Cate Blanchett Movie:

Editorial Review:
The luminous Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth, The Lord of the Rings) stars as a British teacher living in Italy who's driven to plant a bomb on a drug dealer in cahoots with the police. When she is arrested and interrogated, she learns that her bomb went awry and killed four innocents; a young policeman (Giovanni Ribisi, Saving Private Ryan) is so struck by her grief that he falls helplessly in love with her and throws aside his entire life to help her. Directed by Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) from a screenplay cowritten by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski (Trois Couleurs, The Double Life of Veronique), Heaven is a film with an astonishing compassion for the power and fragility of human relationships, coupled with a faith that forces beyond our understanding can shape our lives. It's a stunning, mysterious movie that may affect you in surprising ways. --Bret Fetzer

Heaven [Region 2] Reviews:
Tom Twyker is a master of mise en scene
2008-09-21 - German-born Tom Twyker, director of many successful films, is perhaps best known for 1998 classic, "Lola Rennt" ("Run Lola, Run").

In "Heaven" Cate Blanchart is cast as Philippa, an English school teacher working in Turin, Italy. This film has both English and Italian parts (with subtitles), lending to it's authenticity. Blanchart's male counterpart, Filippo, is played by Italian actor, Giovannis Riblisi. He is cast as a 20 year old police department employee who becomes sympathetic to Philippa's cause, springs her from jail; and manages to outwit the police and run, ride and fly (!) to safety, in the mean time falling in love with her.

Philippe and Filippo, though from different cultures, become unified in fate, and seem to become two halves of the same whole. Through much of the film Blanchart and Riblisi appear together, both wearing white t-shirts and slim-fitting blue jeans. Later, Philippa is shaved bald, presumably to help her to evade capture by altering her appearance. No big surprise. But then, the camera again shooting from above, reveals that Filippo is also shaved! Several scenes are shot in such a way that they appear to really belong together.

Which brings me to my initial point: Twyker's brilliant usage of mise-en-scene. By that I mean that the set-up of the individual scenes --in addition to having visual style and beauty--convey meaning and information above and beyond what is seen in other types of cinamatography, plus the dialog itself. I find this to be clever and artful. Just by observing how the characters, props and scenery are set up, we see another level of meaning and understanding. For example, how he sets up the scene in the barn as they eat together and then gaze at each other from either end of the film frame. Well, this is not a thing that can easily be described in words; you just have to see the film!

Lastly, I love how the film ends, and how it ties together the beginning scene in a helicopter simulator and also the enigmatic name of the film, "Heaven". Bravo!

Excellent and intriguing film!
2008-05-31 - Heaven is a gem that I discovered in a magazine that covers upcoming films. Director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run)provides a wonderful script that is only paralleled by excellent acting on the part of Cate Blanchett and Giovanni Ribisi. I highly recommend this film!

Heaven
2008-05-11 - Although the film photography is compelling and Kate Blanchett's acting hits a high mark, the film is disappointing in that its depiction of an unexplainable sudden love falls short of credibility. The movie is boring and the only value it has lies on the showing of beautiful scenes of the Italian countryside.

heaven is heaven
2008-04-21 - This movie is so amazing. I found it accidentally while browsing the program guide on the tv. I hit the info button for a quick little synopsis. If it just had the cast without a little info, I would have watched it anyway. Blanchett and Ribisi have this really powerful, surprising chemistry. The photography is really what makes the movie amazing, for me anyway. I am someone who really pays attention to the photography more than the dialogue at times. It's just fantastic. A really powerful tale.

Misterios del amor
2008-02-18 - No es predecible lo gran lograda que es la pelicula hasta con el transcurrir de ella. Cada minuto entrega elementos que sorprenden por su simpleza pero a la vez por la profundidad y delicadez de las interpretaciones de Cate y Giovani. Quizás pueda desilusionar un poco el final, dado lo acontecido a lo largo de la pelicula. El amor, no lo definiría en esta pelicula, pues de una parte está muy claramente demostrado, mas no por la otras, ahí la magia o la desilusión de la trama. Gran pelicula para descubrir los inicios de Cate Blanchett y Giovanni Ribisi.