The Beat That My Heart Skipped

To be shown: 2 October 2006

France 2005
107 minutes
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup, Lin-Dan Pham.

Synopsis

Romain Duris stars as Tom. Macho and aggressive he is making a good living in the seamy, violent underside of the real estate business in Paris. Strutting and cruel, he and his buddies arrive at night in their big cars outside run-down apartment blocks and proceed to intimidate the poor and often illegal immigrant tenants, who they attack ferociously with fists, rats and bats – no, that’s baseball bats not the little furry fliers.

Tom has been introduced to this life by his father Robert (Niels Arestrup) who is still dabbling in nefarious activities and involving his son when things go wrong. One of the strengths of the film is the portrayal of the father-son relationship. Tom reluctantly sees that his father’s life is going to pieces and he is becoming an embarrassing burden but he still feels duty-bound to help him, no matter what.
There is another aspect to Tom and this is rekindled when he meets the manager of his late mother, a concert pianist, who died tragically young. The sensitive music-loving side of Tom has withered under the tutelage of his dreadful dad but can he reclaim it?

Romain Duris has been in many films in the last 10 years and here shows real star quality. His clenched, nervy face can dissolve into vulnerability, especially in his dealings with his father whom he obviously loves.

Much of the action is filmed with a hand-held camera, which is used to great effect in the breakneck opening scenes and later, when Tom's dad involves him in a bit of 'persuasion' in a café, the fluency of the camerawork is particularly effective.
With a stunning central performance from Duris and an award-winning score, this was one of the outstanding films of 2005.