Map of the Human Heart

Stars: Jason Scott Lee (Dragon), Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita, Innocent Blood), Patrick Bergin (Sleeping With the Enemy, Mountains of the Moon). As a major fan of Vincent Ward's first two independent films (Vigil and The Navigator), his flawed romantic epic Map of the Human Heart--an overly ambitious British-Australian-French-Canadian production spanning two continents and 30 years--was a real disappointment. Told in flashback, the film's best moments are during the first hour when Avik (played as an adult by Jason Scott Lee) recalls his youth as an Inuit Eskimo boy who was befriended by British cartographer Walter Russell (Patrick Bergin). Ailing from tuberculosis, Avik is taken by Russell to a sanitarium in Montreal where he is cared for by a shrewish nurse (Jeanne Moreau). Here he meets Albertine (played as an adult by Anne Parillaud), a French-Indian waif. Although Avik and Albertine are eventually separated as kids, the adult Avik discovers Albertine in England years later only to discover that she has become romantically involved with Russell (thanks to Avik asking Russell to look for her years earlier). Implausibility is only one of the big problems that plague this lovely-looking film. The adult love affair between Avik and Albertine--with the exception of an innovative love scene on top of a dirigible--is relatively sparkless, unconvincing, and woefully undeveloped. Nice landscapes and a few good cinematic bells and whistles can't offset the fact that what's missing in Ward's third outing is, ironically, that titular human heart. Audience: Jason Scott Lee is very popular now due to Dragon. Also, a fair number of critics, including thumbmeister's Siskel & Ebert, gave the film critical raves. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Dec. 20, 2011—Echo Bridge, 109 min., R, $6.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1992's Map of the Human Heart features a fine transfer but no extras. Bottom line: a bargain-priced re-release of an uneven but beautiful-looking film.]