One From the Heart (1982)
Francis Ford Coppola’s homage to the musical is best remembered for being his Heavens Gate, and the sheer fact that it managed to bankrupt Coppola and effectively kill the funding studio American Zoetrope would be enough to put most off. Alas I found the film, featuring a wonderful, if not at times patronising score from Tom Waits to be an interesting experience.
The film tells the story of Hank and Frannie (played by Frederick Forrest and Teri Garr), a couple bordering on the edge of their relationship. We predominantly see the events of the night of their break-up, with both taking new lovers and considering their relationship.
From a visual point of view One From the Heart is nothing short of a major achievement. The entirely studio shot locales straddle the line between the inspiration of the stage and real world locations, and one can see just how and why the budget skyrocket from an initial 2 million dollars to a staggering 25 million dollars. Although one could not deny that its not evident on screen. A particular moment of ingenuity comes during an early scene set within the apartment of Moe, Hanks best friend. As Hank decides to call Frannie we see the wall of Moe’s apartment disappear, only to reveal Frannie within her location in the background. Its very fluid and even downright poetic. Back projection and scale models are the norm in the world of One From the Heart, and the films theatrical influences are laid bare by the opening and closing scenes being accompanied by the expected stage curtains.
Performance wise, Teri Garr was a bit of a revelation, if not a little bit tiring. Frederick Forrest plays an aging loser well and is seemingly more interesting when he shares the screen with the always interesting Harry Dean Stanton. Raul Julia and Nastassja Kinski both handle their roles as objects of affection to Frannie and Hank very well, with both displaying the sort of charm one would expect from such personalities.
Eventually, once we have become desensitised towards the fancy techniques on display the film begins to feel like an overlong music video. In ways it reminds of the grandiose extended music videos that the like of Michael Jackson and Prince put out in the mid-1980’s.
