By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.375
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Cate Blanchett | Giovanni Ribisi | Remo Girone | Stefania Rocca
Country: france, germany, italy, united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2002
Running time: 96
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0246677
Laura says: “German director Tom Tykwer has explored fate and chance in his films RUN, LOLA, RUN and THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR, falling far short of the works of the late, great Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. Working from a script by the master himself (and Kieslowski’s writing partner Krzysztof Piesiewicz), Tykwer stifles his more obvious, showy tendencies and the restraint proves a good thing. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t sustain its initial promise with a jarring, new-agey tone creeping into the second half.
“The film begins with Filippo and an instructor speaking over helicopter flight training animation. ‘You can’t keep flying higher,’ warns the instructor. ‘How high can I fly?’ asks Filippo, as the camera pans up into a blue video sky.
“With marvelous economy, Tykwer builds unbearable suspense using Hitchcock’s old maxim on showing your audience the bomb. Philippa prepares her explosive and purposely sets off towards a futuristic office building. Stepping off a curb, she’s almost killed by a motorbike en route to deliver death. She enters the building, heads upstairs and engages a timing device. A father and his two little girls waiting for an exterior glass elevator to descend. Creating an embarrassing diversion with Vendice’s secretary, Philippa slips her bomb into his wastebasket and departs. The trio head up in the elevator. A cleaning woman empties Vendice’s basket into her larger one. Philippa calls the secretary with a demand that she come downstairs to stop her car alarm. The cleaning woman waits for an elevator. Philippa rides an escalator downwards towards the subway while in the distance, an elevator creeps up the side of the building. It arrives with three occupants and the father convinces the janitress there’s room. We watch the doors close from a corridor. A few seconds later we hear an explosion and the elevator doors twist open enough to show the light from outside.
“Filippo, who we learn is following in his retired police chief father’s (Remo Girone) footsteps, falls in love with the anguished Philippa and plots an elaborate escape, then enables her vigilantism before the duo shave their heads and make off into the Italian countryside. Filippo’s dad meets the lovers and provides money. Philippa asks a friend, Regina (Stephania Rocca, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST), to hide them, but Regina warns that helicopters have already surveyed her farm. Fatalistically, the two arrive there anyway.
“While Kieslowski’s voice is clear in the film’s first half, he seems to lose his way somewhat in the second and Tykwer’s filmmaking style emerges more strongly, the latter half recalling THE PRINCESS & THE WARRIOR’S lovers on the run right down to a bit of fancy involving a vehicle. The film begins to acquire the artificiality of the opening training animation. Kieslowski’s heavy-handedness in giving his leads the same name, and then the same birthday, seems out of character. The actors’ relationship becomes more symbolic and less realistic.
“Blanchett is stunningly photographed and delivers a fine performance through most of the film. She nails the pivotal scene where she learns what her action has wrought. Ribisi is also good, although his character is more symbolic. Younger than Philippa, Filippo reflects the children she has killed and the innocence Vendice has destroyed. (He’s cooed over by a shopkeeper who admires his new uniform and has an odd bed wetting incident.) However, when the two run bald-headed through the hills they’re just not believable as a couple in love.
“This frustrating piece of filmmaking makes one yearn for Kieslowski’s unmade trilogy (HEAVEN, HELL and PURGATORY) while also acknowledging Tykwer’s newfound subtlety (although he still hasn’t lost his Godlike overhead shots). Tykwer lends the film’s first half a tone that recalls Kieslowski’s first Decalogue episode (perhaps because Arvo Part’s score recalls Preisner’s work). Cinematographer Frank Griebe (THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR) concentrates on golden light, just as production designer Uli Hanisch emphasizes soaring, church-like spaces. The film’s final shot is like a visual equivalent to the aural ending of BREAKING THE WAVES.” 2 1/2 cats
Michael says: “How can a sinner go to heaven? Tom Tykwer working from a script by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski (BLUE, WHITE, RED) and his writing partner Krzysztof Piesiewicz posits through acknowledgement of the sin and confession in HEAVEN.
“Cate Blanchett is stunning, and filled with a deadly, single-minded purpose as Philippa, a woman seeking justice against a drug dealer who was responsible for the death of her husband and many others. When her explosive plan goes horribly wrong, she is horrified by her actions, yet still bent on her mission. However she is incarcerated by the Italian police for the crime, and only through the intervention by the officer translating named Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) can she continue.
:”I agree with Laura that the first half of the film is superior than the latter half, but I did enjoy HEAVEN quite a bit. Working with the themes of love and destiny as in his earlier films (THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR and RUN, LOLA, RUN) HEAVEN also brings in some of the Christian notions of absolution and confession. The ending, while strongly symbolic, still manages to be breath-taking and powerful. I was less convinced of the Adam & Eve symbolism in the film’s penultimate moments.
“As a fan of Tykwer’s work, I always feel as I’ve enjoyed a thoroughly cinematic work after witnessing one of his films. Tykwer and his cinematographer, Frank Griebe (Chlotrudis winner for LOLA) construct a beautiful film, with swooping crane and stunning aerial shots. The crowded Italian city, and expansive Italian countryside are wonderfully shot. Tykwer also uses sound and music effectively to convey his mood.
“Scot and I were trying to delve into the whole ‘twin’ aspect of the two characters, who share a name, a birthday, and halfway through the film, a look. With Filippo being born on the day Philippa received her first holy communion, it’s possible that he is her spiritual self, offerring her a chance for redemption.
In any event, HEAVEN is a strong film, with lots to think about. Like Laura, I can only wonder what Kieslowski’s unmade trilogy (HEAVEN, HELL and PURGATORY) would have come to.” 4 cats
Esmé says: “I missed HEAVEN first time around, but I do want to comment on it because I know there is a lot of criticism about the ending. However, in the movie’s defense, I want to say that both Cate Blanchett and Giovonni Ribisi were great; they had good chemistry, they made the transformation from the characters they started out as to being almost one character, visually and emotionally. People complain about the end, but I thought it was a lot like the ending of THELMA AND LOUISE. We didn’t actually see what happened, but we can guess.” 3 cats for the movie, 4 for the main actors