Beating Hearts – An Overambitious Odyssee

Based on the book “Jackie Loves Johnser OK?” by Neville Thompson, Beating Hearts (or L’Amour Ouf) sees actor, turned screenwriter and director, Gilles Lellouche reunites with past collaborators Ahmed Hamidi (Le Grand Bain/Sink or Swim), Julien Lambroschini (Le Grand Bain/Sink or Swim), and Audrey Diwan (BAC Nord/The Stronghold) to adapt the book into a cinematic love odyssey. The film tells the story of Clotaire (Civil) and Jackie (Exarchopoulos), two characters with entirely opposing personalities; Clotaire is a thug attracted to danger, and Jackie is a clever girl who wants to challenge the status quo of life. Their antagonism brings them together, as they found themselves falling in love. Surrounded by the complicated reality of his family, Clotaire chooses to join a local gang that robs armored vehicles delivering money for banks. When one of those operations goes wrong, and Clotaire is found guilty and is sentenced to spend twelve years in prison.

With a soundtrack leaning heavily on the biggest hits of the 1980s and 1990s, the music merely serves as a catalyst for the characters’ emotions. A particular needle drop of ‘A Forest’ by The Cure plays when Jackie first realizes she is interested in Clotaire, and she imagines a whole sequence of them dancing together in blinding lights. It is an engaging proposition to explore the emotive threads in this narrative. However, the film has a rich catalog of prominent music and appears to lose interest in imagining the songs as the melodic translation of their emotions. It is an idea trapped in the ocean of other diverse ideas that Lellouche brings to the film.

Structure-wise, Beating Hearts is an ambitious effort to tell the story of two teenagers whose love never vanishes. In this sense, Clotaire’s gangster subplot is imagined almost as a mafia film. He begins as an apprentice, then goes to jail and returns as the leader of a gang out for revenge against those who let him rot in jail. However, his trajectory drives the film to many avenues that are likely to leave audiences confused thanks to an editing process that adds more rather than trims its excesses. For a film that brings plenty of ideas and characters to the table, it barely develops any of its characters outside of Clotaire and Jackie. Using time jumps as a means to advance the story and establish new story arcs, this creative choice creates a sense of disorganization that prevents audiences from connecting to characters who are always at a distance.

Besides a disjointed structure that gives them very little to work with, the chemistry between Civil and Exarchopoulos, each playing the adult versions of Clotaire and Jackie, make for a convincing and engaging dynamic. Their first scene together, not until well into the film, is emotional and helps to claim back the attention dispersed during a bloated second act. Their interactions on screen provide a different approach from the couple in their teenage years, portrayed by Malik Frika and Mallory Wanecque respectively. Each pair possess a different tone in the tragical expressions and their passionate body language. This gives a tone of cohesion and progression that the script and directing do not offer much throughout its long 160-minute runtime.

In the end, Beating Hearts (or L’Amour Ouf) is an epic journey of love, although one that fails to balance the different passages of time well enough to leave an emotional impact on audiences. While it does bring some fascinating ideas to the table, unclear direction by Gilles Lellouche and a confusing editing process prevent the film from being the remarkable odyssey it is clearly aiming to be.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.