Masterpiece Cinema - Open Hearts

Open Hearts

Starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sonja Richter, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Paprika Steen.

Written by Susanne Bier & Anders Thomas Jensen.

Directed by Susanne Bier.

Genre: Drama

Released: 2002

Running time: 113 mins.

Rated: R (American rating for language and sexuality).

IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0315543/

You may or may not have heard of the Dogme school of filmmaking. Well, it’s not so much a school as it is a series of rules, established by a group of Danish filmmakers in 1995, to combat the superficialities they saw overtaking cinema, and to return to something more “true”. Anyone can make a Dogme film, but there are certain rules that need to be followed. These rules are referred to as being “the vow of chastity”:

- Shooting has to be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in.

- No sound can be made in post-production. Music can’t be used unless it’s being produced live in the scene as it is being shot.

- The camera must be hand-held.

- The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not allowed.

- Optical work and filters cannot be used.

- The film must not contain superficial action.

- The film must take place here and now; no temporal or geographical alienation.

- The film must not be a genre piece.

- The final picture must be transferred to Academy 35mm film.

And finally,

- The director must not be credited.

All those rules must seem restrictive, and they are, but they’re not without their place. When all the extraneous matter of film is cut away, it’s interesting to see just what people can come up with. I wouldn’t want every film I see to be a Dogme movie, but I’m glad they’re out there, doing their best to bring something unique and real to the screen.

The only problem with making a Dogme film is that there’s so much hype about the theory behind it all that the movies themselves can get a little lost. The emphasis becomes looking at how it operates as a Dogme film, rather than simply looking at the work itself. I think that certainly holds true for the way Open Hearts was promoted and received, it being one of the more successful movies to come out of the Dogme school of thought.

Open Hearts tells the story of a young, happy couple who are torn apart when the man is hit by a car and is left paralysed. The woman, traumatised by the event and by her fiancé’s sudden shift in character, takes comfort in the arms of another man - the husband of the woman who caused the accident.

Sounds soapy, doesn’t it? Well, if you can get past the melodramatic premise, it’s actually one of the more realistic films you’ll ever see. There are no clear ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ here, and there are certainly no easy answers. The film is all about that moment when life decides to take a sudden turn for the worse, and the ramifications you have to deal with when it does.

Closer has been garnering a lot of attention for its frank, ugly, and realistic portrayal of modern relationships. When I was watching it, however, I was reminded a great deal of Open Hearts, not so much in terms of plot – although things do overlap a little – but more in terms of the emotional truth to be found in both films. Though the characters do some appalling things, their actions are quite often understandable, leaving you lamenting the fact that things are never black and white in the real world.

Open Hearts, just like Closer and its Dogme brethren, is not a film you watch to escape reality. It can, in certain places, be an excruciating movie to watch, but it also has its moments of humour and good will, just like life. That’s really what should be focused on, rather than whether or not it follows any “vow of chastity”. A good story is, quite simply, a good story.

Next week: You know, I have no idea. We’ll see what inspiration hits.

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