The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)

Will Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?

Director:

Jacques Audiard

Writers:

Jacques Audiard (scenario), Tonino Benacquista (scenario)

Stars:

Romain Duris, Aure Atika, Emmanuelle Devos

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 20 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Onteniente	...	Man
Sandy Whitelaw	...	Mr. Fox
Emmanuel Finkiel	...	Conservatory Professor

Storyline

Twenty-eight-year-old Tom leads a life that might be termed as criminal. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of his father, who made his money from dirty, and sometimes brutal, real estate deals. Tom is a pretty hard-boiled guy but also strangely considerate as far as his father is concerned. Somehow he appears to have arrived at a critical juncture in his life when a chance encounter prompts him to take up the piano and become a concert pianist, like his mother. He senses that this might be his final opportunity to take back his life. His piano teacher is a Chinese piano virtuoso who has recently come to live in France. She doesn't speak a lick of French so music becomes the only language they have in common. Before long, Jacques' bid to be a better person means that he begins to yearn for true love. But, when he finally has the chance of winning his best friend's wife, his passion only succeeds in scaring her. And then, one day, his dubious past comes to light...

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Plot Keywords:

homosexual | gay slur | hitting head on piano keys | watching television | piano | 

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Taglines:

Can music tame the raging soul?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Wellspring Media [United States] Why Not / UGC [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French English Russian Vietnamese Mandarin

Release Date:

16 March 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

€5,300,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,179,031 (France), 18 March 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$81,277, 4 July 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,023,424, 11 December 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Why Not Productions, Sédif Productions, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Romain Duris's sister is a pianist, and she is the one who taught him to play piano for this film.

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Quotes

Sami: Playing piano is making you flip. Stop it now!
Thomas Seyr: Nothing's making me flip. I'm not flipping. I'm having a ball. I feel fantastic, dont' you see? It's important, I'm serious about it.
Sami: You gonna make dough from pianos?
Thomas Seyr: Not pianos, the piano! It's not about making money, it's about art.
Sami: What's in it for us? You coming to meetings all, 'Hi guys, I've been playing piano.' Shit, I'll take up the banjo.
Thomas Seyr: It's over your head

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Connections

Remake of Fingers (1978)

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Soundtracks

Des pas sur la neige (in préludes I)
de Claude Debussy
Interprète piano: Caroline Duris

User Reviews

"Poetic, heartfelt and memorable..."

French screenwriter and director Jacques Audiard's fourth feature film which he co-wrote with French author and screenwriter Tonino Benacquista, is a remake of American filmmaker James Toback's narrative feature "Fingers" from 1978. It premiered In competition at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival in 2005, was shot on location in Paris, France and is a French production which was produced by producer Pascal Chaucheteux. It tells the story about a 28-year-old man named Thomas Seyr who works as a kind of real estate broker in Paris, France for his gangster father named Robert whom is getting remarried to a model named Christine. Whilst spending most of his time with his friend Fabrice who is depending on him as an alibi to cover up for is numerous affairs and becoming infatuated with his friend's wife, Thomas decides to revive a talent he stopped practicing ten years ago. Following his mother's footsteps and distancing himself from his father's lifestyle, Thomas starts taking piano lessons with a pianist named Miao Lin.

Distinctly and precisely directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, this finely tuned fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the protagonist's point of view, draws an intimate and profound portrayal of a relationship between a French man and a Vietnamese woman who's communication is somewhat limited by their differing languages. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, sterling cinematography by French cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine and use of music, this character-driven and narrative-driven psychological drama depicts a consistently involving and multifaceted study of character where the main character's inner struggle and mastering of his emotions interrelates with the narrative's continuity and contains a great score by French film composer Alexandre Desplat.

This romantic, humorous and dramatic story about a young man who is driven by his passion for women and a constant duality within him, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, abrupt editing, incisive depiction of interpersonal relations, the versatile acting performance by French actor Romain Duris, the efficiently understated acting performance by Vietnamese-born French actress Lin Dan Pham and the fine acting performance by French actor Niels Arestrup. A poetic, heartfelt and memorable thriller-drama which gained, among other awards, the award for Best Film Not in the English Language at the 59th BAFTA AWARDS in 2005.