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 eaven" is the latest film from German Tom Tykwer ("Run
Lola Run"), and stars Cate Blanchette ("Bandits")
as Philippa, an Englishwoman in Italy who plants a bomb in a man's office, only
to have fate intervene and move the bomb to another location where it kills 4
innocent people. The movie makes clear that Philippa is not a terrorist, but a
desperate vigilante trying to avenge the death of her husband and numerous other
victims of a businessman/drug dealer.
Joining Blanchett is Giovanni Ribisi ("Mod
Squad"), one of the more
talented young actors working today. Ribisi plays Filippo (the male name
counterpart to Blanchett's Philippa, natch), a cop at the Italian police station
where Philippa is brought in. After falling madly in love with Philippa at first
sight, the young and inexperienced Filippo creates the perfect breakout, and the
duo soon flees the city and into the countryside, even as the country mobilizes
after them.
The only way to approach "Heaven" is to take the
entire movie as a dream, unconnected with reality. If one were to look at the
film as anything else then its plot points and character motivations would come
across as simplistic and wholly ridiculous. After the intelligent "The
Princess and the Warrior," "Heaven" is something of a letdown
for Tykwer. Directed from a script by Krzystof Kieslowski and Krzystof
Piesiewicz, the film is nothing more than 90 minutes of idyllic daydreaming.
The story, such as it is, really doesn't deserve much
attention, because the filmmakers themselves seem to care very little about it.
Once Philippa is (willingly) in police custody, the film reveals that the cops
are in cahoots with the drug dealers, and that "the fix is in." But
after a couple of looks between Filippo and Philippa, the duo hatches an escape
plan to save Philippa from the frame-up. And so they do. Blah.
Unfortunately the escape is so laughable that if you had
come into "Heaven" expecting a film grounded in real-life, you were
quickly informed otherwise. Not only does the duo later return to the
police station to commit a murder, but they also leave the station
unnoticed. All this, mind you, after the whole country has been mobilized to
look out for them. One might think that the entire Italian police force is this
incompetent – not to mention corrupt to the nth degree – or one could just
say that "Heaven" is a stream of conscious film not intended to be
taken seriously and leave it alone.
Taking "Heaven" as a languid Sunday stroll
through the lush Italian city, and then its countryside, is the real way to go.
Tykwer continues to show a lot of ability with the camera, and seems to have all
but forgotten the hyperkinetic action in "Run
Lola Run." As he did in "Princess," "Heaven"
consists of a series of slow moving longshots and long, stationary close-ups of
its two stars. And if one needed to be reminded that this is nothing but some
filmmaker's daydream, then the movie's final shot will most likely do it.
The acting is, of course, superb by both Blanchett and
Ribisi, although one can't help but notice that besides being at least 10 years
older than Ribisi, Blanchett is also 2 or 3 inches taller. This makes the two
character's dichotomy a little easier to see, but it also gives them the
(unintentional) appearance of mother and son. While I think Ribisi is a fine
actor, I can't help but think that perhaps another actor, who might stand a
little taller, or was a little older, would have been a better choice. The fact
that Ribisi's character is younger than Blanchett's is addressed, but making
Filippo just a little bit older-looking, and hence older in age, wouldn't have
completely undermine the film's story. (The writers hint at Blanchett's Philippa
possibly using the lovestruck Filippo.)
"Heaven" is beautiful and lyrical in its
presentation, but there just isn't much there to hold onto when all is said and
done. Like a daydream, the film comes and goes, and once it's gone you'll think
about it for a few moments, trying to remember it, but it'll soon be forgotten
and replaced by something better.
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