Asia argento, the multi-tasking daughter of Italian horror maestro Dario, co-writes, directs and takes a lead role in this take on J. T. LeRoys autobiographical book of stories. Championed by the hip likes of Chuck Palahniuk, LeRoys candid recollections of his harsh childhood are both bruising and beautifully observed.
Argentos movie retains the raw quality of the source material, although the roughest edges have been smoothed out. For example, in contrast with the general grimness, Argento makes the decision to leave the film with an open, if not overtly happy, ending, rather than adopt the books grim denouement.
More problematic is the amount of ground she opts to cover (there are ten stories in the novel), which leaves the narrative feeling a bit squeezed in places. Style-wise, though, Heart does successfully match the spare, lyrical quality of the prose, and the naturalistic performances (most impressively the three child actors) give it an authentic feel.