The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things – 8 out of 10
Let me tell you, I’m having a hard time giving this film an 8 out of 10, but I feel like I have to. It’s not a pleasant film. It’ll never screen in major North American theatres without being cut. It’s not happy or uplifting in any way, though I suppose it is beautiful in a horrid & ultimately soothing way. At first I didn’t like it, but as it finished, and well into the night — even this morning when I woke up — it bled through my thoughts until I was somewhat awed by the life the film took on while we watched it.

Simply put, the performances were remarkable. I can’t imagine many actresses doing to themselves what Asia Argento did, and the kids who played Jeremiah tore our hearts out. There were well-nuanced cameos by Winona Ryder, Peter Fonda, Jeremy Sisto and Marilyn Manson. The music was perfect (nobody conveys mental cacophony like Sonic Youth).

I think I would’ve liked the film even more if I’d read the book by J.T. LeRoy. LeRoy was in attendance with Argento, actually, and it became fairly apparent how autobiographical the book really was. Of course, both of them were so fucked up on something that it was hard to tell how with it they actually were, but you got the clear notion what the J in J.T. stands for.

So, for that, for creating something so efficiently godawful out of someone’s godawful personal experiences, they deserve credit. I could never recommend this film to someone without knowing them very well; many of my friends — liberal, open-minded, progressive all — wouldn’t be able to watch it. But that Argento’s made the movie so brutal, so true to life (or at least true to a story which may or may not be factual) is deserving of respect.