The violent heart

After two rather unnoticed films The Young Kieslowski (2015) and First girl I loved, director and screenwriter Kerem Sanga offers us his best film with The Violent Heart. Produced by Tobey Maguire and Shawn Levy, among others, this film juxtaposes a psychological drama with a disturbing thriller in which the past will have serious consequences in the present. After a first part in which we discover as a child the main character Daniel (Jovan Adepo) who discovers the lifeless body of his older sister and can only catalyze his personal resentment that his murderer could not be discovered, we see him again fifteen years later when he has quit his studies and works as a mechanic in a small garage near his home. By chance he meets young Cassie, the daughter of a teacher at the high school where she studies. A close relationship develops between them but the tragic past will resurface and put these two young adults in an uncomfortable situation.

Writer/director Kerem Sanga's gift as a storyteller has to be recognized for not only putting together a thrilling thriller, but also portraying with tenderness the relationship between two young adults from different backgrounds. Far from wanting to portray a young bruised child who has become violent in spite of himself because he cannot control his anger, The Violent heart prefers to offer a film about psychological reconstruction through being appreciated and loved by the person for whom his heart beats in unison. Daniel and Cassie's differences are all their strengths. As much as Cassie is calm, intelligent and studious, Daniel is a true rebel who only dreams of following in his father's footsteps in the army.

The tragic destiny of Cassie and Daniel benefits not only from a perfectly mastered photography but also from a montage going directly to the essential. Whether it is her approach to high school, her description of an America bruised by so much injustice, the film falls perfectly within the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement. In spite of this omnipresent violence in Daniel's behavior and character we can only understand that it is the system itself and its many injustices that made Daniel what he is.

While Hollywood cinema continues to offer some very successful blockbusters like Tenet but sees most of its films postponed until the end of the year or even in 2021, independent American cinema finally has its chance to meet its audience, to be heard and to show that young directors can give life to moving, mastered films showing today's America as it is. We also appreciate in this film its interesting cast in which we find in the two main roles Jovan Adepo (Watchmen series.) and Grace Van Patten (Under the Silver Lake (2018) and in the second roles Lukas Haas, Mary J. Blige and Kimberley Williams Paisey.

The Violent Heart
Written and Directed by Kerem Sanga
Produced by Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Ed McDonnell, Tobey Maguire
Starring Grace Van Patten, Jovan Adepo, Mary J. Blige, Lukas Haas, Jahi Di'Allo Winston, Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Cress Williams
Music by John Swihart
Cinematography : Ricardo Diaz
Edited by Joshua Raymond Lee
Production companies : 21 Laps Entertainment, Material Pictures, 3311 Productions
Running time : 107mns

Seen on September 9, 2020 at the Centre International de Deauville

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