With Heart Through the Wall - Blu-ray

Film: A young inventor (Clovis Cornillac) loves silence and solitude and hates other people for it. So far, he has always succeeded in driving away every potential neighbor in the very brightly sounding apartment next door. But the new resident, a young pianist (Mélanie Bernier) he grits his teeth. The only thing that helps is to bring out the heavy guns. But just when the two have nearly driven each other mad, they realize they don't really dislike each other. And slowly, through the wall, a tender friendship develops that could actually turn into love. The only question is: is the wall between them an obstacle or does it protect them from reality?

With Heart Through the Wall certainly doesn't reinvent the wheel. Nor is it the first romance where the lovers don't get to see each other for most of the film. Nevertheless, director and leading actor Clovis Cornillac succeeded in making a very charming romantic comedy, which besides some clichés also has some pleasantly original ideas to offer. The way in which the two neighbors try to drive each other crazy is just as amusing as the cooking together on the first date. It's moments like these that allow the film to play to its strengths, offering its audience delightfully light comedy fare of the typical French kind.

There are, however, a few scenes that seem a little too hysterical or flat. They do tarnish the fun a bit, though this is only very marginal in the end. The loose production, the characters with all their quirks yet very lovable and a good portion of heart comfort over most weaknesses. Of course, that doesn't make the romance a masterpiece by any means. The whole thing is just too banal for that. That may sound very negative now. But Cornillac himself seems to know that he didn't create a highbrow art cinema, but just light entertainment fare. And since his production never tries to be more than it actually is, banal should be understood here in a rather positive sense.

With the heart through the wall is perfect fare to turn off the brain and just be nicely sprinkled and get something for the heart. A film for an amused permanent smile, which should especially stay with lovers of light French romances for a while after the credits. And for that, despite some weaknesses and lack of depth, there is then a very clear: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the Blu-ray pleases with a high image sharpness, a pleasantly warm color scheme, as well as neatly matched contrasts. The sound remains rather restrained, due to the genre. However, especially when the two neighbors are getting on each other's nerves with all sorts of noise pollution, the coherent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix also makes for a good utilization of the surround channels. Good!

Extras: Apart from the trailer, there is unfortunately no extra material on the disc. Too bad!

Conclusion: With the heart through the wall is not a particularly profound, but a really nice and funny romantic comedy, which has turned out a little flat in places, but makes up for this shortcoming with a lot of charm and original wit. The Blu-ray presents the charming hustle and bustle in coherent picture and sound quality. The only thing the viewer has to do without is bonus material. Overall, there is a clear: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp