Hungry Hearts (2015)

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I give this film a 7/10 for it's ability to generate psychosocial discussion regarding an important issue. Mental illness in expecting/new mothers is not a topic often tackled in cinema and I commend the director for taking this up. I guess the fact that I think Jude and his mother handle the Mina's ill health completely wrong is irrelevant. Many people would not handle such a stressful and emotive situation all that well. However, I am concerned that the film will leave too many viewers perceiving Mina to be the villain. I hope this is not the case but the film seemed to make concerted effort not to guide our emotions and sympathies in any particular direction. For me this meant that I was left with a cold and unsettled feeling at the end of the film. I'm not a person who wants or needs a Hollywood happy ending but I appreciate a film which has something to say/provides some wisdom or a lesson. This film does not provide this. It leaves us to make up our own minds regarding the ethical moral implications of the issues presented.

In the beginning of this movie you get more or less the "romantic" story about how our two protagonists, Mina and Jude, got together, but things really start to get interesting when their child is on the way. During the pregnancy the viewer already experiences the opposite positions that each partner has about their baby. Mina, who is portrayed by and outstanding and excellent Alba Rohrwacher, has a rather extreme attitude towards modern medicine, nutrition and cleanness. Jude (Adam Driver) tries to be the supporting husband but after seeing that Mina's methods endanger their child, he is forced to act against his wife's will. This movie has a very realistic tone to it. There isn't much music to be heard and the colors are kept quite cool as well. Already in the first scene of the movie, where the couple meets in the bathroom you experience an awkward feeling that didn't really let go of me throughout the whole film. Maybe that is because the actions of all three main characters (including Jude's mother who also distributes a lot to the plot of this movie) seem somehow relatable even though they are sometime quite drastic. Especially Mina is an interesting character. She has those really extreme obsessions but somehow you still can relate to her and she feels like a real person and in no way stereotypical crazy. On the other hand there is Jude who really loves his wife and tries everything to be supportive of her but at some point that can't continue and so he is more or less forced to act against her interests for the good of their child. As a viewer I could understand both characters very well and it left me kind of torn between whom to sympathize with.All in all, it really is an enjoyable movie though it is more of a psychological drama than a thriller and my problem with it was that the plot got a bit boring in the middle part because the actions of the characters seem repetitive. Although the ending and the character portrayals were great it is not a must-watch and certainly not a movie for everyone.

Greetings again from the darkness. Everyone loves a good "How did you two meet?" story, and the best of these stories somehow makes the couple more interesting. It's pretty tough to beat the meet-cute of Jude and Mina in the opening scene from writer/director Saverio Costanzo … even if it does take place in the tight and pungent confines of restaurant restroom. It's a terrific start to a movie that has no real shot at getting better from there.Jude (an excellent Adam Driver) and Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) fall directly into bed and in love … directly from the outhouse. We catch glimpses of their romance, and quickly accept them as a well-suited, warm-yet-quirky couple. An unexpected pregnancy kicks off a gradual and troubling change in Mina. This change is turbo-charged once the baby arrives. Mina registers in the extreme of the mother's instincts vs. modern medicine debate. She is all about purity for her baby – food and environment. There is nothing wrong with that, right? Well, when the baby doesn't grow and develop, it's understandable that the dad might freak a bit, no matter how understanding or trusting he claims to be.The story becomes the unraveling of a once-promising relationship, as well as the unraveling of a once seemingly normal woman. With the tone of an early Roman Polanski movie, Costanzo's film (from Marco Franzoso's novel) has very real horror overtones, while playing out like a real life parenting drama … or a psychological thriller. The real turning point for Mina's character seems to occur after a Psychic Reading where the Clairvoyant labels her baby as an Indigo child. Mina believes this and her psychotic actions create the intense worries of Jude and his mother (Roberta Maxwell).With the current uproar of vaccinations, there is certainly a modern day link to the story line of mother's instincts vs. doctor's orders. But with a lawyer recommending kidnapping, and a triumvirate of desperate characters: father, mother, grandmother, there doesn't seem to be much factual data here … rather it's an effective scare tactic.

The opening scene is funny and mortifying at the same time, giving a false sense of a under budgeted romantic comedy to the film, but then it gets darker. The awkwardly sweet duo become one, they fall in love and hit off. Step by step, things get serious and these lovebirds turn into an unnerving couple as the movie gets psychological and somber. Originally - in the book - in Italy, the story was transposed to New York City because the Italian director thought that it belonged in there. I don't know if I agree completely but given what is depicted in the film I understand this choice. Saverio Costanzo used tight shots and close ups to bring the intimacy needed for the story. As the story develops each scene gets a shade darker and the intimacy of the shots seem to illustrate Jude (Driver) and Mina (Rohrwacher)'s state of minds. It's subtle and masterfully crafted to bring you a place where you never thought you'd go. The chips fall into place and you realize what you're in for, Mina and Jude start to make sense and a chill crawls up your spine. The slight sense of dread takes over just enough to keep captivated, but not fully engaged to make you too uncomfortable and wary. If it was done any other way it would have probably been too hard to watch, instead, like a car crash you find yourself watching these people on their way down the rabbit hole. @wornoutspines