The ever inventive and versatile Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) travels into new territory with his inimitable cinematic flair intact for this idiosyncratic family documentary. The elliptical, highly dynamic narrative—boldly blending relentlessly static scenes with characteristic whimsy, animation and old home movies—focuses initially on his schoolteacher Aunt Suzette’s reminiscences at a Gondry family dinner about her time in various primary schools in rural France. The film searches out these schools, not all of which still exist, and Suzette’s former students, not all of whom remember her fondly. Eventually, the emphasis falls on Suzette’s troubled relationship with her son, the filmmaker’s cousin Jean-Yves, whom his aunt dubs “the thorn in my heart.” This strange and wild cut through family history is an admiring portrait of a complex but remarkable woman and a distinctively personal film rife with imaginative flights and uncomfortable but universal truths.

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Written by Michel Gondry. Photographed by Jean-Louis Bompoint. With Suzette Gondry, Jean-Yves Gondry, Tiffany Limos. (83 min. Oscilloscope Laboratories)