La Chamade (Heartbeat)
by Alain Cavalier
List Price:
Our Price: $7.23
You Save: $7.75 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.35 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amidou, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli, Philippine Pascal, Roger Van HoolDirector: Alain Cavalier
Brand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of La Chamade (Heartbeat)
Movie Review: A visual discussion of man's incomprehension of woman
Summary: 4 Stars
Catherine Deneuve is one of film's all time great beauties who has also become a very fine actress. At this point in her career, she was still blank but beautiful. Her Director put this to good use, casting her as a woman who is pampered, spoiled, a woman for whom life has given her so much she is completely lost and has no idea what she really wants, but drifts from vague whim to whim.
Of course, she is such a beauty that she is perfect casting for this kind of woman who has men falling over themselves just to light her cigarette, and the kind of jealousy and possessive controlling impulses beauty brings out in men.
Lightly handled, this film is a visual discussion of the true nature of love, and the tradeoffs we make in finding the right relationship. Money and stability, passion and poverty are contrasted, with some surprising revelations about what makes a love meaningful and lasting. Yves St. Laurent supplies the really amazing wardrobe for the sequences of wealth ( I counted at least 5 really flawlessly coutured coats), which seems at first to make this film very glossy and superficial and "what will she wear next" - but this supplies our framework of seeing how unimportant these things are to her, and also builds a great contrast for the sections of everyday financial struggles.
This film is greater than the sum of it's parts. Great costumes, some postcard style cinematography, and a fine performance by Roger Van Hool as the obsessed Antoine, and an exceptional, nuanced performance by Michel Piccoli as Charles. (He and Deneuve had made several films together by this point, which augments the familiar feeling between them.)
Because DeNeuve is still young here, and the essential capricious coldness of her character, this film does not supply as much emotional connection or depth as it could. We have only Piccoli as a window for that, so this film becomes a man's view of the beautiful woman they adore, and a fine representation of their incomprehension of women. Historically, falling in step with "free love" and early feminism, it is a great representation of that special time when men really could not figure out what women wanted... because women were still trying to figure it out themselves.
Summary of La Chamade (Heartbeat)
LA CHAMADE (HEARTBEAT) - DVD MovieSimilar DVD Movies
RepulsionKOC; Release date: 2005-02-08; DVD
Best price: $9.67
Price in other shops:
Genealogies of a CrimeRelease date: 2005-04-19; DVD
Best price: $13.50
Price in other shops:
PoticheMBF; Release date: 2011-07-19; DVD
Best price: $17.10
Price in other shops:
Belle de JourBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2002-01-22; DVD
Best price: $20.99
Changing TimesKoch International; Release date: 2006-10-03; DVD
Best price: $13.89
Price in other shops:
The Girl on the TrainRelease date: 2010-05-18; DVD
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Love Songs: Paroles et Musique (Special Edition)Koch International; Release date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Mississippi MermaidSony; Release date: 2001-01-23; Published: 2001-01-01; DVD
Best price: $7.58
Price in other shops:
Apres LuiMPI; Release date: 2009-08-11; DVD
Best price: $3.81
Price in other shops:
Catherine Deneuve Collection (Manon 70 / Le sauvage / Hôtel des amériques / Le choc / Fort Saganne)DENEUVE,CATHERINE; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: