Heaven

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: "Heaven" starts much better than it ends. The haunting pilot training sequence is a wonderful opener, and the quick segue into a dramatically miscalculated assassination sets a gripping pace. Director Tom Tykwer is perhaps more at home with such suspenseful sequences, because once the characters become more important than the plot, his touch wanes. Still, the romantic aspects of his earlier films were nicely handled, so it may well be an issue of casting. While Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi give great performances and are individually quite convincing, the romance between them is rarely credible. It runs more cold than hot, so this comes dangerously close to playing as a tale of love-exploited rather than love-as-redeemer. As is inevitably the case with posthumously produced material, you can't help wondering what the original director might have made of it - and I can't help thinking that in Krzysztof Kieslowski's hands it would have been a better film. His peerless skill with colour, mood, music and symbolism - and his ability to extract performances relying on silence more than dialogue - might have elevated this from a good film to a truly great one. Still, it's worth seeing - for Kieslowski fans, and in its own right.

Rating:
Summary: Worst movie ever
Review: "Heaven" is the worst movie I have ever seen. I don't understand why people are giving this movie such high ratings. Do yourself a favor and skip this movie.

Rating:
Summary: enjoyable. the whole movie is better than the parts
Review: A film by Tom Twyker

I can no longer remember why I had originally wanted to see this movie, only that it ended up on my "to watch" list for an extended period of time. I finally got a chance to rent this and I was surprised and pleased to see that it is directed by Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run). The fact that it stars Cate Blanchett is another plus. The dialogue in this film is almost entirely spoken in Italian with a small amount of English spread throughout the movie.

At the beginning of the movie, Philippa (Cate Blanchett) plants a bomb in a man's office. She makes sure that the other office workers are not in the area and then calls the police, telling them what she did and saying that they did not listen to her phone calls and her letters, and this is the result. Unfortunately, as she is making the phone call, a member of the cleaning staff empties the wastebasket with the bomb and it subsequently explodes, killing four people, none of them the target. Philippa is arrested and she breaks down when she learns that four innocents were killed.

Philippa tries to explain her intent and why she was trying to kill that particular man. The Italian police do not believe her, and the proof she offers up disappears in the investigation. A young police officer, Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) takes pity on her and falls in love with Philippa. Yes, it is that quick. He decides to help her escape, and then help her continue on with her mission to kill the man who she feels needs killing.

As far as the story making sense and being believable, "Heaven" does not succeed in this way. What "Heaven" does do a good job of is making me care about Philippa and what happens to her. While the plot didn't make too much sense, the movie still drew me in and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It has a much slower pace than Twyker's "Run Lola Run", but like "Run Lola Run" I enjoyed every minute of the movie...even those minutes that seemed out of place. This is not a great movie, but it is a pretty good one. Somehow, the movie is better than the sum of its parts, but if you try to think back and break up the whole back into parts, you can't quite figure out exactly what it is that you liked about the movie. For me, that's "Heaven".

Rating:
Summary: enjoyable. the whole movie is better than the parts
Review: A film by Tom Twyker

I can no longer remember why I had originally wanted to see this movie, only that it ended up on my "to watch" list for an extended period of time. I finally got a chance to rent this and I was surprised and pleased to see that it is directed by Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run). The fact that it stars Cate Blanchett is another plus. The dialogue in this film is almost entirely spoken in Italian with a small amount of English spread throughout the movie.

At the beginning of the movie, Philippa (Cate Blanchett) plants a bomb in a man's office. She makes sure that the other office workers are not in the area and then calls the police, telling them what she did and saying that they did not listen to her phone calls and her letters, and this is the result. Unfortunately, as she is making the phone call, a member of the cleaning staff empties the wastebasket with the bomb and it subsequently explodes, killing four people, none of them the target. Philippa is arrested and she breaks down when she learns that four innocents were killed.

Philippa tries to explain her intent and why she was trying to kill that particular man. The Italian police do not believe her, and the proof she offers up disappears in the investigation. A young police officer, Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) takes pity on her and falls in love with Philippa. Yes, it is that quick. He decides to help her escape, and then help her continue on with her mission to kill the man who she feels needs killing.

As far as the story making sense and being believable, "Heaven" does not succeed in this way. What "Heaven" does do a good job of is making me care about Philippa and what happens to her. While the plot didn't make too much sense, the movie still drew me in and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It has a much slower pace than Twyker's "Run Lola Run", but like "Run Lola Run" I enjoyed every minute of the movie...even those minutes that seemed out of place. This is not a great movie, but it is a pretty good one. Somehow, the movie is better than the sum of its parts, but if you try to think back and break up the whole back into parts, you can't quite figure out exactly what it is that you liked about the movie. For me, that's "Heaven".

Rating:
Summary: beautiful!
Review: An amazing, beautiful film. The best film this year for sure.
Must watch!

Rating:
Summary: Vague Review! Yay!
Review: Being a huge, huge Kieslowski fan, I had a lot of high expectations for this film. Kieslowski and Tykwer, respectively, tend to deal with very simple plots, but explore their stories and characters in subtle, prodding ways just beneath the surface of that simplicity. I enjoy this a lot when it works; it's like sucking down a morphine drip if done improperly. Quite happily, "Heaven" falls into the former category.

I don't want to ruin the film for anyone, but i'll say this: Blanchett has truly reinforced herself as a versatile, more than capable actress. I am not an outwardly emotional person, but i'll be damned if every nuance and motion of her performance wasn't screaming at me to experience her character's emotions. Ribisi also does a fine job here; not on the level of Blanchett's performance, but he's grown leaps and bounds since I first saw him, and this has given me a lot more faith in his capabilities. On-screen, their interaction is a little awkward at times; however, i'm almost inclined to believe this was intentional, so as to better reflect the individual, internal conflicts of each character.

Story-wise, this is pure homage and interpretation, as far as i'm concerned. It is every bit a Tykwer film as it is a Kieslowski film, and deserves to be viewed as such. Tykwer's sense of setting and cinematography fits Kieslowski's script quite well - everything feels like it's based in reality, but when the story drifts ever so slightly towards one of our lead characters, it all becomes very atmospheric. In my eyes, this is not a film about a young man desperately trying to help a woman because of her grief; it's a film about a young man trying to save a woman's life in order to find his own. Redemption of this nature is a difficult thing to understand, particularly if we're experiencing it. Given the nature of the film and the concepts it tackles, the careful pacing and almost surreal sensibilities of the film suit the subject matter quite well.

If my review seems vague, it's because you're all capable of reading a plot synopsis. Based upon the folks who are posting about how they can't keep up with subtitles, i've opted to direct my review largely at those who are accustomed to the works of either director, and are wondering what to expect on a more sensory level.

Rating:
Summary: Reaching for Heaven; Gifted Ms. Blanchett in Love Story
Review: Cate Blanchett has shown her enormous talent in this film as Philippa, English teacher who is arrested for murder in Italy. In more than one sense, however, this is a difficult role, for she finds herself in a strange position -- she is loved by an Italian cadet at Carabinieri (The National Guard), Filippo (played by Giovanni Ribisi).

The film starts like a well-crafted crime thriller. Philippa sets an explosive device in an office, but her plan to kill the target misfires, killing innocent people. After being arrested as a terrorist, she learns it, and collapses.

One guy was watching it; a rookie guard Filippa. Helping her, he falls in love with her, and decides to save her no matter what it takes. But you will learn soon, like these two characters -- save from what?

The first half of "Heaven" is just rivetting, tightly constructed with skillful editing. The acting is always convincing, even while they speak in Italian (Ribisi's character is an Italain, a brave step, indeed), and the cold, artificial look of the city of Turin (northern Italain city) has a curious quality of beauty.

As other reviewers say, the second half is rather weak, being a little allegorical. Philippa and Filippo, it is suggested, know their fate, and are ready to accept it. The way the film describes it, however, is too slow and predictable for some viewers even though the film does not lose its beauty all through the story. Let me say only this; the latter half, set in the beautiful scenery of warm country of Tuscany, is slightly disappointing for all its beauty and thought-provoking finale.

It might be surprising to see director Tom Tykwer, famous for "Run Lola Run," can make this poetic film with measured pace. But he did it, it is true, and for those fans of Ms. Blanchett whose works should not be missed, it is another gift sent from "Heaven" ... literally.

The script has a unique history of its own; it is part of trilogy written by two men from Poland, late Krzysztof Kielowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, writers duo for director Kielowski's "Three Colors Trilogy" and "La Double vie de Veronique." After the death of Kielowski, the script is left, seeking for the right person to direct it. I wonder what is the original ending, if any, or what happened (if happened) to other two parts of the trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad !
Review: Good acting, good story but too many coincidences maybe.Enjoy a great Cate Blanchett, the great Italian landscapes. The plot is working well and even if sometimes slow and seems long, make this movie enjoyable enough.

Rating:
Summary: The Movie was one of the rare movies to effect anyone
Review: Good points in this movie:
The storyline
Great acting of cate blanchett
good directing,
these were all good points in this movie

Well, but basicly this is what I was trying to say. I remember the start being pretty good, making room for a great story to be told.
I think urinating into one's pants as a reaction to fallen in love is very strange. It had some kind of esoteric touch to it. And it sure made it hard for me to take this dude or the movie serious.
When their heads were shaved, the visual humorous note to it was much stronger to me than the intensity that their situation was supposed to posess. Immigrants from mars trying to act out as humans on a not-standard love-story. Since this came close to my perception of this film i couldnt take it serious.

The subject of "love" was presented in a very different way that i see it. One thing is the difference of stature which is argueable but my opinion. Love is something that both parts have to work on. People may feel very attracted to each other when first seeing each other, but this is 10th grade high school stuff "(s)he is soooo cute:)" and at ribsis age should be identified as just that. Real love has its roots in true developed personality. Kate Blanchet's character was very much superior to ribsi's personality-wise.

By the way cate blanchett is one of the very few women who shaved head fits them better than with her,when she shaves her head she looks lke she's 19!!!

Rating:
Summary: A considerable achievement
Review: HEAVEN is another of those films that came and went in the theaters without much notice. Perhaps it is because the dialogue of the film is predominantly in Italian and the film was not advertised as an art/foreign film. No matter. Now that the DVD is available this little treasure is better savored in the intimacy of the home than the huge theater.

Whenever actors of the substance of Cate Blanchette and Giovanni Ribisi pledge their support to a script, the viewer can rest assured that the script is a fine one. This script (Krzsztof Kieslowski) is no exception. The direction (Tom Tykwer) is sensitive, tender, human, and maintains tension while inserting gentle reprieves of interpersonal moments. Using a fascinting opening sequence of a simulated helicopter flight (for Ribisi, a young policeman) Tykwer suggests that the warning given Ribisi that he is not to fly to high or he will just reach heaven sets the tenor for this film. Blanchette (Philippa - and Enlish teacher in Turin, Italy) is a driven woman, plotting a bomb to destroy an Italian businessman/drug king because her warnings to the police have resulted in nothing. Her bomb is mistakenly misplaced by a cleaning woman and results in the death of four innocent people. When arrested, Blanchette discovers the fumble and is devastated. At this point she decides to give testimony only in her native language of English (all dialogue is Italian up to now) and the young Ribisi happens to be bilingual and serves as her translator. He slowly comes out of his shy shell as a person and falls in love with Blanchette, helping her escape and eventually flies away with her in a helicopter that ascends and ascends........ Along the way we meet all manner of Italians, each treated as a supporting character of importance. The story is simple but opens doors to universal truths and shouts strongly for the importance of faith and belief in interpersonal relationships. This little movie is a joy.