OPEN HEARTS

Fate has a way of interfering with the best plans and intentions. OPEN HEARTS shows what happens when tragedy wreaks havoc on the lives of two couples who have pledged to love each other through good times and bad. The wedding of Cecilie (Sonja Richter) and Joachim (Nikolai Lie Kaas) is postponed when he is hit by a car and paralyzed. The car is driven by Marie (Paprika Steen), wife of doctor Niels (Mads Mikkelsen). As Niels tries to comfort the disconsolate Cecilie, the accident reverberates through his family life as well. Part romance and part tragedy, and a film of startling emotional veracity, OPEN HEARTS is about the promises people can't keep, as well as taking responsibility for the people you love. Like her compatriot Lone Scherfig, director of ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS, Susanne Bier has created her best work by following the rules of Dogme 95, a stripped-down set of rules created by Danish filmmakers that emphasizes simplicity over expensive and over-wrought productions, special effects and unnatural lighting. OPEN HEARTS takes the Dogme rules in a fresh direction, where script and acting rather than the camera provide the spontaneity. (In Danish with English subtitles)