Heart of America (film)

Infobox Film | name = Heart of America


caption ="Heart of America" DVD Cover
director = Uwe Boll
producer = Shawn Williamson
Wolfgang Herold
writer = Robert Dean Klein
starring = Jurgen Prochnow
Maria Conchita Alonso
Clint Howard
Brendan Fletcher
Lochlyn Munro
Will Sanderson
Maeve Quinlan
G. Michael Gray
Michael Belyea
with Patrick Muldoon
and Michael Pare
music = Reinhard Besser
editing = David Richardson
language = English
budget = $5 million (estimated)
imdb_id = 0279037

"Heart of America" is a 2003 drama film by German director Uwe Boll about a fictional school shooting in a suburban high school. It is believed to have been inspired by such shootings as the Columbine High School Massacre. The film is MPAA Rated R for violence, drug Use, sexuality and language, (All Involving Teens). It is one of two Uwe Boll films not to be listed on IMDB's bottom 100.

ynopsis

The last day of school contains many problems for both the teachers and students of Riverton High School, and there are multiple storylines about this.

The Teachers

The principal must discipline an English teacher who has let his professional frustrations get the better of him while a counselor attempts to get through to a drug dealer who is ruining her students.

The Students

Meanwhile, the principal's daughter is having trouble with her boyfriend, outcast Dara craves drugs, a pregnant girl argues with her boyfriend about her future options, and a bully begins to recognize the consequences of his actions.

The Shootings

Unbeknown to these people, two students, Daniel and Barry have had enough and are about to seek revenge on those who have abused them for so long. Barry is having second thoughts, whilst hate-filled Daniel prepares to unleash his anger. This is very much used as a reference to the "constant battle" between good and evil.

Comparison to Elephant

Reviewers have often compared "Heart of America" to Gus Van Sant's "Elephant", which is of a very similar theme. They both feature multiple viewpoints and frequently go from character to character. Additionally, neither are chronological, with events being shown in different order as to when they happened.

Movies of a similar theme

After the rise in school shootings towards the end of the 20th century and the subsequent Columbine High massacre, several film-makers produced low-budget films which would attempt to capture the atmosphere of a high school shooting;

*"Zero Day" - A faux documentary, composed of home videos made by two teenagers plotting an assault on their school. Called "the one great Columbine Film" by Dave Cullen.
*"Elephant" - A 2003 film by Gus Van Sant, it is set on the day of a massive shooting. Most of the film takes place about five minutes before the shooting occurs, following several characters as they live out their school lives, unaware of what is about to unfold. This film was highly acclaimed by critics and won the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival.
*"Duck! The Carbine High massacre" - A black comedy film which takes a grim look at what led two students to undergo a murder/suicide attack on their classmates and teachers.
*"" - A 2006 Australian drama set in one day of the lives of six high school students, one of whom will kill themselves at 2:37PM.

ee also

*School shooting
*School Violence

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279037/ IMDB Profile]
* [http://www.trashcity.org/BLITZ/BLIT1463.HTM "Trash City" Review]