RHYTHMS OF THE HEART

43 min. 16mm. col. sd. 1990

In Rhythms of the Heart, Steve Sanguedolce's affinity for expressionistic documentaries turns to the depiction of a ruined relationship. Rhythms of the Heart typifies many of the Escarpment School concerns in its blend of personal narrative and landscape, redrafting its romantic heritage in a love story that deconstructs narrative traditions even as it tears its characters apart. Sanguedolce insistently replays loss through a metaphorical landscape while tirelessly focusing on the personally domestic. The films' centre presents a myriad of visual enclosures such as sparsely lit studios, counter tops or framed bathrooms. The characters search throughout the film to find space within the maze of these settings which could allow them to live without the (Dionysian) dissolutions of sexual passion or the (Apollonian) dictates of the law. After the successes of direct cinema moviemakers like Leacock and Pennebaker, it was hoped that the widescale dissemination of home media equipment, specifically the introduction of super-8, would establish a grass roots imaging network that would loosen Hollywood's fatal grip. The advent of cheap, portable home video recording will draft the next chapter in the ongoing struggle between private and public spheres. what remains to be seen is whether domestic technologies can be put to uses beyond simple illustrations of reigning ideologies. (This is my house. This is my car. This is my husband. This is my rose bush.) Rhythms of the Heart is exemplary in this regard, as an exploration of the join between daily technologies and everyday life. While its mannered excesses vault it well beyond the scope of most home made productions, its resolutely personal focus make it a harbinger of things to come.

Mike Hoolboom - The psychotechnology of everyday life

"Rhythms of the Heart is both deeply personal and sharply analytical. It is a breathtakingly multi-leveled experience, one of the most mature and fully realized experimental films of recent years."

Amnon Buchbinder Vancouver International Film Festival 1990