track of the outside world and become increasingly desensitized to their own decadence. As the sexual play becomes more and more extreme, edging into violence, Eric feels no choice but to intervene.
I've seen (and loved) Together and Lilya.. - this film is different, and will not appeal to the vast majority of people.
I'm not sure about the themes; that these characters ultimately need each other? The dialogue, although perhaps improvised, is at least free from cliché. The editing is a little annoying, but not really distracting. It's mainly the soundtrack that grates, with its casual use of white noise and drone. The film is essentially a day in the cramped flat filming Rickard's amateur (gonzo) porno movies, while he tries to connect with his introverted goth son / the son has a tentative yearning for the girl / the girl discovers that these people who can be so hurtful are still better than 'normal boring ugly' people / and the actor who is slightly insecure and has a confusing & frustrating habit of falling asleep, but has quite a close relationship with his friend the director. There's more to it (particularly with Rickard, the father/porno director), and the ending is characteristically upbeat (relationships resolving/issues in the open), coming off a real emotional low-point.
The film itself occasionally jumps forward & back in time, and there are a few dream sequences. The surgical cuts (literally and editorially) are scattered through the film, along with blurry out-of-context 'organic' shots, and a parallel version of what's happening in the porno film, as performed by Barbie and Action Man. I'm just not 'deep' enough to understand (or care) what all these bits mean.
Yes, the film is pretty graphic - not so much in the sex, but there is nudity on all counts (although not in a sensational way), there are intimate surgical shots, and one quick scene following a food fight which may make you feel ill (and will burn itself on your memory, whether you want it to or not).
Although I can't be bothered trying to understand or analyse the use of the surgery bits and other possible motifs, the film is mostly pretty straightforward and - if you stick with it - a fairly 'okay' plot/resolution develops by the end of the film. It just takes a while for the characters to reveal enough of themselves, because they all start out as fairly unlikeable.