The Day I Saw Your Heart (Jennifer Devoldere, 2011): France

Reviewed by Sofia Nagel. Viewed on DVD.

thedayisawyourheart

The Day I Saw Your Heart (Jennifer Devoldere, 2011) is a poignant, beautifully-bare film where emotions are ripped from the characters’ seams. The dark comedy follows Justine (Mélanie Laurent) a too-cool-for-school gal who walks through her life with her eyes half-shut, ignoring the pain that clearly haunts her. Justine longs for something that she cannot have – her father’s love. As a result, she jumps from lover to lover; leaving before it becomes too serious, as she felt her father, Eli (Michel Blanc) did with her.

X-Rays heavily influence not only our protagonist’s job but her art as well (of course this stellar chick finds a way to combine the two). The film’s lighting is influenced by X-Ray machines, lightening then darkening at times – this visually-striking technique casts a spell. The mise-en-scene and use of color present a sense of risk to the viewer in an alluring way. An X-Ray is quite similar to love. You may have to protect yourself from some harmful rays but there will come a time when you’ll need it.

The childlike, eccentric Eli, reveals to Justine and her sister that he and his much younger wife are pregnant. Justine takes it personally; as if the child would be a replacement for her or allow him to atone for his negligence. However, Justine isn’t aware that her father has kept in touch with all of her ex-boyfriends; a sad, though bizarre, testament of his love for her. He has, in a sense, tried to hold on to a piece of her – any piece that he could get.

The Day I Saw Your Heart frankly portrays what a real relationship is like; including both the good and the bad, the sweet and the sad and showing how men will react if you actually do have a crazy father (warning – it’s not like Disney movies where the prince is totally cool with your weird, overbearing dad who also happens to be a merman). The film reminds the audience that we all need to be revived and renewed; everyone needs to be built again sometimes.

The Day I Saw Your Heart is a delightful film about accepting the love that someone can give rather than continuing to hurt yourself by seeking something that they do not possess. In fact, you may be alright in the end with what they have to offer.


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