There are various reasons why people become the subject matter of documentaries. For Michel Gondry, his aunt Suzette, with her colorful stories and years as a teacher were enough to spend 5 years with her as the center of his acclaimed documentary, THORN IN THE HEART, which will be released on April 2nd.
What began as a simple look at his aunt, prompted by his son Paul’s interest in her life, who was a teacher in France countryside from 1958-1986, turned into a painful look at compounded family secrets and strife, specifically between Suzette, her deceased husband and son Jean-Yves. Through vintage super 8 family footage, candid interviews and typical Gondry imagery, we get to venture into the director’s life, with little follow up analysis.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Gondry for a round table chat about the film and it’s effect on both his professional and personal life. Gondry’s work usually lies in the surreal, a constant battle for the viewer not knowing if what they are seeing is real or a dream. His subject matter and story telling always relies on whimsy, so it was refreshing to see that the sense of whimsy was not lost during the production of this doc. The vignettes, which consisted of present time filming of family dinners, visits to Suzette’s school and Super-8 footage of the family, were edited together with footage of a classic miniature train set, which was revived by Gondry’s cousin Jean-Yves. When asked what intrigued him about Suzette’s life to create a doc on her, Michel pointed to conversations with his son Paul (who is finding his own way in the film business) as the reasoning behind the film. But what Gondry found, beyond Suzette’s strength as a teacher, an advocate for the disenfranchised and whip smart, was the unsettled tension and issues between Suzette and her son. Gondry, once the editing and filming was done, was surprised by how many questions he let go unanswered by his family and how after viewing the rough cuts, they didnt seem to take offense to the close up on issues they have been working so hard to cover for years.
After viewing the film, Im not sure if this a documentary for all. Personally, I enjoy getting a unbiased look into strangers’ lives – its the sociology major in me. But there are a great deal of Gondry fans who will not know what to do with this film. And while it is not your “typical Gondry product”, it provides an intriguing look at a person who might may appear ordinary to some, but has had a lasting effect on many. Gondry explained during the chat that the greatest criticism he has received for this movie is that the subject matter and the personalities covered are not substantial nor sensational. He went on to say that Suzette “had failures like everyone. Each family has problem they don’t look at, sometime people stop talking, life goes by, you don’t see each other and then you die, and it’s horrible.” He hopes that others will see the film and revisit their own family issues before it it too late.
Check out the trailer for THORN IN THE HEART
The film, which was screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and 2010 SXSW, will be released in New York on April 2nd and Los Angele in May. Next up for Gondry is the highly anticipated “The Green Hornet“, which I will be discussing later this week.
