On the whole, I enjoyed many moments of 'Heartbeats' ('Les Amours Imaginaires'), and I disliked many others -- such as the self-indulgence of the filmmaker/actor, in obviously relishing at showing to the camera his face (too elongated chin and very long teeth ?), his hands (with rather very unkempt nails). His very short stature may be fine, for now (when he's boyishly young), but later.….. ? I have the impression that he is unable to watch the 'rushes' of what he films with much objectivity. And all these slow-motioned scenes ….often boring, I thought. About the songs he uses in the background: they often 'reflect' or even 'explain' some situations, but when used in these ways, are they WELL used -- I mean a movie's script and acting should be self-sufficient. Sure, music can set a mood, even amplify it -- but rarely more -- in very good movies. Anyway, Dolan may well be a genius: only the future will confirm or infirm this. Good luck to him -- at the very least for his determination to express himself and his apparent total lack of self-consciousness. As someone noted, 'The Innocents' almost dealt with the very same subject -- but in my humble opinion, to much better results. And Dolan knows it very well, since he has the 'honesty' of having one of the young men of Bertolucci's movie appear in the very last scene -- hinting that the pattern is set and about to start, all over again -- for the two main characters, played by Miss Monia Chokri and Dolan himself. Very good point and so accurate about infatuation : do we ever really learn from our past mistakes – when our UNHEALED emotions are concerned ?

when i started watching the movie, i didn't really enjoy it and just waited for something to happen, but nothing really happened. the random people talking between the scenes were completely unnecessary, but after all, the best part of the movie was what the girl with the black glasses said about spooning. this movie isn't really about love. it's about adult people with the brains of teenagers falling for "the perfect guy". the movie is quite pretentious, as the characters with all their vintage clothes, audrey hepburn, talking about art and other hipster crap. i also didn't like all the slow motion scenes and the bedroom scenes. the slow motion was sooo uncalled for and in the bedroom scenes we don't really hear anything new. but the soundtrack is nice. oh, and the ending isn't that bad. but the characters really suck. it's like all 3 main characters are the same person. they're really shallow and boring, as their conversations. :/

A friend made me discover this director few months ago. It's important to know as he is only 23 and he already directed three movies. I always wanted to watch at least one of his films and i decided to start with "Heartbeats".I didn't expect much about this film but i was surprised about the making of the film. I appreciated the effects, like the slow-motion. The music is a nice choice, i mostly noticed "Bang Bang" sang by Dalida and the musics of Johann Sebastian Bach. The actors play very well and Xavier Dolan, the director, also play in his movie and has a main role.It's a Quebec's movie and the actors speak with an accent, it's a bit hard to understand few words as a french speaker. I was a bit bored when watching few scenes, but that's not a big problem in the movie.A good movie by Xavier Dolan, i think i will watch his others movies.

Francis is gay and his close friend Marie is straight, two little things that threaten to tear the friendship apart when at a dinner party they meet 'Adonis' like Nicholas. Both feel an instant attraction to the blond curly haired beauty who seems to exude sexuality, passion and an artistic creative side. The attraction grows as the trio becomes firm friends, spending more and more time together and Francis and Maris both try to impress Nicholas by dressing like his favorite movie stars or hanging out in places he might be and then pretending it's just chance when they meet.Nicholas though never states a defined interest in either playing ambiguously towards the two leading them to have little idea where they stand. As the friendship progress's the two sleep with partners in the hope of gaining some sexual satisfaction elsewhere when they can't have it where they really want it and all the time the pangs of jealousy grow stronger between the two as each bids for Nicholas' affections.This second feature from Canadian Xavier Dolan is a far cry from his debut (I Killed My Mother), which I found a grating and dire experience. In contrast this is a brilliant portrait of unrequited love that perhaps anyone can relate to. As a film maker, there is no doubt that Dolan had talent and in this film it really shines. The film is as frustrating though as it is funny and real; Dolan populates his film with beautiful 'trendsetters' who at times look like a bunch of espresso swilling bourgeois idiots and that I found annoying and there are times when it falters on some clichéd territory. Yet this is outweighed by fine performances, great camera work, including some nice slow motion shots and a brilliant visual impact with it's array of costumes and in some sequences bright colour. Dolan also douses his film with some vibrant and perfect musical choices that at times add to the realism of the plot.And it's that plot that works so well; everyone has felt an attraction to someone and gone out of their way to 'impress' them in the hope they might make something unrequited become less so. The ability to be able to relate makes for an at times painful but also very very funny film and whilst it does have some faults this is a really solid and wonderful film.More of my reviews at my site iheartfilm.weebly.com