|
The Thorn in my Heart
| Released |
7 January 2010 |
| Director |
Michel Gondry |
Starring
|
Suzette Gondry, Jean-Yves Gondry, Michel Gondry |
| Writer(s) |
Michel Gondry |
| Producer(s) |
Georgs Bermann |
| Origin |
France |
| Running Time |
86 minutes |
| Genre |
Documentary |
| Rating |
PG |
|
|
A formidable lady!
French director Michel Gondry is an award winning music video director but is probably best known for his feature films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep and Be Kind, Rewind. He seems to have a niche in odd, slightly surreal comedies although this may change with the coming blockbuster The Green Hornet starring Seth Rogen. In the meantime, he offers something very different, a very personal documentary about his family.
The focus of this film is his Aunt Suzette. She’s very much the matriarch of the family, which is quickly established in the opening scene at a crowded family dinner. Suzette was a teacher in a series of schools in small provincial towns from the middle of the fifties until she retired in the eighties. Gondry frames most of the film around Suzette revisiting her old schools. Some of these schools are now unused, or used as second homes. But at many of them Suzette meets old colleagues and former pupils who remember her fondly. It is interesting to see how France changed in her time, especially when she was teaching the children of Algerian soldiers.
As the film moves on though it also focuses on Suzette’s relationship with her emotionally fragile son, Jean-Yves. It is a somewhat strained relationship and he is the thorn in her heart of the title. You might feel more sympathy for Jean-Yves if he wasn’t so annoying, playing with his train sets while wearing a series of stupid bandanas.
You sense at times that Gondry got a little bored with the documentary format so he slipped back into the self-indulgence he’s occasionally accused of. After a class where young schoolchildren are given the chance to ask Suzette questions, he gives them light reflective clothes to run around in that make them look invisible. Then there are the scenes where he shows the documentary crew bonding with Suzette that quickly become tiresome and quite frankly belong on a DVD extras package, not in the film itself.
However there is no doubting the affection that Gondry has for Suzette and in truth she is a fine subject for a documentary. With a noble and interesting career as a public servant behind her, she is still feisty, funny and articulate. She’s clearly the rock of common sense that the somewhat eccentric family is built on.
It’s a curious project in truth, and at times it feels a little voyeuristic, like we’re intruding on private family business. But Suzette is such marvellous company that it makes the film worthwhile. And the film is very, very French, which means everything is basically food.
Don’t go to this film on an empty stomach!
-
Jim O’Connor |
