''The Beat That My Heart Skipped'' (french: De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté) is a 2005 French

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Jacques Audiard Jacques Audiard (; born 30 April 1952) is a French film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is the son of Michel Audiard, also a film director and screenwriter. He has won both the César Award for Best Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Fi ...

and starring

Romain Duris Romain Duris (; born 28 May 1974) is a French actor. He is known for his role in Cédric Klapisch's ''Spanish Apartment'' trilogy, which consists of ''L'Auberge Espagnole'' (2002), '' Russian Dolls'' (2005), and ''Chinese Puzzle'' (2013). He also ...

. It is a remake of the 1978 American film ''

Fingers A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers (Pentadactyly). Chambers 1 ...

'', and tells the story of Tom, a shady realtor torn between a criminal life and his desire to become a concert pianist. The film premiered on 17 February 2005 at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. The film was given limited release to theaters in North America and grossed $1,023,424 and $10,988,397 worldwide.

Plot

Intense young "tough" Thomas Seyr is a 28-year-old

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

broker involved in shady business deals. His business partners, Fabrice and Sami, spend much of their time ruthlessly chasing squatters and illegal immigrants out of the buildings they have procured and trying to work their way around government housing regulations. Thomas is born to this kind of work; his father, Robert, is involved in dodgy endeavors and sometimes calls upon Thomas to beat up people who refuse to pay. Tom shows a protective and defensive attitude toward his father who doesn't always appreciate what his son does for him – so much so that when his father introduces his new girlfriend to Tom, Tom undermines her to her face, and insults her to his father, insisting she is an opportunistic "whore." Later, when he tries to enlist her help to watch over his father, she tells him they broke up due to Robert changing his attitude and she is aware of Tom's backstabbing because Robert told her. Robert by this time is in danger from a Russian gangster, Minskov (Anton Yakovlev) who scammed him out of 300,000 Euros and Tom is worried for his safety. Tom chances upon his late mother's manager, his mother having been a concert pianist until she died 8 years previously. The manager remembers him playing something when he was 20 years old, and invites him to audition for him. The opportunity rapidly takes over Tom's imagination, becoming an obsession. He finds a teacher newly emigrated to France, virtuoso Miao Lin, to help him prepare for the audition. She speaks only Chinese, Vietnamese and some English, but no French. Tom misses appointments and drops assignments while practicing piano around the clock, and having an affair with the wife of one of his promiscuous business partners. Finally Tom reaches the high standards of his teacher, but he falls apart at the audition, having stayed up all night helping his partners with a business deal. He goes to see his father only to find the apartment destroyed and his father murdered. Tom is devastated. Two years later: Tom tests a piano onstage and gives directions to the stage manager. He drives Miao Lin to the concert hall and parks the car, when he chances to see Minskov. He follows Minskov, and takes him by surprise waiting for an elevator. They fight in the stairwell, Minskov almost shooting Tom. Tom gains the upper hand and tries to use Minskov's own gun against him, but cannot pull the trigger. Tom washes in the restroom and takes his seat in the concert hall, knuckles and shirt bloody, exchanging affectionate glances with Miao Lin at the piano. He is evidently Miao Lin's manager and partner.

Cast

as Thomas Seyr *

Niels Arestrup Niels Arestrup (; born 8 February 1949) is a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards. Biography Arestrup was born in Paris into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his mother was Bret ...

as Robert Seyr * Jonathan Zaccaï as Fabrice * as Sami *

Linh Dan Pham Linh Dan Pham (born ; June 20, 1974) is a Vietnamese-born French actress. Biography She was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, but moved with her family to Paris, France, a year later, just before the capture of Saigon by North Vietnamese and Viet ...

as Miao Lin * Jian-Zhang as Jean-Pierre (Miao Lin's friend) * Aure Atika as Aline *

Emmanuelle Devos Emmanuelle Devos (born 10 May 1964) is a French actress. She is the daughter of actress Marie Henriau. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in ''Sur mes lèvres'', directed by Jacques Audiard. She has also been ...

as Chris * as Minskov *

Mélanie Laurent Mélanie Laurent (; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress, filmmaker, and singer. The recipient of two César Awards and a Lumières Award, she is an accomplished actress in the French film industry. Globally, she is best known for her role ...

as Minskov's Girlfriend *

Sandy Whitelaw Alexander "Sandy" Whitelaw (28 April 1930 – 20 February 2015) was a British actor, producer, director and subtitler. Early life Whitelaw was born in London and educated in Switzerland, the UK and the United States.

as Mr. Fox

Background

The film is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

James Toback James Toback (; born November 23, 1944) is an American film director and screenwriter. His screenplay for '' Bugsy'' won the 1991 Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for best screenplay of the year and was nominated for both the Academy Aw ...

's 1978 film ''

'', but it devotes more attention to the relationship between Tom and his piano teacher, Miao Lin. The idea that affection can blossom despite a language barrier is one which

has raised before in '' Read My Lips'' (starring

Vincent Cassel Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor. He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled History of the Jews in France, French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film ''La Haine (Hate)'', for which he ...

). For the film, Duris learned to play his own piano sequences–most notably,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Toccata Toccata (from Italian ''toccare'', literally, "to touch", with "toccata" being the action of touching) is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuo ...

in E minor, trained by his sister, pianist Caroline Duris, who performs on the soundtrack. The film's French title comes from the lyrics of the

Jacques Dutronc Jacques Dutronc (born 28 April 1943) is a French singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, and actor. He married singer Françoise Hardy on 30 March 1981 and together they have a son (manouche jazz) guitarist Thomas Dutronc, born 1973); they sep ...

song ''La Fille du père Noël'' ("Santa Claus' Daughter"), written by

Jacques Lanzmann Jacques Lanzmann (4 May 1927 – 21 June 2006) was a French journalist, writer and lyricist. He is best known as a novelist and for his songwriting partnership with Jacques Dutronc. Early life Lanzmann spent the early part of his life in Auverg ...

. It translates to English as "My heart stopped beating".

Awards and nominations

Won

BAFTA Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

Best Film not in the English Language The BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language is given annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and presented at the British Academy Film Awards. The award was first given at the 36th British Academy Film Awards, r ...

**Silver Berlin Bear: Best Film Music (

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and ''The Shape of Water'', ...

) *

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

**Best Actor – Supporting Role (

) **Best Cinematography ( Stéphane Fontaine) **Best Director (

) **Best Editing (

Juliette Welfling Juliette Welfling is a French film editor. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for her work in the 2007 movie '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly''. She has received the César Award for Best Editing for her work on thi ...

) **Best Film **Best Music Written for a Film (

) **Best Screenplay – Adapted (

and

Tonino Benacquista Tonino Benacquista (born in Choisy-le-Roi on 1 September 1961) is a French crime fiction author, comics writer, and screenwriter. He wrote the novel ''Malavita'' (''Badfellas'' for 2010 English translation), which was later adapted into a film b ...

) **Most Promising Actress (

) *

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics The French Syndicate of Cinema Critics (french: Syndicat français de la critique de cinéma et des films de télévision) has, each year since 1946, awarded a prize (" Prix de la critique", English: "Critics Prize"), the Prix Méliès, to the be ...

**Best Film *

Lumières Award The Lumières Award (french: Lumières de la presse internationale) is a French film award presented by the ''Académie des Lumières'' to honor the best in the French language, French-speaking cinema of the previous year. The awards ceremony is ...

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

** Best Actor (

) *

Seville European Film Festival The Seville European Film Festival (SEFF; es, Festival de Cine Europeo de Sevilla, links=no) is an annual film festival dedicated to European cinema held in November in Seville, Spain, since 2004. The festival is an initiative of the Instituto d ...

** Golden Giraldillo to Best Film

Nominated

**Golden Berlin Bear (

) *

**Best Actor – Leading Role (

) **Best Sound (

Philippe Amouroux Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count o ...

, Cyril Holtz,

Brigitte Taillandier Brigitte is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Brigitte Amm, German rower * Brigitte Bardot (born 1934), a French actress and singer * Brigitte Becue (born 1972), a Belgian breaststroke swimmer * Brigitte Bierlein (bor ...

and Pascal Villard) *

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the most ...

**Best Actor (

) **(Audience Award) Best Director (

)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beat That My Heart Skipped 2005 films Films set in Paris French drama films 2000s French-language films BAFTA winners (films) Best Film César Award winners César Award winners Films directed by Jacques Audiard Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor César Award-winning performance Films whose director won the Best Director César Award Films featuring a Best Actor Lumières Award-winning performance Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award winners Best Film Lumières Award winners French remakes of American films Films scored by Alexandre Desplat Films with screenplays by Jacques Audiard Films about pianos and pianists 2005 drama films 2000s French films