Magazin für unabhängiges Kino
Filmwecker
Filmnotiz

Neue Notiz

Heaven Knows What

Heaven Knows What resets the genre of drug addiction drama by combining stylistic cinematography with an incredible autobiographical performance by first-time actor Arielle Holmes.

More

Set on the streets of post-financial crash New York, it depicts the real story of a drug-addicted lovers struggling from moment to moment, surrounded by a circle of deceptive and flaky individuals.

The story of how the film came to be made is as fascinating as the film itself. Co-directors and brothers Josh and Benny Safdie were filming test shots in the diamond district of New York when they discovered the 20-year old Holmes, whose charisma shone through her rough exterior. They convinced her to write a memoir about her life, Mad Love in New York City, which was turned into a script.

Holmes was the natural choice to play herself. No professional actor could portray the determination, anguish, cunning and hope as convincingly as Holmes, who had no prior acting experience. Her performance is what makes Heaven Knows What stand out from any previous drug-related drama, and gives the film something new to say about the topic.

The film is also a stylistic triumph, as the directors use long lenses to cast a distant haze over the city streets surrounding the characters. This juxtaposition of cinematic beauty with a confronting story is what gives Heaven Knows What its edge.The music is a fitting electronic soundtrack that adds to the story without swallowing it in melancholy.

Supporting Holmes is a cast of actors who deliver stand-out performances, including Caleb Landry Jones playing Holmes’ deadbeat boyfriend, the controversial rap musician Necro, and Buddy Duress, another addict-turned-actor.

(Mobile Kino)

Credits

USA 2014, 97 min
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Director: Ben Safdie, Josh Safdie
Author: Ronald Bronstein
Distributor: Mobile Kino
Cast: Arielle Holmes, Caleb Landry Jones, Eleonore Hendricks

IMDB

Screenings

  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles

Keine Programmdaten vorhanden.

ALLE ANGABEN OHNE GEWÄHR.
Die Inhalte dieser Webseite dürfen nicht gehandelt oder weitergegeben werden. Jede Vervielfältigung, Veröffentlichung oder andere Nutzung dieser Inhalte ist verboten, soweit die INDIEKINO BERLIN UG (haftungsbeschränkt) nicht ausdrücklich schriftlich ihr Einverständnis erklärt hat.