In the 80's, director Christian Gion had some successful comedies in the French box office. This is a fact I find strange, but, given their simplicity, one might assume that spectators of the time liked their escapist qualities. Unfortunately, these are the only qualities they have, as shown by "Le bourreau des coeurs", starring one or the period's most popular actors, Aldo Maccione.
Aldo Maccione was kind of a phenomenon. Italian in origin, he played the charming, handsome, yet quite close-minded man, who has dreams of fame. His movies in France were characterized by these elements, but also by the fact that he spoke the language with a strong Italian accent, something which makes them almost unpalatable to the French speaker.
In this film, of which the title can be translated as "The executioner of Hearts", Maccione plays the ambitious amateur actor Vittorio, who dreams of fame. He simply wants to become the next Belmondo, or Delon. Through some tricks, he manages to become the star of a film, called -how original!- "Le bourreau des coeurs". In the shooting, he puts his traditional Italian charm into use, and seduces every woman on the set, while evading the "crazy" gay co-star.
I wouldn't expect anything sophisticated from Christian Gion, whose comedies were very simple features, with successive gags and weak dialogue. While the first forty minutes of this one are quite enjoyable, once Aldo arrives on the set and starts shooting his movie in Tahiti, the whole thing falls apart. The story becomes a way to promote the beautiful womaniser Maccione, and his desire to be famous.
Something which annoyed me was the film's attitude towards homosexuality. It is unfortunate that in the 80's it was still considered a taboo topic for movies to openly discuss, and even some good directors have made no less than offensive depictions of it in their work. In "Le bourreau des coeurs", there is the character of Aldo's co-star, who is openly gay. He tries to seduce Aldo by telling him how beautiful he is, and then literally jumps next to him, and tells him he loves him (!). While this scene would have never been used for comedic purposes today, it would have seemed funny to the audience of the time, of which many members - and let's be clear in this - still supported the idea of a traditional France.
In the end, "Le bourreau des coeurs" is an amusing film, that unfortunately has dated awfully because of elements then considered perfect for comedic relief. If the modern spectator gets over these, they can enjoy this low-quality comedy and forget their worries for a while. Except if their worry was to find a good movie to watch. Then, they will just get more concerned.
