I was kind of looking forward to seeing this movie but I knew to expect something less than pleasant after Lilya 4-Ever. I really advise the majority of people against watching this one: it’s really nasty in places and, I’ve gotta say, I can’t yet say for sure it’s altogether worth it. This film’s even more challenging than Lilya, and I’m not sure I really want to accept the challenge and sit through it for enough repeat viewings to get it. It seems to be about the debilitating effects of extreme behaviour, how it leads to a downward spiral, but it also seems to be a lot deeper than that. Flicking through the DVD extras I found the “director’s statement” which I skim-read and it seems either fascinating or insane – he says the movie is about how we’re a product of our history, doomed to repeat our collective horrors over and over. He writes about Fucking Amal (which I’ve seen and love) and Together (which I haven’t seen) as though he made them deluded – they’re both “happy” films (like I say I haven’t seen Together, I’ll be watching it next) compared to Lilya and this, which he seems to consider more true, etc … which is probably true, but that’s really sad. Lukas Moodysson seems to have become more and more like his surname would suggest. Hole in My Heart is a genuinely miserable film, so miserable in fact that there’s a weird moment towards the end when all four main characters want to stop being a part of it, their faces even blurring in the same way the anonymous passers-by and corporate logos are blurred out in the rest of its duration, a la reality TV etc. Clever visual idea. I’ll be watching this one again but goodness knows when.

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