De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrete (The Beat That My Heart Skipped)

This excellent movie comes from Jaques Audiard, who of course went on to make 'A Prophet'.
It is in many ways an Oedipal story, shot through with a bracing, fast narrative, some twisted beauty, a magnificent central performance, and moments of great emotional intensity.
The Freudian elements are clear, as we see the consequences of the rejection of the father. This comes back well in the coda, with the return of the repressed and so on. This film is largely about Tom's relationship to his mother, represented by the female figures in his life. The most important is the piano teacher, the first woman the camera is allowed to identify with (not purely as a result of Tom's gaze) and identify with. The shift in Tom's relationship to women, and indeed to everything, is well captured by Audiard in the move throughout the film to a more distanced, stiller camera. This well conveys his changing mindset.
The use of fingers is a clever motif, we have the latent energy of them early on, and the expressiveness of the fetichisation of them. It is no coincidence that in his first 'new-Tom' encounter with a woman we focus on his fingers.
The sound of the film is terrific, not just the music but also the diagetics of car exhausts, doors slamming, which all appreciates into a beat that powers the film. Music is also used smartly to move from scene to scene; one of Audiard's great strengths is the rythm and drive he gives to narratives, through smart scene-montage by following music and the shapes of bodies.
This is Duris' film as Tom, it is his camera, and he gives an excellent performance. In fact, it's better than that, it is a great performance, with his breathing, his restlessness, his at times emotional problems represented subtly but devastatingly.
A fine, fine film, of excellent beauty and an intensity that is racheted up expertly, so we come to understand Tom. Marvellous.