| Open Hearts | |
|---|---|
 Danish movie poster | |
| Directed by | Susanne Bier |
| Written by | Anders Thomas Jensen |
| Produced by | Vibeke Windeløv |
| Starring | Mads Mikkelsen Nikolaj Lie Kaas Sonja Richter Paprika Steen |
| Cinematography | Morten Søborg [de] |
| Edited by | Pernille Bech Christensen [da;de] |
| Music by | Jesper Winge Leisner [da] |
| Distributed by | Nordisk Film |
Release date |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
Open Hearts (Danish:Elsker dig for evigt) is a 2002 Danish drama film directed bySusanne Bier using the minimalist filmmaking techniques of theDogme 95 manifesto. It starsMads Mikkelsen,Nikolaj Lie Kaas,Sonja Richter andPaprika Steen. Also referred to as Dogme #28,Open Hearts relates the story of two couples whose lives are traumatized by a car crash and adultery.
Open Hearts received a 93% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes movie review website.[1] Susanne Bier received the International Critics Award at the 2002Toronto International Film Festival "for the fact that it proves that dogma has come of age and matured into a potent cinematic language that skillfully captures the freeing of real emotions that extreme trauma creates within the lives of the characters in her film."[2] The film won both theBodil andRobert awards for Best Danish Film in 2003.[3]
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An engaged couple is torn apart after the man is paralyzed in an accident and the woman falls in love with the husband of the woman who caused the accident. Joachim, a young man, is made atetraplegic and hospitalized indefinitely by a car crash after being hit by Marie. Marie's husband Niels is a doctor at the hospital, and he falls for Joachim's fiancee Cecilie, and they have an affair. Niels then leaves his wife, teenage daughter and two young boys for Cecilie, who abandons Joachim.[4]
| Open Hearts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Released | 2002 | |||
| Recorded | 2002 | |||
| Genre | Urban pop,electronica | |||
| Label | Columbia,Sony Music | |||
| Producer | Niels Brinck, Jesper Winge Leisner | |||
| Anggun chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Open Hearts | ||||
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The soundtrack for the film was recorded by Indonesian-French singerAnggun. The album was released byColumbia Records andSony Music International in many countries worldwide during 2002 to 2003. It became Anggun's second and final album to be released in the United States, followingSnow on the Sahara in 1998. The soundtrack features nine songs written and produced by Jesper Winge Leisner andNiels Brinck, three of which co-written by Anggun.
The album received positive reception frommusic critics. William Ruhlmann fromAllMusic rated it three out five stars, writing that Anggun "matches the propulsive, synthesized musical tracks with breathy, emotive vocals that never lose the beat for all their dramatic appeal."[5] The album's lead single, "Open Your Heart", charted at number 51 on theNorwegian Singles Chart and was nominated for Best Song at the 2003Robert Awards. "Counting Down" served as a radio-only single in Indonesia and promotional single in Denmark, while "I Wanna Hurt You" was released as12" vinyl single in Italy.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Counting Down" |
| 3:45 |
| 2. | "Open Your Heart" |
| 3:27 |
| 3. | "Little Things" |
| 4:29 |
| 4. | "Blue Satellite" |
| 3:44 |
| 5. | "The End of a Story" |
| 4:42 |
| 6. | "I'm Your Mirror" |
| 3:42 |
| 7. | "Pray" |
| 4:16 |
| 8. | "I Wanna Hurt You" |
| 3:35 |
| 9. | "Naked Sleep" |
| 4:20 |
| 10. | "I Wanna Hurt You" (Niels Brinck club mix) |
| |
| 11. | "Open Your Heart" (a capella edit) |
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The film holds a score of 93% positive reviews onRotten Tomatoes with the average score of 7.3/10, based on 58 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Pulsing with honesty, [Open Hearts] lays bare the rawness of human emotion with a story made all the more believable thanks to its gritty, low-budget approach."[1] OnMetacritic, the film holds a score of 77 out of 100, based on 22 reviews from professional critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]
Nick Schager ofSlant Magazine said that "Susanne Biers crafts her familiar story with equal doses of austerity and sympathy".[7]
According to Elbert Ventura ofPopMatters the film's scenario is "soapy and bedridden", adding that "Open Hearts is perhaps too studiously open-ended, a misstep we'll take considering the movie's refreshing magnanimity".[8]
In 2006,Zach Braff was reported to direct, write, and produce an English-language remake of the film following his debut ofGarden State.Paramount Pictures won the rights to produce and distribute in a bidding war betweenFox Searchlight Pictures andThe Weinstein Company.[9]Sean Penn was set to co-star with Braff in the film, but the film collapsed due to scheduling conflicts and budget issues. Despite this, Braff still hopes to one day make the film.[10]
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