Paper Heart has finally been released on DVD, so I was finally able to watch it. In fact I finished it just now.
Paper Heart is a pseudo documentary/comedy about Charlyne Yi, an American comedian slash actor slash musician slash artist that played a small role in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. She insists that she is incapable of love, well the relationsip love-love kind, so she and friend Nick Jasenovec (Jake M. Johnson) set out to make a film searching for it’s secrets. As they begin to shoot, Yi meets Michael Cera at a party, although initially reluctant their evolving relationship puts into question Yi’s stubborn and cynical stance. Here’s the trailer:
What makes this film interesting and hard to place is that it’s shot in a documentary style, mostly all shots are hand-held camera footage, but it isn’t entirely truthful. Nor can it accurately be described as a mockumentary. All the interviews conducted by Yi and Johnson are truthful, they are real people telling their own real stories about love and loss and all the gooey stuff in between, including the celebrities. However, the premise for the film, her doubt in “love”, isn’t accurate, nor is her relationship with Cera. Yi and Cera basically play a fictionalised version of themselves, while Johnson takes on the role of Nick. Yi and Johnson have taken to labeling the film as a “hybrid documentary”.
Even though the only constant storyline is fictional, it doesn’t cheapen the story. Predictably, I loved it. I thought the film was sweet without being boring, any story about love and relationships falls into the cliche` category for me, but the PH team approached it well. The real interviews are what the film is really about. The Yi/Cera storyline was a fictional addition that just helps explore the subject they are trying to pick apart.
The main interviews are inter-cut with cardboard puppet dramatisations, held by Yi, which make for a much more visually stimulating scene than a couple of people waxing lyrical about their relationship. It also makes the stories more compelling to listen to because you are listening to the subject speak, but they are having their story acted out in an incredible way. The interviews with the kids on the playground was the most entertaining, and comparing their ideas based on observation to those of who have lived it all, it makes for some fun times:
Charlyne: “What do you think is the most perfect date?”
Girl: ” You need to take some to Applebees and get them some HOT WINGS!”
Lucky Boy.
In commending the documentary aspects of the film, I have to admit that the actors gave a great performance – but maybe because they were pretty much playing themselves (When has Michael Cera not played a character identical to himself? Maybe Youth in Revolt will show some growth?). Either way, their relationship was simple enough and underplayed to the point of being believable.
The film also raised a lot of questions and provided maybe a few answers to some frequently asked questions. These are some things that struck me as interesting thoughts:
- The thought that everyone has a ‘true love’ waiting for them. Do they really? And if they do, who is to say that that love will be reciprocated? This is perhaps a more pessimistic view, but I think it’s a very real and valid question.
- The idea that everyone means the world to at least one person. That’s a nice warm and fuzzy one.
- An elderly couple that met in junior high school say that young love is the most important of all. But I never had that, and I am willing to bet that many haven’t. Does that mean we’ve missed out?
- Is it worth it? Especially relationships pursued earlier in life that, for the most part, seem to end inevitably. Is the eventual hurt worth it?
- The big one: how do you know?
The Paper Heart never explicitly gives the audience an answer, but it does provide enough evidence for the audience to make up their own mind, and hopefully give them some hope. After all, it is quite an uplifting and thoughtful film, even with the sad turns – but that’s the most real way to approach such a universal idea slash emotion.
