As a teenager, I was fond of playing the sublime One from the Heart soundtrack by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle on my old tape-deck in my first flat; one night, I came home to find the music playing through the walls, and realised that my neighbours had been inspired enough to buy their own copy. It’s melancholy mood music par excellence, and fits nicely with Francis Ford Coppola’s widely neglected, deeply romantic musical.
Frederic Forrest does his Brando thing and Teri Garr plays cute as Hank and Frannie, a frazzled Las Vegas couple who are continually on the edge of splitting up; Waits’ (I’m Sick and Tired of) Pickin’ Up After You catches the downbeat mood. But the 4th of July weekend looms, and the couple go their separate ways with separate partners; Hank welcomes Nastassja Kinski to his mechanic’s graveyard of old cars, while Frannie heads for Bora Bora with dancing smoothie (Raul Julia). The course of love will run true, but who will be rewarded, and who will fall foul of their clandestine affairs? Or are the weekend’s festivities no more than a test of the true nature of Hank and Frannie’s relationship?
One from the Heart’s structure builds to an all-singing, all dancing Vegas street-dance, then dials back to focus on the smaller, more intimate story of a partnership under strain. Coppola created and pretty much bankrupted his own Zoetrope studio to create this delicate valentine to music, love and cinema, and One from the Heart truly is one of a kind. The four central leads all do great work, and there’s a wonderful cameo from Allen Garfield as the owner of a restaurant. But the real star is Coppola, clearly uninterested in replicating the violence of The Godfather or Apocalypse Now, but artfully crafting a lush, studio-set movie for the ages that few cinemagoers turned out for.
One from the Heart is a film-out-of-time, for sure, but it’s a wonderful wallow in fading passion and impending break-ups. Songs like Broken Bicycles have endured, but it’s well worth going back to the source to experience them in context. The metaphors may be obvious, and it’s not hard to see why Frannie’s wanderlust is in conflict with Hank’s practical, downbeat mind, but such simplicity allows space for the poetry to sing. And sing it does; this is a untypical movie musical which has more than a dash of the bitter-sweet formula that hit the sweet-spot with the more crowd-pleasing La La Land.
A rare Coppola movie that I haven’t heard or seen. I guess for good reasons too… If it’s anything like Godfather 3, I’ll pass though.
Godfather 3 is pretty awful IMHO, but this is a lot better than that…
That’s really cool that the music inspired your neighbors. I’ll have to check this out too! Do you feel it was influential on later films like La La Land?
I’ve no research to base my option on, other than it feels like a similar type of revival of older musical tropes. Star-crossed lovers, big production numbers, a sense of sadness; the two films feel like cousins…
Right on! Same vibe🎶💙
Coppola was heading for a thumping from the critics anyway. The film had gone way over budget and there were the usual production issues plus it always felt as if Coppola was blowing his own trumpet too often. And it was a far cry from Apocalypse Now and The Godfather. I remember being disappointed at the time because musicals had been going in a different direction after All That Jazz But it certainly sounds as if a revision might be in order.
Coppola’s deliberate stageyness seemed out of step at the time. It’s light, there’s not much at stake more than a relationship, but it’s got a unique look and tone.
“I came home to find the music playing through the walls, and realised that my neighbours had been inspired enough to buy their own copy.” Well that’s a nice twist on the old familiar blasting scenario. 😎
They obviously hated all my other music…
Now what would you possibly blast that they hated? 🤣
As a teenager, almost everything I played in my first flat is now a cause of genuine embarrassment. At least they liked something!
How marvelous, this one flew past my musicals radar, possibly because I’m not a fan of Terri Garr? I did discover the eclectic Tom Waits in the early 80s and love his gritty voice & lyrics that cut into the heart, but never knew he wrote the soundtrak for One From the Heart. I managed to find a copy. Wow, what a different kind of musical. And you’re right, only comparison might be La La Land and its sweet insouciance! You’ve done it again, thanks so much!
I’m a fan of Waits too, and this combo with Crystal Gayle brings out something fresh in their voices. Garr perhaps wasn’t the best choice here, although he holds her own, but the leads, the style, the story, everything is out of fashion for 1982, but works much better now without their weight of expectation. Love to get comments like this, thanks so much!
You are so amazing. I am making a long list of what to watch!
Every so often, I have to review something I love, just to clear the pipes, and this film is this week’s recommended offering! Enjoy!
I am not a huge musical fan, but there are always exceptions (for instance West Side Story is one of my alltime favorite movies)
Like Fraggle I have never heard of this one, but honestly it does sound pretty good. And hey even though I’m single I’m a romantic at heart so there is that😊 Great post!
It’s a short, intimate film with little on-screen singing, the soundtrack and the poetic visuals do the heavy lifting. Shame it’s not on Prime, free or otherwise, in my territory, it’s still a hard to find movie…
Had not heard of this, why do you think it bombed?
Melancholy musicals weren’t really a thing until La La Land, so I guess it’s ahead of its time…