{"id":6068,"date":"2015-12-03T01:16:41","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T00:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=6068"},"modified":"2015-12-03T01:24:48","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T00:24:48","slug":"ruined-heart-another-love-story-between-a-criminal-and-a-whore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/12\/03\/ruined-heart-another-love-story-between-a-criminal-and-a-whore\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruined Heart: Another Love Story between a Criminal and a Whore"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ruined<\/a>
Ruined Heart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nSeen at LFF 2015<\/a><\/b>

\nFormat:<\/B> Blu-ray + DVD

\nRelease date:<\/B> 7 December 2015

\nDistributor:<\/B> Third Window Films<\/a>

\nDirector:<\/B> Khavn de la Cruz

\nWriter:<\/B> Khavn de la Cruz

\nOriginal title:<\/B> Pusong wazak: isa na naming kwento ng pag-ibig sa pagitan ng puta at criminal<\/i><\/i>

\nCast:<\/B> Tadanobu Asano, Elena Kazan, Nathalia Acevedo

\nPhilippines, Germany 2014

\n73 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Khavn de la Cruz\u2019s Filipino musical noir<\/i> compensates for its lack of plot with oodles of style.<\/i><\/b> <\/p>\n

At its worst, Ruined Heart<\/i> feels like what happens when an \u2018edgy\u2019 fashion shoot gets out of hand, gets bitten by a radioactive DJ set and mutates into… something less than a movie. It doesn\u2019t have a story as such. After some rockin\u2019 black and white tattoos-on-a-dead-guy titles we are introduced to some archetypes: the Whore, the Criminal, the Friend, the Pianist, the Godfather. Everything after that is a series of rambling tableaux, set mostly in the crowded streets and covered markets of a nameless town (or towns) in the Philippines. Loosely, the Criminal falls for the Whore, the Whore gets killed by the Godfather, the Criminal takes up the gun, it doesn\u2019t end well. But even this simple narrative is chopped and screwed. There\u2019s no real dialogue, though occasionally characters utter poetic and lyrical profundities; instead we have an ultra-cool soundtrack playing over street celebrations and fights and fireworks and car rides and killings and parties and orgies and a lot of scenes of the Criminal and the Whore running and walking and dancing and fucking and falling in love. The imagery is occasionally upsetting and obscene, often repetitive and mystifying.<\/p>\n

That said, the cinematography is by Chris Doyle, so it looks amazing and feels energised and rackety and fluid. Asano Tadanobu (Criminal) and Nathalia Acevedo (Whore) are both photogenic as hell and fun to watch, and the eclectic hip jukebox score is a blast. So while the film often tries the viewers\u2019 patience it also delivers up sublime moments where it all clicks into place and you\u2019re grinning from ear to ear as the characters dance, in a decidedly unchoreographed fashion, to \u2018Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves\u2019 by John Holt, or \u2018She Said\u2019 by Hasil Adkins. It tests Godard\u2019s maxim that \u2018all you need for a movie is a gun and a girl\u2019 to breaking point, delivering both less and more than most would expect from a night at the picturehouse. We get dazzling imagery and fine musical moments by the skipload, and moments of that elusive beast \u2018pure cinema\u2019, but a decided deficit of anything else to chew on. It\u2019s an exercise in style over, well, pretty much everything, but it\u2019s a buzzy, seductive style nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Much credit should go to Brezel Goring of Stereo Total, who created the bulk of the soundtrack, with mentions for contributions from Grauzone and the Flippin\u2019 Soul Stompers, who play live on screen. Khavn De La Cruz wrote, directed and produced, I\u2019d cast a wary eye out for the rest of his work, but I\u2019d definitely accept an invite to any party he\u2019s hosting. <\/p>\n

Mark Stafford<\/I><\/B><\/p>\n

This review is part of our LFF 2015<\/a> coverage.<\/div>\n

Watch the trailer:<\/B><\/p>\n