Stealing Heaven (1988)

Love transcends time
The story of Abelard and Heloise will stir every emotion within your heart. Their love is timeless but tragic. I stumbled upon this film entirely by chance. Of course, I don't believe in chance. Love can be passionate, reckless, overwhelming, selfless, cruel, and a million other emotions that pull you in every conceivable direction. This very real film pulls you through all of these feelings and more. The emotions are raw. The humanity is unavoidable. This is a cinematic masterpiece which shows the true depths of love and the cost it exacts on your soul.

Beyond the characters, the plot, and the timeless depths of this love story is the amazing cinematography. This movie defines passion in all its facets. Scenes are dramatic in color and tone. The individuals are vibrant and flawed. Anyone who has ever loved and stayed the course through adversity and the dictates of fate and destiny will understand why this film is such a masterpiece.

One negative about the film in its trimmed down version is the deletion of poignant love scenes. I far prefer the Director's Cut which includes these deleted scenes. As with any screen adaptation of a novel, some details have been glossed over. This saga would run several hours if it had been filmed as an unabridged version. This is a film well worth watching.

A classic retelling. . .
. . .of one of the greatest -- and most tragic -- love stories of all time.

The tragic love affair (and its consequences) between the noted theologian Peter Abelard and the brilliant Heloise is artfully brought to the screen in the adaptation of the novel by the same name. The casting and cinematograhy were supurb.

Two versions of this film exist on videotape. The unrated version is by far the best, although EXTREMELY graphic. The "R" rated version toned the explicit material down significantly -- but also cut much material which had nothing to do with any "racy" scenes, and really did damage to the plot line.

As an additional "plus", some of the historical liberties which the author of the novel took (see my review for details) were greatly toned down in the film.

An enjoyable, historical film -- but not for everyone. If you can't handle the explicit material, don't bother with the edited version. Too much was cut out.

A classic retelling. . .
. . .of one of the greatest -- and most tragic -- love stories of all time.

The tragic love affair (and its consequences) between the noted theologian Peter Abelard and the brilliant Heloise is artfully brought to the screen in the adaptation of the novel by the same name. The casting and cinematograhy were supurb.

Two versions of this film exist on videotape. The unrated version is by far the best, although EXTREMELY graphic. The "R" rated version toned the explicit material down significantly -- but also cut much material which had nothing to do with any "racy" scenes, and really did damage to the plot line.

As an additional "plus", some of the historical liberties which the author of the novel took (see my review for details) were greatly toned down in the film.

An enjoyable, historical film -- but not for everyone. If you can't handle the explicit material, don't bother with the edited version. Too much was cut out.