Review of Heartless (2010) by Ronia K — 01 Aug 2011

'Heartless' is a highly intriguing modern day horror film that combines elements from a vast array of genre; however, whether the film does this effectively is an entirely different matter. While the direction, cinematography, and lead acting is effective and, in some cases, incredibly gripping, the script, support acting and some visual metaphors fail dismally. This results in the entire film losing any real sense of profundity and actual meaning.

The original premise of 'Heartless' is really rather interesting. Jamie (Jim Sturgess) is a low level photographer with a disfiguring birth mark covering half his face. His ailment hinders him terribly and he prefers to lurk in the darkness and remain in solitude until he is given a chance to rid himself of his burden, but at what cost? The plot, while not exactly complex, is engaging in its exposition, but the development and conclusion are disappointing. The narrative becomes confused and jarring, it seemingly attempts to be shocking with a few scenes of body horror, and morally profound. Perhaps such a back-and-forth style would have worked in the hands of an auteur with more talent or even a better script. Unfortunately, Ridley simply may not have enough talent to carry off a film with such jarring and opposing themes, even though in the first half of the film he shows that he can indeed direct with subtlety and care.

The direction in the first half of 'Heartless' is beautifully controlled and measured. The initial scenes of Jamie (Jim Sturgess) meandering through the steadily deteriorating streets of North London are powerful and beautiful to watch, and have a significant resonance as we too are isolated and detached by the highly objective filming technique. However, as the plot begins to develop, all creative directorial nuances take a back seat and exposition becomes the primary aim of writer and director Philip Ridley. Normally, if directorial creativity regresses as a film matures; an engaging or at least thought provoking narrative would save the film from certain failure.

Unfortunately for 'Heartless', it forfeits visual creativity for quasi-profundity intermixed with bizarrely upbeat and entirely unfitting romance scenes, that seem clumsily spliced together without much care or even thought.

What primarily makes these 'romantic' scenes seem so ill-fitting is the score. Throughout earlier scenes of the film, we have been greeted with orchestral swells and atonal violin screeches reminiscent of Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. When the film takes a clumsy trip into romantic territory, upbeat pop music replaces the carefully crafted score, and all tension, mood and even enjoyment evaporates quickly from the film. This is not merely the fault of the score however, leading Lady Clémence Poésy is a charisma vacuum and drains the romantic relationship she has with Jamie of any real believability or heart.

Although this particular segment of the film is meant to provide a contrast to the darker and more disturbing sections of the film, it is far too different and simply does not fit with the rest of the film, rendering the switch back to the film's darker scenes jarring and awkward.

Overall, 'Heartless' is an initially interesting modern horror film that begins well, but sadly falls flat on many instances as the film progresses, creating a semi-intellectual film that lacks the profundity needed to purvey the message it is trying to get across.