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Secrets of the Heart

Play trailer Poster for Secrets of the Heart 1997 1h 48m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
In rural Spain during the 1960s, a young boy (Andoni Erburu) questions the deaths of several family members and friends.

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Secrets of the Heart

Critics Reviews

View All (3) Critics Reviews
Empire Magazine Rated: 2/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) I don't think I've ever seen a movie that so captured the idea of how strange, mysterious, frightening and even incomprehensible the world is to us in early childhood. Rated: 4/5 Jan 7, 2009 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Oct 11, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (7) audience reviews
isla s This is a fairly typical European film about a youngish boy learning about adult relationships and the like. Its pretty innocent stuff for the most part. There wasn't enough of a clear, interesting plotline to keep me anywhere near gripped but it was ok. I wouldn't especially recommend it, no. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Secrets of the Heart is a coming-of-age film with an adorable young protag (Andoni Erburu) who can't catch a break when it comes to hearing the adults in his life have sex. Javi (Erburu) is the epitome of innocence, who gets caught up in his brother's (Álvaro Negore) shenanigans and his family's history, which contains a secret no one wants to address. Well, *spoiler*, the secret is that his father shot himself — whether it was an accidental suicide or not, I'm still unsure. Nevertheless, the family has made the decision to keep the bloodstained chair wherein it took place, which seems like the opposite thing you'd do if you wanted to avoid the topic. Over the course of the film, poor Javi hears his uncle (Carmelo Gómez) bang his mother (Silvia Munt), watches his dog get sexually assaulted by another dog, sees his aunt (Vicky Peña), with whom he lives to attend a better school, get lavishly drunk off table wine every night, and copes with a friendly neighbor's suicide. The film feels like a warning sign to adults: "Children see the shit you do." But Javi is resilient and the film provides a nice ending showcasing brotherly love. It's probably too slow for most viewers nowadays, but if you like movies set in Spain (this is around Pamplona), Secrets of the Heart has enough to offer. *Side note,* I'd like to see the film from Gutierrez's perspective, kid can't catch a break. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Loved the way the movie portrayed events as seen through the eyes of an innocent, naive child. We as the audience know only what Javi knows but are able to infer more given our higher degrees of maturity. Beautiful story and well-directed. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member A very exquisite journey of the beauty of life. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member I love this movie so much...The civil war in Spain definitely took it's toll. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member The whole thing in the summary about seeing the world through the eyes of a child was very correct when it came to this movie. i enjoyed it a lot. it was funny at times but still very serious and human and everything. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Secrets of the Heart

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis In rural Spain during the 1960s, a young boy (Andoni Erburu) questions the deaths of several family members and friends.
Director
Montxo Armendáriz
Producer
Thierry Forte, Jose Mazeda
Screenwriter
Montxo Armendáriz
Production Co
Aiete Films S.A., Les Films Ariane
Genre
Drama
Original Language
European Spanish
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 3, 2019
Runtime
1h 48m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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