Open Hearts (Elsker Dig For Evigt)
A Susanne Bier film
In this Dogme 95 film, Cecille and Joachim are a young couple whose relationship is nothing short of ideal. When a tragic accident separates the pair, Niels, a married doctor, tries to console Cecille. As they grow closer, their relationship threatens Niels' almost equally idyllic marriage to Marie.
Member Reviews
Bier keeps it real - sooz
Suzanne Bier received some worldwide attention with her best foreign oscar win for In A Better World. i've not seen it yet, but liked some of her earlier work (Brothers, What We Lost in the Fire and After the Wedding) so i wasn't surprised at the quality of Open Hearts. this could have been a melodramatic, over-emoting, manipulative piece of crap, but Bier and her fine acting crew kept the story real.Emotionallly engaging and realistic - Mano
This is not one of the run of the mill films. Susan Bier is an excellent director and this early film shows her strengths. She handles this real life drama whihc happens every day, perhaps every hour in our big cities. So many accidents, such tragedies,such severe physical disabilities with emotional consequences. These are real.
Guilt prone mother and her daughter partially aresponsible for the way things develop between Niels and Cecille yet their journey has its own life. Very sentimental and very well portrayed.
Perhaps bit verbose at times? Music could have been better.
I recommend it.Are you lonesome tonight? - luminol
This is one of those Danish delights where it would be wiser simply to recommend this compelling drama rather than catalogue it's numerous strengths and try to convince zippers of it's merit. All the actors are superlative. The story unfolds with an astonishing simplicity.
Still reading? The original Danish title: "Love you forever" points ironically to the impermanence of it. One young couple: Cecille (a chef) and Joachim (the mountain climber) are wholeheartedly skipping into the heady period of "being in love." While another, slightly older couple, Marie and Niels (the doctor) with their boisterous family of five seem to have just left it. Their rebellious daughter Stine, wisecracks about the lack of spontaneity and passion in their marriage.
The English title: "Open hearts" (surgery?) seems to point to the dichotomy of marking the days of your life versus a passion for filling them with happiness and love, which plays out mainly through the stories of Niels and Joachim. Niels discovers living his life, above all else, means following his heart. In Joachim's case: the hospital staff has a bird's eye view of the stages of grief and the clinical process of recovery, their answers are quick and assured and they almost intuit his reactions before him ... whereas Joachim actually has to discover how to sleep walk through the rest of his life with his broken, mangled body.
Member Reviews
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Bier keeps it real - sooz
Suzanne Bier received some worldwide attention with her best foreign oscar win for In A Better World. i've not seen it yet, but liked some of her earlier work (Brothers, What We Lost in the Fire and After the Wedding) so i wasn't surprised at the quality ...Emotionallly engaging and realistic - Mano
This is not one of the run of the mill films. Susan Bier is an excellent director and this early film shows her strengths. She handles this real life drama whihc happens every day, perhaps every hour in our big cities. So many accidents, such tragedies,such ...Are you lonesome tonight? - luminol
This is one of those Danish delights where it would be wiser simply to recommend this compelling drama rather than catalogue it's numerous strengths and try to convince zippers of it's merit. All the actors are superlative. The story unfolds with an astonishing ...