Italy would be heaven, but I'm not sure about the movie (Heaven (DVD))

Member Name: radams

Product:	Heaven (DVD)
Date:	20/03/04 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great acting, Italian scenes

Disadvantages: A bit too arty and loses momentum at times

Tom Tykwer directs this German movie, which is part-thriller, and part-romance, and part mission to resurrect a great director. An unfinished script written by Krzystof Kieslowski (the Three Colours series; Double Life of Veronique) was used.
Kieslowski died in 1996, and I had thought he?d decided never to direct again, so this script was no doubt never intended to be made into a movie, but these things happen?

Clearly ?Heaven? was always going to be nearer to art-house than Hollywood.

Cate Blanchett plays Philippa, a bit of a revolutionary. She?s not pleased
when the police don?t try very hard to find the killer of her husband, who
dies a drug-related death. Ting is, she takes the law into her own hands,
and, gets arrested herself.

So far it?s a failry standard thriller.
But then things get a little bit different. Giovanni Ribisi is Filippo, a
young police stenographer,who looks as though he might only just have started in the job about a week beforehand. Ribsi had already appeared in ?Saving Private Ryan?, ?Gone in 60 seconds? and ?The Gift?, and he looks much younger than his 27-years when he appeared in ?Heaven?.

As far as their characters are concerned, Philippa and Filippo are two
opposites, in many ways, but there is a mutual attraction? and things
develop from there.
The acting is quite understated at times, which I like. It can at times convey a very stark
Situation, and at others it is very moving, which is
down to the strength of the acting.

There is some stunning scenery, of Turin and of the Italian countryside.
In the end it was possibly this which impressed me most about the movie,
which shouldn?t really be the case when the work of Kieslowski is
in
volved.
Ultimately the story isn?t quite convincing enough, and although
parts of it are quite dramatic, it still didn?t really keep me as gripped
as it should have.

It
is probably too arty, on balance, and might have been better if it had stuck to being a thriller, or a straightforward on-the-run movie.
Strange really, because my main reason for seeing the movie was the Kieslowski connection, but somehow it was never going to live up to that kind of promise

The video does not appear to be available currently
DVD is only £6.99 at the moment though (check out amazon)

Summary: