The Beat That My Heart Skipped

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The Beat That My Heart Skipped

Directed by	Jacques Audiard
Produced by	Pascal Caucheteux
Written by	Jacques Audiard Tonino Benacquista
Starring	Romain Duris Niels Arestrup Jonathan Zaccaï Gilles Cohen Linh Dan Pham Aure Atika Emmanuelle Devos
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Release date(s)	17 February 2005 (premiere at BIFF) 16 March 2005 1 July 2005 (limited) 4 November 2005
Running time	107/108 min.
Language	French
IMDb profile

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (French: De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté) is a 2005 French film directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Romain Duris. It tells the story of Tom, a tough petty criminal who receives the chance to change his life and become a concert pianist, but whose past comes back to haunt him. The film premiered on February 17, 2005 at the Berlin Film Festival.

The film is a remake of James Toback's 1978 film Fingers but is 17 minutes longer, devoting 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 Jacques Audiard has raised before in Read My Lips (starring Vincent Cassel).

For the film, Duris learnt to play his own piano sequences and was taught by his sister, the artist Caroline Duris. One of the most notable performances by Duris is of a Bach toccata.

[edit] Controversy

Filmmaker Gus Van Sant caused controversy when he claimed that The Beat That My Heart Skipped portrays all domestic intercourse as rape. Duris responded to these remarks at a press conference in Milan by threatening Van Sant with physical violence, claiming that he was going to "get a shotgun and murder Van Sant's dog."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Awards and nominations

BAFTA Awards

Won
- BAFTA Film Award Best Film not in the English Language

Berlin International Film Festival

Won:
- Silver Berlin Bear - Best Film Music - Alexandre Desplat
Nominated:
- Golden Berlin Bear - Jacques Audiard

César Awards

Won:
- César Best Cinematography (Stéphane Fontaine)
- Best Director (Jacques Audiard)
- Best Editing (Juliette Welfling)
- Best Film
- Best Music Written for a Film (Alexandre Desplat)
- Best Supporting Actor (Niels Arestrup)
- Best Writing - Adaptation (Jacques Audiard and Tonino Benacquista)
- Most Promising Actress (Linh Dan Pham)
Nominated:
- Best Actor (Romain Duris)
- Best Sound (Philippe Amouroux, Cyril Holtz, Brigitte Taillandier and Pascal Villard)