Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

p-stepien Michael Gondry, renowned for his visual escapism and audacious visuals, brings us a sombre, almost exclusively down-to-earth low key picture of the life and times of a section of the Gondry family. Focused primarily on his Aunt Suzette, a retired school-teacher is a secluded village district, Gondry subtly paints a picture of an ordinary family and its trials and tribulations. Save for the odd bits of quirky animation, a train-set functioning as a time device and a bit of cinematic fun with invisible children, Gondry goes full frontal bare minimum on us, largely escaping more inventive cinematography, instead for a more sombre, albeit simultaneously ecstatic presentation of tidbits of family history.Aunt Suzette is an endearing person, as is her somewhat estranged, even resentful, son Jean Yves. Firmly on their shoulders the almost prosaic movie does delivers moments of restrained satisfaction, much like peeking at home movies of your neighbours. Venturing a bit through time and touching on some grinding internal family issues, Gondry's documentary is a slight odd ode to the Gondry clan, which at times feels too personal to actually be suited for a publicly attainable feature. The movie even features significant snippets of private collections of 16mm home-made movies, which, largely unedited, imprint an even more voyeuristic feel to the viewing. By the end credits I did come to like the family, and even developed an affinity for the warm demeanour of Michael Gondry himself. Suzette as well as draws you in and surprises with small tidbits of prolific wisdom as well as her heartfelt remembrance of days past. This is probably the type of movie most of us would dream of doing - a summary of a life of someone dear to you kept forever on celluloid.

politic1983 Switching, as he does, between music videos, documentaries and Hollywood pictures, Michel Gondry chose to focus on the life of his aunt Suzette for his latest documentary. Using his cousin's old Super 8 film footage, interviews, animation and the odd outtake that should have remained on the editor's floor, the story of Suzette's life as a teacher, moving from school to school across the 60s, 70s and 80s is told.Now, this is all very good, but why would anyone outside of the Gondry wider family have an interest in this story? This is where the faults creep in. The people involved in many of the stories are rarely introduced, leading the viewer to try and guess as to what relation each has to Gondry's aunt. This leads for quite a fractured and non-linear story, where the timeline has to be pieced together.But while the logistics are a little challenging, the more emotional side of the film's main focus, his cousin's relationship with his mother, Suzette, provide a more rewarding challenge. Probing into sensitive issues around the relationship of the pair, Gondry gives an insight unconventional family life and the issues that often remained untouched. It is perhaps Gondry's close relationship that allows him to delve into areas that an outside director would be unable to, though this closeness can also serve to alienate the viewer from those involved as the film becomes more and more personal.Using standard Gondry techniques, employing toy trains, animation and an unnecessary attempt at a music video, the documentary is put together with a light-hearted approach to some sensitive subjects. And indeed, The Thorn in the Heart is a nice, little piece into the director's family life. How important a documentary such as this is for a cinematic release is entirely up to you.www.politic1983.blogspot.com

pxserra The documentary about Suzette's professional life is good and interesting, mainly when Suzette's former students appear to talk about their memories and the impact of Suzette's work for their lives.However, I considered extremely unnecessary the details about her personal life, mainly about her life with her son, Jean-Yves.The film would be a documentary, not a drama and, although I like his works as director, I think he used those personal dramas to bring more appeal to the film, what I considered regrettable.The music is good and, although simple, Gondry shows why he could create good films, however not this, specifically.

malpeyrehugo 1st things 1st : do not expect classic gondry's work. This is much different, in a personal way, a project he did finance himself, far away from any major studios. Back to his roots, family, Gondry films his ant and cousin. They share few secrets from the past which will come back because of the camera they have to deal with ; obviously, the camera that Gondry is using. Because it's a documentary about family, Gondry had all the confidence from his ant and cousin he could go and film them and picture the details and secrets they are having/sharing/hiding. It is very human, lot of scenes in the nature. I think Gondry needed to do this film for maybe his family but for him too, so he could remember where he is coming from (which I am sure he never forget) and do the most personal work ever.