The Beat That My Heart Skipped (De battre mon cœur s’est arrêté) is a 2005 French noir-drama directed by Jacques Audiard about a man torn between his family loyalty, his job and his desire to become a piano artist. Tom at 29 (played by Romain Duris) is living in a dangerous world as real estate thug; chasing squatters and illegal immigrants, and sometimes his father ask him to beat up creditors who does not pay. For him, getting angry and stepping on other people’s lives are his way of life that puts him following on his father’s footsteps. Until a chance encounter of his late mother’s music agent made him believe that he can be something other than the one he have – as an artist – and perhaps another chance to life.
The entirety of the film narrated how Tom balances the two contrasting worlds; the dark side of the city and the gratifying world of music. He decided to audition for a piano concert just like his mom did when she was alive, but ten years of no practice is a lot a gap to cover. So he hired the aid of Miao-Lin, a beautiful Chinese music student who just arrived in Paris. He juggled his piano lessons with his shadowy job that often involves planting sacks of mouse in apartments, carrying baseball bats to ward off the squatters and beating other people up. A loyal son by day, a music student by afternoon and a thug by night, then add to the list are his problematic temper, his father’s awful involvement with a Russian mob, and his budding affair with his boss’ wife. Life wouldn’t be so messed up for Tom. And it all started when he discovered his passion for music.
This film focuses on Tom’s perspective about his struggles in life, his descent to a life of crime and his attempt to get back his lost soul. His decision to get in touch with his musical was probably his way of redeeming himself. This is a story of a man torn between two worlds which he knows he must choose only one of them. Either to make dirty money or to become a musician. Even his attempt to regain the once-forgotten musical talents also had its obstacle courses because of the increasingly difficult piano classes spiced up by his short temper and the language barrier with Miao-Lin who doesn’t speak any French. But their unusual circumstances brought an unlikely friendship with his piano teacher that could make or break his dreams.
The film used classical music including Bach‘s Toccata in E minor. Romain Duris was trained by his sister and pianist Caroline Dubais for the role. But the film did not really focus on the musical element of the story with performances in the piano are far out and limited. Even the musical score is minimal and something viewers won’t realize that it’s there at all. But the thing keeps the film together is the remarkable performance of Romain Duris who gave Tom – a hardened, merciless thug – a soft and compelling human side desperately trying to have his life back and become who he really wanted to be.
The general atmosphere of ‘The Beat That My Heart Skipped‘ is a flat-out European character driven picture. It’s not really a film I could recommend to everyone because the story isn’t something pleasant or exciting to watch, although it’s still good film for me. The pacing of the story is slow and filled with silent gaps and close-up views. It has a tendency to bore people out if they take it as an exciting romance flick. ‘The Beat’ is a powerful drama that features a darker aspect of the urban life and an interesting study of into the soul of man in his quest for redemption, forgiveness and love.
Lourd Filmamir 