I guess "Heaven" is what is called an "art film." Released in 2002, it stars the incomparable Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. Directed by Tom Tykwer, it is written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, who intended to make a trilogy, "Heaven, Hell and Purgatory." There was one other film made, supposedly as part of this trilogy, called Nadzieja, which is Polish for Hope - so perhaps this movie is "Purgatory."
A British teacher who lives in Turin, Italy, Philippa, loses her husband to a drug overdose. Destroyed by this, she works hard to have the drug dealer, the biggest in Turin, arrested and punished.
Her efforts are completely ignored by the local police. In desperation, she makes a bomb and sets it off in the location of his office. It's a disaster, as four people - a cleaning lady, a father, and two children - are killed when an elevator snaps due to the bomb.
She is arrested and is horrified when given this information. She insists upon speaking English instead of Italian when questioned, so a young police officer Filipo (Ribisi) offers to interpret. He falls in love with her and helps her escape.
It's no coincidence that the two have the same name -- this is a story of soulmates. For Philippa, there is no thought of escape. She knows she is responsible for the death of four people and intends to pay the price. But the drug dealer is still alive, and she intends to finish what she began. For Filipo, as he tells her, he doesn't know what will happen, but it will "be something beautiful."
The photography in this film is magical in its beauty -- the camera sweeps over the Italian landscape, and the aerial shots are breathtaking.
This is not an action film, or one in which much happens -- it's a story of love, connection, resolve, and acceptance.
The ending is ambiguous, in a way, and in another way, symbolic and ties back to the first scene in the film. When you first see the movie, the first scene will seem extraneous. It isn't. Nothing extraneous here.
You can't really label this film. It's not a conventional love story, it's not an action film, it's not really a suspense film, and people even question if it's a foreign film, though most of the dialogue is Italian. It's simply a beautiful film, with a brilliant, spare performance by Cate Blanchett. She fits herself into the tapestry of the film, adding to it, but not distracting us from it.
Beautiful and well worth seeing unless you like CGI effects, blood, violence, and profanity.
A British teacher who lives in Turin, Italy, Philippa, loses her husband to a drug overdose. Destroyed by this, she works hard to have the drug dealer, the biggest in Turin, arrested and punished.
Her efforts are completely ignored by the local police. In desperation, she makes a bomb and sets it off in the location of his office. It's a disaster, as four people - a cleaning lady, a father, and two children - are killed when an elevator snaps due to the bomb.
She is arrested and is horrified when given this information. She insists upon speaking English instead of Italian when questioned, so a young police officer Filipo (Ribisi) offers to interpret. He falls in love with her and helps her escape.
It's no coincidence that the two have the same name -- this is a story of soulmates. For Philippa, there is no thought of escape. She knows she is responsible for the death of four people and intends to pay the price. But the drug dealer is still alive, and she intends to finish what she began. For Filipo, as he tells her, he doesn't know what will happen, but it will "be something beautiful."
The photography in this film is magical in its beauty -- the camera sweeps over the Italian landscape, and the aerial shots are breathtaking.
This is not an action film, or one in which much happens -- it's a story of love, connection, resolve, and acceptance.
The ending is ambiguous, in a way, and in another way, symbolic and ties back to the first scene in the film. When you first see the movie, the first scene will seem extraneous. It isn't. Nothing extraneous here.
You can't really label this film. It's not a conventional love story, it's not an action film, it's not really a suspense film, and people even question if it's a foreign film, though most of the dialogue is Italian. It's simply a beautiful film, with a brilliant, spare performance by Cate Blanchett. She fits herself into the tapestry of the film, adding to it, but not distracting us from it.
Beautiful and well worth seeing unless you like CGI effects, blood, violence, and profanity.