Heaven | Review

Twyker slows down the pace for another mind-binding experience.

Compounded with an allegorical film language and a splendor of visuals,-one of the most dynamic filmmakers brings to us a tale which is one of the most out of the ordinary rides of the year. The late Krzysztof Kieslowski who had said “no” to making films after completing his Three Colours trilogy was apparently in the works with another trio of themed films-but due to his untimely death, he never got to complete them. From the script of the polish duo of Kieslowski and Piesiewicz, uber cool director Tom Tykwer draws from his art-house international successes of Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior to forge his vision with the auteur inspired work to bring this internationally flavored film to the big screen.

Under an original polish script and through the eyes of a German director we witness a half Italian spoken film by an actress from Australia and an American actor in a French production. The first half of the film contains the obligatory narrative set-up of characters which are rooted in a dramatic weight with issues of morality within a script that shows tragedies of different bearings. Revenge leads a Philippa (Cate Blanchett-Veronica Guerin) to commit the most terrible of sins-a killing which was a payback for a loved one’s death. During an interrogation, her calm and calculated demeanor is quickly changed for regret and horror once she finds out that her plans have gone awry. A strange twist in fate brings her together with the young recruit-a native Italian-speaking police man in a Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi-The Gift) who happens to know a bit of English to help her translate her motives. Drama and more than one getaway plans ensue and the second half sees a shifting in tone-with a romantic interlude that carries fewer developments, but adds more in Twyker’s specialty department of impressive visual poetics.

Tykwer’s Heaven is about taking that leap of faith,-showing the internal compassion that brings humans together. This is a surprising story to say the least, the intro contains many surprises which not only keeps the interest level up, but it also shows the filmmakers obsession with bizarre encounters between the sexes. Like the strong female characters of Sissi and Lola in which Franka Potente portrayed, Cate Blanchett offers us a persona that is emotionally complex but resiliently strong. I’m hoping that her performance does not go unnoticed-her level acting is frankly superior to anyone in the industry with a Meryl Streep performance type quality in most of her roles. She is, as usual, in a superb form, with her diligent portrayal of this complicated character and Ribisi who took on the role of a lifetime is not only a surprise choice of casting but he shows a strong performance as well. Twyker’ s visual flair implodes throughout the film, there is a brash uniqueness in his cinematography with the noticeable big-scale shots that make the mise-en-scene a marvel to look at and give a value to the metaphorical ambiance in which he tries to create. The camera shots and camera angles and sometimes the use of sound over visuals make the film a treat to watch and demonstrate that Tykwer puts a lot of thought into every shot. The initial bomb sequence reminded me of some old Hitchcock techniques-firstly Tywker gives away the identity of the killer, the target and the victims in the first couple of minutes of the film and then uses something that we saw in Hitch’s Sabotage having the children count down the elevator floor numbers in unison as the bomb is getting ready to diffuse, the subtle touch of following the bomb until the final set of doors and then watching the explosion behind the same set of doors is just as smart as the later sequence were the true target gets his due and again we witness the murder take place behind a door-this time the sound tells us what has happened. No blood and guts but rather a gun shot sound that leaves the viewer in the dark guessing who, what, when, why and where.

Thankfully, Tykwer took on a project that would have probably never have seen the day, with a more mature viewpoint, he stays true to his fetish for visuals and fun outlandish stories and switches gears as far as time and space is concerned- experimenting more in theme of a picture than in the eye candy aspects of it. I have a feeling that a lot of people might be turn-off might be found in the abstract poetic nature of the film-partially due to the alternative direction that the film takes in its closing stages, however, the power of his image will likely give Heaven the push that it needs in order to bring the future 2nd and 3rd installments of “Purgatory” and “Hell” to the adoring art-house publics.

Rating 4 stars