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Lonely Heart

Audio By Nobuhiro Hosoki

 

In its depiction of real life,"Lonely Heart" is a gruesome yet poignant film that stings the heart with its image of kinky sex and voodoo rituals. Back in the 1940s, these topics were deemed outrageous by those conservative moviegoers who watched the standard black-and-white format.

Then, it was considered sensational to have a lethal duo like Raymond Fernandez
(Jared Leto) and, Martha Beck(Salma Hayek) lure war widows into a swindling scheme by placing ads in the personals column. But it was the 300-pound Martha pulling a strings of the scam which resulted in a series of murders, by flaunting her attachment to slightly balding latino man. Their relationship is a match made in hell, and Martha deludes herself into becoming at outrightly possessive sociopath. The couple is pursued by a pair of detectives: Elmer (John Travolta),

whose wife's suicide remains a heavy burden on his mind; and Charles(James Gandolfini), who adds a touch of period authenticity to this film. Even though there is no resemblance to real woman, Salma Hayek devoted a very appealing performance as a sharply embodied femme fatale. Her eloquent performance gives us a glimpse into a tragic flaw we all possess, one that sometimes mixes brutal violence with a lonely heart's search for love.