Map of the Human Heart

Map of the Human Heart
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vincent Ward
Produced by	Tim Bevan Vincent Ward
Written by	Louis Nowra
Story by	Vincent Ward
Starring	Jason Scott Lee Robert Joamie Anne Parillaud Clotilde Courau
Music by	Gabriel Yared
Cinematography	Eduardo Serra
Editing by	John Scott Frans Vandenburg
Studio	Working Title Films PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Australian Film Finance Corporation
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	1993
Running time	109 minutes
Country	Australia / United Kingdom
Language	English

Map of the Human Heart is the title of a 1993 film by New Zealand director Vincent Ward. It was screened out of competition at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

The film, set mostly before and during World War II, centers on the life of a Canadian Inuit boy, Avik (played as a child by Robert Joamie, and as an adult by Jason Scott Lee), who joins the Royal Canadian Air Force and eventually, as a crewmember of a Lancaster bomber, participates in the notorious firebombing of Dresden. Throughout his life, Avik is haunted by love for a Métis girl, Albertine (played by Anne Parillaud), and by a belief that he brings misfortune to those around him.

The film also stars Patrick Bergin, who plays a pivotal role as both surrogate father to Avik and his primary rival in Albertine's love. Jeanne Moreau has a minor role as a Québécois nun. John Cusack also has a small but important role as the mapmaker to whom Avik relates his incredible tale.

The film's re-creation of the firebombing of Dresden is one of the most graphic and powerful sequences in the film. On the day Ward finished shooting those scenes, he received word that his father, who had actually participated in the historical firebombing of Dresden, had died. This is why Ward chose to dedicate the film to him.

There are two other scenes in the movie which garnered much attention. The first one is a pivotal love scene that takes place on top of an English military blimp (not in a cabin or gondola but actually on top of the blimp), the other is the final scene of the film which has a twist ending.

The scenes in "Nunatuk," the region of Northern Canada where Avik's people are from, were filmed on location in what is now Nunavut, using local Inuit as extras.

The script was written by Australian author Louis Nowra, using a 10-page treatment Ward had written a year earlier as his guide.

In 1931, a chartist lands a plane in the Arctic to map unrecorded regions. He takes an Eskimo boy with tuberculosis back to civilisation where he is healed and indoctrinated in a Catholic foster home. The Eskimo meets a "half-breed" girl (father was French, mother was Indian) and they fall in love. They are separated and the Eskimo returns to the Arctic. Years later he encounters the chartist again and sends a message to his love via the chartist. He joins the air force to fight Hitler, and runs into her again, but there are obstacles that threaten his friendships and relationships.

Cast

• Jason Scott Lee - Avik
• Robert Joamie - Young Avik
• Anne Parillaud - Albertine
• Annie Galipeau - Young Albertine
• Patrick Bergin - Walter Russell
• Clotilde Courau - Rainee
• John Cusack - The Mapmaker
• Jeanne Moreau - Sister Banville
• Ben Mendelsohn - Farmboy
• Jerry Snell - Boleslaw
• Jayko Pitseolak - Avik's Grandmother
• Matt Holland - Flight Navigator
• Rebecca Vevee - Inuit Cook
• Josape Kopalee - Inuit Elder
• Reepah Arreak - Avik's Girlfriend

Box Office

Map of the Human Heart grossed $539,000 at the box office in Australia,^[2].

See also

• Cinema of Australia
• Cinema of the UK

References

1. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Map of the Human Heart". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/26/year/1992.html. Retrieved 2009-08-17. 
2. ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office

External links

• Map of the Human Heart at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Map of the Human Heart at the Internet Movie Database

Official links

Map of the Human Heart at Vincent Ward Films