The Heart Has Reasons is a journey around the human heart and how its meaning has changed through the ages. Mark Kidel’s documentary challenges the modern idea of the heart as no more than a sophisticated but functional pump. Mark will be at the Pierian Centre on Sunday 25th October to present the film and discuss its implications.

When Mark’s film about melancholy Kind of Blue was shown at the Pierian Centre in March, the queues were so long that people were turned away in droves. He returns now with The Heart Has Reasons, an exploration of the central place the Heart has held in human culture. First screened on Channel 4, the film weaves together interviews, poetry, music and art to create a powerful portrait of lost riches.

Mark Kidel’s starting point was Blaise Pascal’s observation that “The Heart has reasons which Reason cannot understand”. The ideas are explored by psychologist James Hillman, by psychotherapists, surgeons, painters and tattooists. The soundtrack ranges from brilliant Brazilian percussion to the 1950’s pop singer Connie Francis, and from Billie Holiday to Gigli singing Puccini. There is a breath-taking collection of images – from the mysteries of Renaissance alchemy and the bleeding hearts of Catholicism, to heart shaped g-strings and Betty Boop’s seductive lips.

The film opens up the possibility of re-imagining the world and going beyond contemporary culture’s conviction of the superior ‘reality value’ of science and medicine. Contrasting the scientific model of the body as a sophisticated machine with the rich symbolism that previous centuries had found there, it questions the purely materialistic approach to illness, heart disease in particular. The Heart Has Reasons offers not just a cool lesson in the importance of symbolism and poetry in our lives, but a heart-stirring and sometimes humorous journey through the inner chambers of our most essential organ.

The Heart Has Reasons is screened on Sunday 25th October, with the Bar opening at 7pm and the film starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £4.50 (with concessions for those on low incomes) – and must be booked in advance on 0117 924 4512 or info@pieriancentre.com. The Pierian Centre is at 27 Portland Square, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA.

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