A good heart
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A good heart |
| Original title | The Good Heart |
| Country of production |
Denmark Iceland USA France Germany |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 99 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dagur Kári |
| script | Dagur Kári |
| production |
Skuli Fr. Malmquist Thor Sigurjonsson |
| music | Slowblow |
| camera | Rasmus Videbæk |
| cut | Andri Steinn |
| occupation | |
| |
A good heart is a tragic comedy by Dagur Kári from 2009. It was an international co-production.
action
The old Jacques runs the shabby House of Oysters (House of Oysters) in New York , where he only serves regular customers, whom he also treats generally unfriendly. Heart failure for a long time, Jacques collapses with a heart attack during a relaxation exercise that upsets him. At the hospital, he ends up in the same room as the young homeless Lucas, who has attempted suicide. The two men do not have much to say to each other, but Jacques looks for him on the street after he has been released from the hospital. He takes Lucas with him because he wants to make him his successor. Lucas initially proves to be too friendly and too good-natured. As has been the case for years, he only sleeps under the bed and feels rather uncomfortable with the new things Jacques is buying him. Over time, Lucas learns the "right" way to deal with regular customers, walk-in customers and the coffee machine. In addition to Jacques, he is kept company in the bar by the tarragon duck, which both men have already bought for the approaching Christmas and which they want to marinate "inside out" with fine food until the slaughter.
One day the young April appears in the bar. She has lost her job as a flight attendant and can not afford a return trip to France . Lucas lets her spend the night in his room and thus incurs the anger of Jacques. He decides that April should disappear from the bar within 24 hours. Lucas secretly gives her money, but she prefers to use it to buy new clothes. When she comes back, she makes a marriage proposal to Lucas and he agrees. He separates from Jacques in an argument and Jacques suffers another heart attack when he is upset about the regular customers who want to give him a cake for his birthday. In the hospital, Jacques allows Lucas to marry April. The simple wedding takes place shortly afterwards. When April flirts with a regular customer some time later, Lucas chases her away. Only now do Jacques and the regular customers realize how much they miss April.
Jacques is in the hospital at Christmas time. His health has deteriorated and he is on the waiting list for a donor heart. He spends Christmas in the bar, where he refrains from slaughtering tarragon. But on New Year's Eve he is almost dying in the hospital. Meanwhile, the New Year's Eve party is in full swing in the bar. Lucas is happy that April has returned to him. In the middle of the celebration, Lucas notices that tarragon has disappeared. He sees him not far from the bar on the street. While trying to catch him, Lucas is hit by a car. He dies instantly. Jacques receives his heart. Some time later you can see Jacques by the sea. He went to see friends who live in the sunny south. However, a picture of him and Lucas is always close by.
production
A good heart is the third feature film by director Dagur Kári. It was shot in New York City , Iceland and the Dominican Republic (final scene). The film had its world premiere on September 11, 2009 at the Toronto International Film Festival and was shown for the first time in Germany on October 7, 2010 at the Hamburg Film Festival ; The film was released in German cinemas on November 25, 2010 and was released on DVD in 2011.
criticism
Arte called A Good Heart an "absurd tragic comedy in which the 'ecosystem' bar becomes a symbol of human community". "A typical underdog story that is quite touching," said Prisma , and compared the humor of the film with directorial work by Jim Jarmusch and Aki Kaurismäki . Philipp Bühler drew the same comparisons in the Berliner Zeitung . He says the film is "not necessarily a thing for the head, more a pleasure for the moment". “Perhaps something is missing in Kári's wonderfully economical, gray in gray shining film. Perhaps it will be a touch too easy and too much of a Christmas story. But just for the way in which the world of feasibility and positive thinking shines into what is not feasible, it is worth seeing 'a good heart' ”, summarized Der Tagesspiegel . Die Zeit judged similarly, criticized the ending as too cheesy and felt that the feeling that “something was missing” remained, so the motivation for action remained unexplained.
Awards
Rasmus Videbæk won the Nordic Vision Award for best cameraman at the Göteborg International Film Festival . In addition, the film was nominated for the 2010 Nordic Council Film Award.
At the ceremony of the Icelandic Film Awards Edda won Good Heart 2011, four prices: Dagur Kári received Edda as a director of the year and for the screenplay of the year, Helga Rós Hannam was awarded for the best costume design and Halfdan Pedersen and Zik Zak Filmworks received the prize for the best production design. The film received Edda nominations in four other categories (Actor of the Year - Brian Cox; Best Film; Best Cinematography - Rasmus Videbæk; Best Editing - Andri Steinn).
Web links
- A good heart in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- A good heart at filmportal.de
- A good heart in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. A good heart ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on arte.tv, June 28, 2012.
- ↑ A good heart on prisma.de, July 11, 2012.
- ^ Philipp Bühler: Whisper bar with grumpy landlord. Icelandic drunkards in New York: "A good heart" . In: Berliner Zeitung . No. 276/2010 , November 25, 2010, cultural calendar. Film, p. 2 .
- ↑ Kerstin Decker: The gray glow . tagesspiegel.de, November 25, 2010.
- ↑ Rafael Dernbach: A run-down bar as a family replacement . zeit.de, November 22, 2010.
