Rhythms of the Heart

“Cinema weaned from the monogamy of sound and image in a film equal to one’s capacity for wonder… In ‘Rhythms of the Heart,’ Steve Sanguedolce’s affinity for expressionistic documentaries turns to the depiction of a ruined relationship. “Sanguedolce belongs to the Escarpment School- a loosely knit group of filmmakers born and raised along the craggy slopes of the Canadian shield. Their work typically joins memory and landscape in a documentary based production. Inheritors of the 19th century Lake poet romantics, ‘nature’ is typically figured as a metaphor for consciousness. ‘Rhythms of the Heart’ typifies many of these 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 metaphorical landscape while tirelessly focusing on the personally domestic. The film’s 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.” – Mike Hoolboom Awards: Best Experimental Feature Film, Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ohio, 1991; Nominated for Best Experimental Film, Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival, Saskatchewan, 1990