The Day I Saw Your Heart (2011)
"Et soudain tout le monde me manque" (original title)

Director:

Jennifer Devoldère

Writers:

Jennifer Devoldère, Romain Lévy (collaboration),

Stars:

Mélanie Laurent, Michel Blanc, Florence Loiret Caille

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mélanie Laurent	...	Justine Dhrey
Michel Blanc	...	Eli Dhrey
Florence Loiret Caille	...	Dom Dhrey
Claude Perron	...	Suzanne Dhrey
Guillaume Gouix	...	Sami
Sébastien Castro	...	Bertrand
Géraldine Nakache	...	Cécilia
Manu Payet	...	Atom
Karina Beuthe	...	Kirsten
Jean-Yves Roan	...	Docteur Katz
Romain Lévy	...	Alex
Alexandre Steiger	...	Mathias
Habibur Rahman	...	Mahboob
Assane Seck	...	Malik
Achille Ndari	...	Jeff

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

art gallery | ex boyfriend | heart disease | jew | loss of father | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 April 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

The Day I Saw Your Heart

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vertigo, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Out For The Count"
Written by Nathan Johnson
Performed by Faux Fix

User Reviews

A fine French comedy

This French movie was directed by Jennifer Devoldère, and co-written by Jennifer Devoldère, Romain Lévy, and Cécile Sellam. They hit the nail right on the head.

Mélanie Laurent stars as Justine and Michel Blanc stars as Justine's father, Eli Dhrey. Eli has two daughters; Justine is single but has a long line of exes, and Dom (played by Florence Loiret Caille) is married. I've lost track of what happened to their mother, but Eli has remarried to the younger Suzanne (played by Claude Perron). It's Eli's 60th birthday, and Suzanne and he announce that she's pregnant. The daughters are shocked, particularly Justine.

The movie is about Justine and her relationship (or lack thereof) with her father. For some reason, he befriends all her ex-boyfriends, taking two into business with him without her knowledge, playing golf regularly with a third, and keeping in contact with several others. Yet he has shown no interest in her and little interest in Dom. Eli tells Justine's latest ex that he has no interest in children, so we have some concern about his coming child.

We see Justine meeting a new soon-to-be-ex, and Eli tries to befriend him but fails. Justine is an x-ray technician, and the new boyfriend, Sami (Guillaume Gouix), comes to see her for a possible injury to his shoulder. She x-rays his entire body and tapes the films to her window at home. Her father sees the films and goes to her for his own x-ray, and she discovers a problem with his heart. Hence the American title to the movie, and a non-too subtle reference to Eli's having shown no heart to Justine for her entire life. (She remembers bitterly his critical comments on a drawing she did at age three.)

One of the good things about the movie is that Blanc's Eli is basically a nice guy who is (a) misunderstood and (b) really doesn't care much for kids but in a casual way. Eli has a sense of humor that his family doesn't get, so some of his apparently heartless comments are just his attempt at humor. But he remains affable throughout all the misunderstandings, reaching out to Justine's exes that he works with for help and understanding. So for his daughters (and maybe his wife), he's a heartless monster at home, but he's a nice guy and true friend to Justine's exes. Those of us outside his family like Eli despite his shortcomings.

This is a French comedy, and it's carried off very well. It has enough drama and humanity to make it meaningful instead of fluff, but the humor carries the day.