In "Open Hearts" director Susanne Biers tackles a very realistic story that easily could have been but a maudlin soap opera (well, that is an oxymoron) but which comes across as serious, compelling drama.
The Danish film begins with a comical proposal scene in which grad student Joachim (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) proposes to live-in girlfriend, Cecille (Sonja Richter) before leaving for a foreign outdoor adventure. Unfortunately Joachim makes the not uncommon mistake of exiting his car from the driver's side without checking for oncoming traffic.
Fast forward to a hospital's ICU where first Cecille and then Joachim learn he is now a quadraplegic. The attending doctor gently tells Cecille that her fiance only will be able to "think and speak," that's it. Great news. Especially after the point has been made that they had a roaring sex life.
The driver of the car which struck Joachim is the wife of a physician, Niels, at the hospital. What a coincidence. Subtle hint that this film IS a soap. But the doctor extends sympathy, empathy and personal caring to the stricken Cecille and, of course, a romance develops. Or maybe it's just an affair. Or maybe it's sort of both. The protagonists themselves don't seem to know. Since it's a Danish film there isn't even a whisper about a possible lawsuit against the doctor's wife.
Niels is no philandering, hormone-driven male. He's never been unfaithful to his loving wife, Marie (Paprika Steen), the strongest and best-acted character in the film. They have three kids, two little boys and a teenage girl halfway between maturity and auto-destruct.
Using minimalist filming and directorial techniques ("Open Hearts" has a Dogme 95 certificate, emblazoned on the screen before even the first opening credit), the story develops movingly albeit with hints as to the likely resolution.
Paprika Steen is a powerful actress who simultaneously exposes Marie's vulnerability as well as her strength. She truly loves her husband but her ardor for the welfare of her children is all-powerful and dominating. And wholly admirable.
Stine Bjerregaard as the teenage Stine gives a terrific performance as a kid with a typically normal plate of adolescent issues. She takes on, fiercely, the weight of her father's threatened abandonment of his family. No child should be shouldered with problems like that, often they are and Stine grows in the process. At a price.
With a strong cast, special mention of Kaas as the life-altered Joachim is merited. His journey from mindless rage to cruel attacks on a devoted nurse to slow acceptance of a new life is painfully real, his bare and shifting emotions making me forget I was watching a story, not a documentary.
"Open Hearts" is painful to watch at points but, ultimately, it's a strong film because of the excellent cast.
7/10.
The Danish film begins with a comical proposal scene in which grad student Joachim (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) proposes to live-in girlfriend, Cecille (Sonja Richter) before leaving for a foreign outdoor adventure. Unfortunately Joachim makes the not uncommon mistake of exiting his car from the driver's side without checking for oncoming traffic.
Fast forward to a hospital's ICU where first Cecille and then Joachim learn he is now a quadraplegic. The attending doctor gently tells Cecille that her fiance only will be able to "think and speak," that's it. Great news. Especially after the point has been made that they had a roaring sex life.
The driver of the car which struck Joachim is the wife of a physician, Niels, at the hospital. What a coincidence. Subtle hint that this film IS a soap. But the doctor extends sympathy, empathy and personal caring to the stricken Cecille and, of course, a romance develops. Or maybe it's just an affair. Or maybe it's sort of both. The protagonists themselves don't seem to know. Since it's a Danish film there isn't even a whisper about a possible lawsuit against the doctor's wife.
Niels is no philandering, hormone-driven male. He's never been unfaithful to his loving wife, Marie (Paprika Steen), the strongest and best-acted character in the film. They have three kids, two little boys and a teenage girl halfway between maturity and auto-destruct.
Using minimalist filming and directorial techniques ("Open Hearts" has a Dogme 95 certificate, emblazoned on the screen before even the first opening credit), the story develops movingly albeit with hints as to the likely resolution.
Paprika Steen is a powerful actress who simultaneously exposes Marie's vulnerability as well as her strength. She truly loves her husband but her ardor for the welfare of her children is all-powerful and dominating. And wholly admirable.
Stine Bjerregaard as the teenage Stine gives a terrific performance as a kid with a typically normal plate of adolescent issues. She takes on, fiercely, the weight of her father's threatened abandonment of his family. No child should be shouldered with problems like that, often they are and Stine grows in the process. At a price.
With a strong cast, special mention of Kaas as the life-altered Joachim is merited. His journey from mindless rage to cruel attacks on a devoted nurse to slow acceptance of a new life is painfully real, his bare and shifting emotions making me forget I was watching a story, not a documentary.
"Open Hearts" is painful to watch at points but, ultimately, it's a strong film because of the excellent cast.
7/10.