Heaven (Tom Tykwer, 2002)
by: Matthew Hundley
I don't know why The Pixies rendition of "Heaven" comes into my head when I think of this movie. That song, of course, extracted from David Lynch's "Eraserhead" in which the lady in the radiator sings, "In Heaven everything is fine. You've got your good things and I've got mine." The song does work in light of the Tykwer/Kieslowski collaborative film. Phillipa (Cate Blanchett), ultimately hopes to achieve some good when she sets out to blow up the office of a drug dealer who has been targeting the children she teaches. Filippo (Giovanni Ribisi) also seeks to do a good thing in releasing Phillipa from her situation of incarceration. There is a moment of bliss, of Heaven in their flight. And there is ultimate release as they zoom up to Heaven. But is that all that Heaven is? A moment of escape. A place in the sky. There are certainly plenty of thought provoking questions (philosophical and religious) boiling under the surface of this film; questions which Tykwer and Kieslowski are known for bringing up in their films. They both like to paint moral, ethical dilemmas that force characters (and the audience) to choose between God and man, between good and evil, and they often blur of lines between sacred and secular worldviews. A simple film on the surface that will shake up deeper thoughts in your head for days that follow.
Posted: April 12, 2009  
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