Film

Animal Heart

Animal Heart

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Coeur animal
Cert:(adv 15)
Dir. Séverine Cornamusaz
Switzerland , 95 mins, 2009
Cast: Olivier Rabourdin, Camille Japy, Antonio Buíl, Franziska Kahl, Pierre-Louis Normand

UK Premiere

A rural drama of high passions in the Swiss Alps, Animal Heart may strike a resonant chord with audiences who recently enjoyed Brit Peter Strickland's much-admired Transylvania-set Katalin Varga. A quietly bold and ravishingly beautiful feature debut by director/co-writer Séverine Cornamusaz, based on a novel by Noelle Revaz, it's the story of introverted farmer Paul (Rabourdin), a laconic misanthrope who's quite content to keep his distance from humanity. Indeed, as noted by Variety magazine's critic Dennis Harvey, “he treats his livestock considerably better than he does long-suffering wife Rosine (Japy) or new farmhand Eusebio (Buil), an easygoing Spaniard. When Rosine complains of belly pain, Paul assumes she's pregnant at last; it's Eusebio who realises she might instead be seriously ill.” Turbulent complications quickly ensue in this “solidly crafted and acted picture... topped by excellent widescreen lensing of spectacular Alpine scenery,” which won the much-coveted International Critics' prize at the Mannheim-Heidelberg Film Festival. “Exceptional actors tell a seemingly archaic story so convincingly that it touches the audience's heart,” noted the jury.

Print source: P. S. Productions

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