Hål i mitt hjärta, Ett (A Hole In My Heart) (2004)

41% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
39% of users liked it
(2,508 ratings)

Lukas Moodysson wrote and directed this disturbing and controversial allegorical drama. Eric (Björn Almroth) is a teenager who lives in a shabby flat with his father, Rickard (Thorsten Flinck). Eric spends most of his time holed up in his room, blaring industrial music in order to drown out what's… More Lukas Moodysson wrote and directed this disturbing and controversial allegorical drama. Eric (Björn Almroth) is a teenager who lives in a shabby flat with his father, Rickard (Thorsten Flinck). Eric spends most of his time holed up in his room, blaring industrial music in order to drown out what's going on around him. Eric has just cause to be a bit disturbed by his surroundings -- Rickard is an amateur filmmaker specializing in extreme sex videos, and he's taken over the living room, where his emotionally disturbed friend Geko (Goran Marjanovic) and a blank young woman named Tess (Sanna Bråding) are "starring" in his latest project. As shooting progresses over the course of several days, Rickard and his cast lose track of the outside world and become increasingly desensitized to their own decadence. As the sexual play becomes more and more extreme, edging into violence, Eric feels no choice but to intervene. Both celebrated and criticized for its unflinchingly explicit sexual content, Ett Hål I Mitt Hjärta (aka A Hole in My Heart) received its North American premier at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Lukas Moodysson
Written By: Lukas Moodysson
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Special Interest

In Theaters: Jan 1, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Dec 6, 2005
Studio: Newmarket Films

Critic Reviews

Anthony Lane, New Yorker
The question is: do we need to be hauled through scene after scene of drab, dehumanized behavior so that we may see, or at least hear, humanity restored at the end?
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
Moodysson comes on like de Sade crossed with Godard, yet by locking us outside of his characters, he fails to make them even contemptuously compelling.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
An experimental, transgressive work that pretty much fails on every level.
Gunnar Rehlin, Variety
The film is yet another proof of Moodysson's fearlessness and his willingness to push forward and break through the boundaries of convention.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Will disgust many (probably most) viewers as it cements Moodysson's reputation as one of today's most daring filmmakers.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
It's a mystery what the Swedish filmmaker Lukas Moodysson thought he was up to in A Hole in My Heart, a movie teeming with ugly images and grotesque behavior.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Moodysson doesn't use this borrowed aesthetic to study what's on his plate; he's just out to cause a scene.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
It's harrowing to watch just how far these four actors are willing to go to bring Moodysson's vision to life, and their dedication commands respect, even as it dares you to keep your eyes on the screen.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The degradation inflicted on the characters in Moodyson's A Hole in My Heart is also inflicted on the viewers... an excruciating and appalling experience.
Mariko McDonald, Film Threat
A cinematic challenge that eats slowly at the soul but never insults the audience or its characters.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
Moodysson doesn't seem to realize the difference between a film that's disturbing yet provocative, and a film that's just amateurish and gross.
Jon Popick, Planet Sick-Boy
a nihilistic barrage of sound and image that belongs somewhere between a Lars Von Trier Dogme film and the early work of Gregg Araki.
Nev Pierce, BBC
Sends your brain whirring as well as your stomach churning -- quite a feat.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Luke B

Probably the most pointless and irritating watch since Gummo. The film has nothing to say, or anything entertaining to offer. We are assaulted by a stream of unconscious, disgusting visuals. The film is also mindlessly repetitive and just becomes like a scratched CD of some cheap… More
Probably the most pointless and irritating watch since Gummo. The film has nothing to say, or anything entertaining to offer. We are assaulted by a stream of unconscious, disgusting visuals. The film is also mindlessly repetitive and just becomes like a scratched CD of some cheap erotica. Moodysson ventures into the world of the experimental, but instead, just insults everyone's intelligence. Art has to say something, and if it wants to depict the harshness of humanity, there should at least be some sort of emotional focus point. Without the emotion, it's just three people in a room, being disgusting.
Anthony L

I think Lukas Moodysson has been a little misunderstood in this film. A hole in my Heart was quite badly received which I think is quite unfair but I think he's probably got over it by now. All great artists are misunderstood when they are producing their best work. He has shown… More
I think Lukas Moodysson has been a little misunderstood in this film. A hole in my Heart was quite badly received which I think is quite unfair but I think he's probably got over it by now. All great artists are misunderstood when they are producing their best work. He has shown us he can do uplifting comedy/drama and character based films excellently in Show me Love and Together. He can also knock us for six with powerful portrayals of poverty, humiliation & depression and somehow turn them into beauty (Lilja 4-ever). Here, he tackles a nasty side of human behaviour in an experimental way. I say experimental, I believe he knew what he was doing 100% of the time! I would urge people to watch the short film A second hole in my heart in the DVD extras, as Moodysson pokes fun at himself, the critics and the audience. I think only he could get away with it too! This is a disgusting film and I probably won?t watch it again. Although I believe this should be put on the school syllabus, as it?s a very important film with an important message. If I watch it again, it will be because I'm about to film my own movie and it is a great place to get inspiration for young filmmakers. Not his best film but maybe his most important (although I can see why people don't like it) It might make you think twice the next time you download some nasty porn film (you dirty sod!)
Nicki M

Definitely not easy watching, and not for everyone. This movie is about four pretty screwed up people. A young girl who is so demented her main tragedy in life seems to be not getting onto Big Brother, gets involved with two low life guys, (one of whom you are meant to have sympathy… More
Definitely not easy watching, and not for everyone. This movie is about four pretty screwed up people. A young girl who is so demented her main tragedy in life seems to be not getting onto Big Brother, gets involved with two low life guys, (one of whom you are meant to have sympathy for because it turns out he was molested as a child by his father), both pretty damn unlikable, who are making a porn movie. While this girl is getting degraded in all manner of ways, yet still either so self loathing or desperate for fame, (which it is not clearly spelt out here), that she keeps coming back for more and alternates between hating and loving her abusers, the emo teenage son of one of the guys has fallen in love with her. I could not honestly say I enjoyed this as it really is pretty horrible, but I could not turn it off either.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]With "A Hole in My Heart", writer and director Lukas Moodysson's intent is to show that all we need is a hug and some tender loving care. This is a completely worthy sentiment but Moodysson takes an extremely unpleasant path to that… More
[font=Century Gothic]With "A Hole in My Heart", writer and director Lukas Moodysson's intent is to show that all we need is a hug and some tender loving care. This is a completely worthy sentiment but Moodysson takes an extremely unpleasant path to that conclusion:[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Tess(Sanna Brading) is a 21 year old woman hoping to get her start in pornographic films by starring in an amateur film with Richard(Thorsten Flinck) and Geko(Goran Marjanovic). The footage shot is as degrading and ugly as possible, interlaced with gruesome shots of surgery and dolls.(I don't understand the surgery but at least I get the dolls...) While all of this is going on, Richard's grown, withdrawn son, Eric(Bjorn Almroth), stays in his room.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Coupled with his previous movie, "Lilya-4-Ever", I am starting to get the impression that Lukas Moodysson has a mile-wide puritanical streak and just views sex as something exploitative and demeaning towards women, when in fact most people tend to think of it as kind of fun.[/font]