Though serious illnesses are commonplace plot enhancers (and easy tearjerkers) in many dramas and melodramas, there are actually few movies that deal with the disease condition itself. In "Philadelphia", for instance, the hero fought against the system more than against AIDS. In "E.R.", we suffer a lot with the patients but the doctors are still the heroes. "Haut les coeurs!" (that could roughly be translated as "Be brave!") tells the story of Emma, a young woman who learns at (almost) the same time that she is pregnant and that she is suffering from an advanced breast cancer. We follow her, and the people around her, during her private war against the disease. We share her hopes, doubts (will she be able to keep her baby), and terrors. It's hard to say that such a movie is "pleasant" and the subject is not of the popular kind. There are many reasons why one would want to see it, though. The first is the documentary aspect : it is largely autobiographical, and rarely we have seen on movie such a detailed account, both at technical level (how the war is fought) and psychological (how people react, doctors, friends, lover, brother). This not an abstract disease, but a real one, and a strong reminder that there's not romanticism in fatal sickness. In one funny, though terrible, scene, Emma's tells what she thinks about Nature's sadistic ways of killing people to a "natural health" supporter. The other reason is that it's not a documentary, but a fiction, and an efficient, even suspensful one, with lighter moments. Like any good fiction, it also works at a more symbolic level. How can we cope with impending death ? How can we help our loved ones ? Karin Viard's portrayal of Emma is unforgettable and put her definitely on the top of the contemporary actresses.
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