The Beat That My Heart Skipped Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Beat that My Heart Skipped' or 'De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté" )

directed by Jacques Audiard
France 2005

In tune with the theme of the film, ”The Beat that my Heart Skipped” is more a variation of James Toback’s 1978 “Fingers”, than a reversion or remake. While characters, situations and plot elements are shared, mood and tone are different, similar to the same melody being played in two different variations and styles.

Looking solely on “The Beat that my Heart Skipped”, it (still) is a stunning and intense character study of a man torn between two worlds, the one dominated by his father and crime, the other by his talent and passion for music.

In many ways, I prefer Audiard’s variation to the one by Toback. Its tone and mood is more erratic, more distracted, having a hard time focussing, which adds strength to the struggles of Thomas Seyr, who never seem to be able to focus, except when committing acts of violence or playing the piano. His mind is not only torn between these two worlds, but also between the legacy of his late mother, who played the piano, and his gangster father, who has grown old, as well as between working on a project with some friends and his own project of playing the piano.

The mise-en-scene by Audiard is also more free and fluid than Toback, as if it doesn’t have to make a point of each composition, but just record it. One can argue that Audiard’s variation is liberated from the formulaic Hollywood style, which forces us – the audience – to pay attention, rather than the mise-en-scene to force attention upon us.

With a stunning performance by Romain Duris as Thomas Seyr, “The Beat that my Heart Skipped” is a painful character study of a man who attempts to find not only himself but also his place in the world. Not to be missed.

Henrik Sylow

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Theatrical Release: February 17, 2005 (Berlin International Film Festival)

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Comparison:

Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL vs. Curzon / Artificial Eye - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow for the DVD Review!

1) Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL LEFT
2) Curzon / Artificial Eye - Region 'B' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Artificial Eye Region 2 - PAL	Curzon / Artificial Eye - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:42:21 (4% PAL Speedup)	1:46:31.041
Video	1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.39 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,174,523,991 bytes Feature: 28,163,850,240 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Bitrate Blu-ray
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital French, 5.1 Dolby Digital French	LPCM Audio French 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio French 1688 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1688 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	English, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Artificial Eye Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1 Edition Details: Interviews • - Jacques Audiard (17:56) • - Jacques Audiard UK Exclusive (31:35) • - Tonino Benacquista (8:22) • - Alexandre Desplat (5:43) • 34 Deleted Scenes (24:44) • Rehearsal Footage (9:48) • Q&A London October 6th 2005 (49:09) • Original Theatrical Trailer (1:58) DVD Release Date: March 26th, 2006 Double Amaray Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Curzon / Artificial Eye 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 47,174,523,991 bytes Feature: 28,163,850,240 bytes Video Bitrate: 30.00 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: Interviews • - Jacques Audiard (18:41) • - Jacques Audiard UK Exclusive (32:53) • - Tonino Benacquista (8:43) • - Alexandre Desplat (5:58) • 34 Deleted Scenes (25:45) • Rehearsal Footage (10:13) • Q&A London October 6th 2005 (51:05) • Romain Duris (0:41) • Original Theatrical Trailer (2:02) Blu-ray Release Date: March 14th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 12

Comments

NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Curzon / Artificial Eye - Region 'B' - Blu-ray (February 16'): The HD visuals show their superiority in the usual areas - contrast, detail and depth - all subtle improvements but visible regardless, especially in-motion. It's dual-layered with a high bitrate and no more PAL speedup. The DVD has a slight green cast but was still excellent for SD a decade ago. The Blu-ray, however, is noticeably better.

The Curzon / Artificial Eye Blu-ray of The Beat That Skipped My Heart offers the choice of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 1688 kbps or the option of a 2.0 channel linear PCM stereo at 1536 kbps. It has hints of separation but everything is of a gentle nature with only a couple of highly aggressive fight sequences. Aside from minor effects we get the piano music - JS Bach (Toccata en ré mineur etc.), Mozart (Sonate en do mineur), Tchaikovsky (Concerto 1), Liszt (Après une lecture de Dante), Brahms (2ème Rhapsodie) played beautifully by Caroline Duris (sister to the star Romain Duris!) - and another impressive score by Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, The Ghost Writer, The King's Speech, Venus in Fur) - the music sounds great via the lossless. There are optional English subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Supplements duplicate the DVD with over 2.5 hours worth (now in NTSC time) of in-depth and revealing interviews, deleted scenes, rehearsal footage, a Q&A etc.

It's not often that the French remake an American film and I really enjoyed Toback’s 1978 “Fingers” with the young Harvey Keitel. It's a very interesting premise and this remake is an excellent film in its own right. Nice to see it reach Blu-ray - strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: A stunning transfer. Flawless, no artifacts, original colour palette. It simply looks beautiful.

Sound comes in either 2.0 Dolby Digital or 5.1 Dolby Digital, and here I prefer the 2.0, as it sounds more "focused" than the surround.

Additional material consists of four quiet in-depth interviews in regards to film, material, source and thematics, some deleted scenes and an excellent Q&A.

- Henrik Sylow

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