Midlands Review of The Heart Asunder
September 13, 2021

The Heart Asunder
Directed by Jay Mansell
2021
Made in the West Midlands by Birmingham filmmaker Jay Mansell, The Heart Asunder is a new micro-short from the first-time director focusing on loss and grief.
Starring Beatrice Allen (as Alicia) and Thomas Loone (as Nathan) the short was written, directed, produced and edited by Jay himself.
What seems like a voiceover quickly moves to a young woman called Alicia who is shown strolling with a pram through a park during the daytime sharing her thoughts aloud.
She reminisces on words mentioned by her own mum - “there’s nothing stronger than a mother’s love” - and continuing her monologue she speaks from the heart explaining how her mum’s name became the inspiration for Evie’s name.
As she pushes the pram, she is interrupted by a man (Nathan) who runs over to Alicia to ask what is going on. Explaining she just needed a walk, the man struggles to connect with her despite his requests to stop and talk.
Beatrice Allen does a great job with the heavy but brief material, speaking from the heart whilst also displaying a vulnerability as she stares off into the distance. Nathan as the concerned partner gives a good demonstration of someone who cares but also understands the difficult circumstances.
The short is made in one continuous shot as we track her walk - with the pram just out of shot. Ash Connaughton as director of photography, Arther Turner as sound mixer and Max Allcock as 1st AC each demonstrate a good understanding of their craft with the technical aspects of the film all excellent.
(SPOILER WARNING) However, it is only at the end does the camera pull out and the audience discovers the pram is in fact empty with the loss of her child being the sad inferred conclusion.
At three and a half minutes, the film comes and goes in a flash but sadly so many moments in our lives do. Its short runtime almost reflects the all too brief memories we have with loved ones. The Heart Asunder though is a great example of a film having a solid central conceit delivered with top-notch technical qualities. And the simplicity of the film means the message isn’t lost amongst a host of superfluous filmic fancies too.
In the end, what it delivers is an emotional and thoughtful piece on a sensitive subject using unfussy techniques and a heart-wrenching reveal. Combined, this hits home the film’s intense message about love that is fleeting but oh so overwhelming.
Michael Sales

Up! (1976) Dir. Russ Meyer Well, bi-Adolf Hitler BDSM is not something (a) I thought I’d ever see 5 minutes into a movie and (b) ever expected to write in my lifetime to be fair but this spicy start is pretty standard for the work of exploitation filmmaker Russ Meyer. Up! is a kind of r*pe-revenge softcore p*rn film (there’s gonna be a fair bit of self-censorship in this review so apologies in advance), the type Meyer is known for. I’d describe the plot in more detail but it’s mostly a convoluted and incoherent mess of double-crossing, murder, violence and lots and lots of humping. In short, a man called Adolph gets murdered and a woman investigates (kinda) the circumstances but as she does so, a group of locals blackmail, attack and screw each other with the murder mystery barely mentioned throughout. With so little narrative, it could be argued if it’s essentially p*rn? To be fair, not far off. It’s about extreme as you can go without simply making a s*x film. Is that a…no, it’s a belly button hole. Bookending the film (and also seen at various points throughout) is a Greek Chorus - simply a busty fully nude woman of course - who delivers dialogue like “Pummelling the scrotum with joyous supplication” and other such poeticisms. This artistic flourish is mostly pointless - the actress herself saying the words were tough to learn because it was utter nonsense. On a technical level, the editing is surprisingly well done and the 4k image is frankly fantastic. Someone somewhere must be putting together a post-modern take about the beautiful landscapes and cinematography of Meyer’s * ahem * output. But it definitely does have a kitsch artistry. It has certainly provided plenty of cinematic influence though. Elements of Tarantino grindhouse sensibilities are on show - Meyers likes bosoms as much as Quents likes feet - and there’s even a leather gimp early on. I can also see how its had an impact on Ti West X’s with a focus on sexuality and the body as well, more obviously, Anna Biller’s feminist-twist The Love Witch (2016). Suffice to say it’s not for the weak of heart. I think in this day and age you can’t go into this completely blind to its style, period and context though. It's an X-rated Carry On style that was bad taste then and it’s bad taste now. It revels in its sleaziness without a single hint of shame or apology. Simply saying 'deal with it'. The main negative though is the absence of plot - if the film can even be looked at like that - which is barely present. This is a shame as the whole thing could do with a bit more coherence rather than endless shagging. But it’s far from titillation, it’s mostly clowning - albeit a very adult version of it. More saucy than sexy. Trying to review this through modern sensibilities is almost impossible. It’s as offensive can be from the first scene through to the final credits - heck even this 4k menu is simply one of the film's many s*x scenes. But there are some progressive themes as it doesn’t shy from confronting sexual freedom, bisexuality, gay sex, BDSM and consensual exploration. There's moments of comedy thrown in and I enjoyed a frankly hilarious 5-minute monologue explaining the culprit’s intentions, which was a ludicrous way to deliver a slasher-style ending. I suppose the main thing about Up! (and Meyers’ work overall) is there’s a sort of love it or loathe it quality about the whole shebang. But it’s so unlike anything being made today - for good or bad - that it’s never anything other than unpredictably fascinating. More explicit than most Meyers films - in fact more than any film - it’s a lewd, rude and crude (s)exploration with a satirical edge and campy enjoyment bouncing from every frame. ★★★ 3 / 5 Michael Sales Severin Films releases Russ Meyers' UP! (1976) and MOTORPSYCHO (1965) on 28 April 2025 in newly restored and scanned 4k with hours of new and archival Special Features https://severinfilms.co.uk/

Ti West’s The House of the Devil makes a wonderful companion piece to his film The Innkeepers. Both maintain the director’s referential approach to horror, incapsulating it in a slow burning 90 minutes that manages to build and maintain tension while cheekily winking to the audience and showing the mechanisms behind the scares.