A Hole In My Heart
2004 ‘Ett hål i mitt hjärta’ Directed by Lukas Moodysson
Synopsis
In a decript apartment, a young man watches as his father and a friend shoot an amateur porn film. Issues of morality, reality TV and friendship are explored.
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A very... uh... "intimate" and interesting character study about three people with some serious, deep-rooted issues. The visuals (and audio) are very confrontational and reminded me a lot, stylistically, of Lucifer Valentine (Slaughtered Vomit Dolls), with a little bit of Harmony Korine thrown in - specifically Gummo, in that the film has this way of exploiting an ugly, trashy side of humanity, but doing so in a way that doesn't feel like they're being made a mockery of. This film also features graphic imagery, ranging from surgery footage to rainbow showers. It's an interesting and, at times, intense ride, I'll say that much.
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Not quite as radical as I thought it would be, but still an interesting experimental feature. Produced in lo-fi documentary style, A Hole In My Heart constantly plays on viewers' perception of reality vs fiction (and pretty effectively so - definitely watch the extra featurette A Second Hole in my Heart). Other than that, there is not much to follow or make it stick.
Disconcerting, repulsive, occasionally painful, yet not particularly memorable.
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Almost unwatchable at times, this Scandinavian tour de force goes way beyond where you want to go and for what? It is inconceivable that this complicated, deranged, filthy, noisy and objectionable film could have been put together so convincingly without there being real and genuine anger to express. We have a father making porno in the lounge whilst his son takes no part and barely leaves his room. The girl is used and abused and comes back for more. It transpires that the son’s mother died in a car crash when he was four and we later learn that the crazed and desperate father was raped by his father as a boy. There are digs at reality TV, cosmetic surgery and violence against women but surely most of this brutal journey is Mr Moodysson trying to tell us something about himself. And that is really scary - Bataille would have loved it!