By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Roberto Minervini
Starring: Colby Trichell | Grace Carlson | Katarina Carlson | LeeAnne Carlson | Sara Carlson | Tim Carlson
Country: belgium, italy, united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 99
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2855026/combined
Kyle says: “I quote the first sentence of the New Directors/New Films program notes: ‘Sara (Sara Carlson, playing herself) is part of a devout Christian goat-farming family with 12 children, all home-schooled and raised with strict moral guidance from the Scriptures.’ The rural communities in which this film takes place are located in Texas, and virtually the only access to any other world occurs during Farmers’ Markets where they sell their goat cheese and milk. One friend derisively called it Reality TV available all day long at home; I charitably call it home movies with better production values: It’s okay if you’re a relative, but why should anyone else have to watch? At times it seems like a routine from HBO’s REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER, equating Bible study with the teaching of history, and buckets of syllogisms. ‘You want to be a slave to God’s law.’ ‘Satan wants you to take your own life.’ ‘Women were created to help men.’ ‘Why do you think people think of submission as a weak thing?’ During a prayer, when mother says, ‘When we know there’s something horrible under the bed….’ it was all I could do to not shout out, ‘It’s THE BABADOOK!’ This is a despicable mean-spirited trumpeting of the many oppressions of a Bible-mandated patriarchal system that these people are never allowed to question or even learn anything about, since there are no computers, no phones and no televisions. I did laugh once: when dinner is about to be served while a goat wanders around the kitchen, and father shouts, ‘Get that goat out of here!’ 1 cat (in recognition of the goats, especially the cute white one).
“Seen Sunday, March 23, 2014, New Directors/New Films at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”
Bruce says: “STOP THE POUNDING HEART is an elegiac coming of age film featuring a fundamentalist Christian family who are goat farmers in Weller County, Texas. Lines between documentary and narrative film are extremely blurred as all the people and places in the film are real but the drama is fictionalized. My first instinct was that director Roberto Minervini must be part of the fundamentalist community. Not so, I discovered at the Q & A after the film – he is a practicing Buddhist born in Italy, now living in Texas. Having seen this film I would not necessarily advocate for other filmmakers to follow suit and attempt such an exercise without having a precise need for doing so; duplicating such success is not formulaic, rather it stems from an inner creative vision. STOP THE POUNDING HEART is the third film in a Texas trilogy following THE PASSAGE (2011) and LOW TIDE (2012).
“Central to the story is fourteen old Sara who is just reaching puberty. Shy and reticent, she nonetheless has a magical quality that makes her a natural subject for film. Sara bangs a large iron triangle to musically call the goats from the fields into the barn for milking and feeding. She strains the warm milk through cheesecloth to separate the milk from the clotting cream. Homeschooled, the Carlson brood’s interaction with the outside world is relegated to church, open air markets where they sell their goat milk and cheese, and informal visits to neighboring properties.
“The allure of rodeo is great in Weller County. Sara and several of her siblings like to watch the teenage boys practice with live bulls at a corral on a neighboring farm. The kids start young, learning to ride mechanical bulls just beyond toddling age. It appears that Colby, one of the more accomplished teenagers, is as much of an attraction for Sara as the action in the corral. Colby is cute, daring, and gentle with Sara’s small brother who wants to ride the bronco machine used for training beginners. Not so gentle looking is a friend of Colby’s who has a gigantic Texas Boy tattoo on his back in Old English script. One can guess that Texas Boy’s joie de vivre and overt sexuality must be an out-and-out threat to community Christian values.
“Sara’s mother LeeAnne senses Sara has boys on her mind and, in private, her mother cautions her about dating. ‘Dating is about fun. Life is not fun.’ This is the first of several scenes in which a mother attempts to prepare a child for the world beyond her sheltered existence. What we see is both tender and horrifying. ‘You don’t want to be a slave to sin but a slave to God’s law. Satan wants you to live such a sinful life that you sink so low you take your own life.’ is another lesson. ‘Man is not made for woman, Woman is made for man. Why is submission viewed negatively? It takes more strength to be submissive.’ With such advice it is understandable that no female in the family ever wears pants.
“The older Carlson girls witness a neighbor give birth as her husband gently holds her. Later Grace talks of marriage and having two children; Sara is not so sure. We see her shortly thereafter in a pose that is reminiscent of Bardot in AND GOD CREATED WOMAN and we suspect there are undercurrents yet to be revealed as Sara becomes a woman. ‘What are you worried about?’ LeeAnne asks. ‘I’m trying to figure out how to be a good Christian,’ Sara replies. ‘Wonder doesn’t mean you aren’t a Christian. I battle day by day,’ LeeAnne confesses.
“STOP THE POUNDING HEART is a slice-of-life film not a plot-centric narrative feature. Most people who see this film probably will not agree with the characters’ point of view; however, the film does give us a rare glimpse into how people different from ourselves think. Beautifully filmed by Diego Romano, STOP THE POUNDING HEART is a reminder that there are many subcultures in America that we know little about. 4.5 cats
“(STOP THE POUNDING HEART screened at the 2014 New Directors/New Films series jointly sponsored by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center.)”