Michel Gondry's directorial style is as bewitching as ever, but his intensely personal subject matter may leave viewers wondering why The Thorn in the Heart didn't stay in the family.
Michel Gondry's directorial style is as bewitching as ever, but his intensely personal subject matter may leave viewers wondering why The Thorn in the Heart didn't stay in the family.
Filmmaker Michel Gondry turns from the playful semi-surrealism of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep to the personal story of a beloved family member in this documentary. Suzette Gondry is Michel's aunt and a retired schoolteacher; she educated children in rural communities in France from 1952 to 1986. While Suzette was committed to the education of all her students, she was a particularly close with one in particular -- her son, Jean-Yves, with whom she's had a
loving but sometimes combative relationship. Michel accompanies Suzette on a journey in which she visits the many schools where she taught -- or the sites where those schools once stood -- and speaks of her experiences. She also meets some of her former students, and it's clear they recall Suzette as a woman with a kind heart but a strong will, and her determination earned her the enmity of a few of her charges. L'Epine dans le Coeur (aka The Thorn in the Heart) was an official selection at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
As Mr. Gondry unfolds the story of her life, and of her inability to connect with the son she sees as weak, you can understand why it would consume a familyâ(TM)s interest, but youâ(TM)re not sure why he thought it would pique ours.
The film is well-constructed, as one would expect from Gondry, but it offers little reason for anyone outside the family circle to care about dear old Tante Suzette.
You can see that he meant it to be a toasty slice of nostalgia - and for Gondry, it surely is. For us, The Thorn in the Heart is more like a home movie of a family reunion we weren't invited to.
Its rambling structure, peppered with lyrical, magical-realist asides, may not be to all tastes, but there's a sense that Gondry wants this to be more than an eccentric personal portrait...
Thorn is Gondry's most personal film, so personal as to be indulgent. But what emerges is his sincere affection for his aunt and a moving emotional experience.
The movie rarely flags, but it is hard to get past the notion that what is onscreen is nothing more than an artfully made home movie and that the Gondry family saga is no more interesting than that of the average loving, if somewhat dysfunctional family.
So-so documentary about filmmaker Michel Gondry's gregarious elderly aunt and her reminiscences of family and long years teaching kids in rural France. Clearly a joy for nephew Gondry and his aunt, but maybe this should have been kept en famille.
"The Thorn in the Heart" is a documentary from Michel Gondry about his aunt Suzette, concentrating on her teaching career and the people whose lives she has touched over the decades. Just because the material is slight does not stop Gondry from using it to explore some of his favorite themes including memory while
having fun with the documentary genre itself, as the movie becomes very meta at times through heightened transparency. One example is the recreation of the infamous blocked bathroom door incident. The highlight for me was the model train set that was used in chapter titles which is a very nice touch especially if you are watching this documentary on a train as I was.
July 5, 2011
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
THE THORN IN THE HEART (L'Epine dans le Coeur) is a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, Michel's aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves.Michel examines Suzette's years as a school teacher and her life in rural France. During the course of filming the documentary, Michel
unearths new family stories and uses his camera to explore them in a subtle and sensitive way.THE THORN IN THE HEART had its world premiere screening in the official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
February 11, 2010
kylie jeunette
The Thorn in the Heart (L'épine dans le coeur) Quotes
No quotes approved yet for The Thorn in the Heart (L'épine dans le coeur). Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'The Thorn in the Heart (L'épine dans le coeur)'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
