the press react!

the heart is deceitful above all things on film:

• From The New York Times All Movie Guide:

  The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
  2004 - USA
  Type: Features
  Distributor: Wild Bunch

  PLOT DESCRIPTION
  Starring Asia Argento, Peter Fonda, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Jimmy Bennett. Directed by Asia Argento. (NR, 97 minutes).

  Actress and filmmaker Asia Argento directed this faithful screen adaptation of J.T. Leroy's memoir, which documents one boy's truly harrowing road to adulthood. Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett) is the seven-year-old son of Sarah (Asia Argento), an unstable and unwed mother who abandoned her son and left him to be raised by foster parents. Jeremiah has come to love his guardians, and is devastated when Sarah arrives at their doorstep, demanding her child back.

  Threatening Jeremiah with torture if he tries to run away, Sarah introduces her young son to drugs and encourages her one-night-stand paramours to help "discipline" her son when she feels his behavior is inappropriate. Sarah marries a man named Emerson (Jeremy Renner), but abandons him shortly afterward; Emerson responds by molesting Jeremiah, and soon the child is left in the care of his grandparents (Peter Fonda and Ornella Muti), members of a fundamentalist Christian sect which emphasizes child discipline that's strict to the point of abuse. After three years, Sarah returns with a new husband, Kenny (Matt Schulze), and takes Jeremiah (now played by Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse) with her; Kenny spends most of his time on the road as a trucker, and Sarah supports the family at home as a stripper and a prostitute. Sarah also begins dressing her son is girl's clothing, which excites the perverse appetites of Sarah's latest boyfriend, Jackson (Marilyn Manson); she soon leaves Jackson and pairs off with Chester (Jeremy Sisto), a biker with a dangerous way of making a living. The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Directors Fortnight" series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide MPAA Rating: NR

• Read what Reuters has to say.

• From the Independent UK
  The Ten Best Films At Cannes 2004
  By Geoffrey MacNab, film writer

  7. THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS
  Asia Argento, 2004

  Subtle it isn't, but in its own strident and uninhibited way, Asia Argento's adaptation of JT LeRoy's autobiographical novel about the son of a truck-stop prostitute in America's Deep South is strangely effective. Imagine Oliver Twist re-made as a horror pic and you'll come close to its essence. View full story!

• Also from the Independent (different article)

  Asked about Argento's JT Leroy adaptation, 'The Heart is Deceitful!', 'Irreversible' director-about-town Gaspar Noe raved about 'the most incredible scenes of paedophilia I've ever seen'. Is that good? 'It's real,' he shrugged. View full story!

• from Indiewire

  Asia Argento and JT LeRoy kicked off the American Pavilion's panel series Sunday afternoon. Aregento and LeRoy were both late to their panel, undoubtedly causing a bit of panic to organizers. The large crowd grumbled a bit, but took it in stride after they arrived, giving them a warm reception. The reclusive LeRoy, the author of the book that inspired the film, "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things," seemed nervous on stage initially, but then seemed to almost enjoy the conversation. View full story!

• From the Hollywood Reporter

  NOT-SO-REBEL WOMAN: The conversation had to move along quickly at the American Pavilion on Saturday because Italian actress-director Asia Argento and short-story writer J.T. Leroy arrived 40 minutes late for a discussion of their new film, "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things." Her arrival may have been fashionably tardy, but Argento insisted that she's changed her rebel ways. "There is not much anger in me anymore," said the 28-year filmmaker, who both stars in and directed the film, based on Leroy's stories, about a Southern woman who rescues her son from a foster home and then embarks on a series of adventures. "I still speak my mind. I still say if there is something that I don't think is right or something that is bad; I will still say it," she elaborated. "But I mean, what is rebelling? We always have this image of rebels -- people like James Dean and Kurt Cobain, people who died. I don't want to be that rebel. I want to live fast and die old." As for the intense project, Argento said her approach differed from her previous outings because of a self-imposed strict adherence to the book's message. When asked how she raised money for such an atypical film, the feisty Italian claimed that she herself would learn the names of her difficult financiers once the film had screened as part of Directors' Fortnight. "And I will be waiting with my knives," she threatened. (Peter Kiefer) View full story!

• From Empire online

  So as the industrious Cannes beavers were busy repairing damage to the Star cinema, which hosted a mini-riot on Saturday as irate, striking French workers dropped their picket signs, picked up broken bottles and started hurling them at les rozzers, Empire was gingerly feeling its way into an interview with Asia Argento. Which, if rumour is true, is a bit like grabbing a broken bottle - smooth most of the time, but watch out for the jagged ends. The lady?s got a temper on her. She?s Italian, you know...

  Dario?s daughter was out promoting her latest directorial effort, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, a Gothic adaptation of J.T. Leroy?s novel about a young boy?s traumatic, cross-dressing adolescence. The movie?s attracted a lot of critical flak already, with some dubbing it the worst film at the festival; this year?s Brown Bunny, a 90-minute wallow in depravity. Asia wasn?t amused... "What you see as depravity is to me just another aspect of the human condition. I?m interested in how certain conditions form a human being," said Argento, who knows a thing or two about colourful childhoods herself. "But it?s not all depravity in life." View full story!

• Eye Weekly (Toronto)..Note the 3 star out of 4 star rating

  THE HEART IS DECEITFUL... ABOVE ALL THINGS

  Starring Asia Argento, Cole and Dylan Sprouse. Written by Asia Argento, Alessandro Magania from the collection of stories by JT Leroy. Directed by Asia Argento. 96 min.

  The seventh directorial effort by tempestuous Italian starlet Asia Argento features the festival's most unique set of supporting players: Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda, Ornella Muti and Marilyn Manson. Jeez, I wonder what the wrap party was like. A volatile piece of Southern gothic, The Heart Is Deceitful... Above All Things is an adaptation of the novel by J.T. Leroy about a kid (played by twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse) who has the extreme misfortune of having Argento's whacked-out junkie hooker for his mother. She drags him through a somewhat surreal version of the American South that is defined entirely in terms of sex, drugs, violence and old-time religion. Uneven but exciting, it's a kissing cousin to Harmony Korine's Gummo and possibly even more fucked in the head. View full story!

• London, England

  Date: 11 May 2004
  Summary: interesting film, well made.

  I saw this film yesterday and i was genuinely impressed. I haven't read the source stories so I can't comment on it as an adaptation, but cinematically it's a success. It deals with horrific events without glamour or lust. The more harrowing scenes are not graphic, however I was still shocked. This probably has more to do with my responces to the situations rather than any bloodlust on the directors part. The three child actors who play Jeremiah all give excellent performances, showing his growth from wide-eyed innocent to sexually confused/ing teenager. I think this is Asia Argento's second film, but i felt it to be a mature work(whoever your dad is). Watching I was aware that is was quite segmented, it was also shot and edited like a music video (bleached skies and time lapse galore). The various cameos are good value. I was thoroughly moved by this film and hope it is successful.

• Letter from an editor of the French mag, Rebel:

  Dear JT,
  I eventually saw the new Asia movie last Saturday in Paris, during ?La quinzaine des r?alisateurs?, It was screened near les Halles. I was astonished by the performance of the 3 leading roles, the 2 young actors and Asia who is incredible. I have to admit that when I read your story, I was a bit scared that the movie would not reflect your state of mind and would be some sort of extreme description without dealing with the true topic. I was wrong. It?s completely the opposite: some scenes are very powerful and realistic yet, the movie keeps all the sensitivity of your story. As you might already know, journalists who saw the movie in Cannes or in Paris really appreciated it. I think the public will follow.

  What more can I say? Asia is a great actress, one of the best, she?s gorgeous and a she?s a talented director. I love Asia.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.
  A thousand thanks.

• Read an article about the wrap party.