Réparer les vivants

This is a film about hearts, but not in the way films usually treat this subject. It's not about lonely hearts, or hearts on fire, or hearts going out to someone, but real hearts. The powerful muscle that pumps blood through the body. I can't remember ever having seen a heart, but in 'Réparer les vivants' it's shown in all its glory. It looks quite different than I thought it would, by the way.

The story is simple. A car crash leaves seventeen year old Simon brain dead, and his devastated parents decide his organs can be transplanted. Because of this decision Claire, a mother of two boys Simon's age, is saved from a certain death.

The events are shown as they are. We see the grief of Simon's parents when they hear of his fate. We see their doubts about the organ transplant. We see how difficult it is for the doctor to inform them about the possibilities of organ donation. We see Claire's reluctance to receive a new heart. We understand why she doesn't want to tell her son what is going on. We also see the concentration of the medical team during the two operations - one to remove the heart and one to replace it.

In the film, the emotions speak for themselves. They are powerful enough not to need any additional effects. No side stories, no cheap metaphors, no heavy dialogue spelling it all out. For example, we never hear how Simon's parents come to their decision. We see them grieve together, and then tell the doctor they agree.

The last part of the film, showing the operations, is very powerful. Director Katell Quillévéré shows it in an almost documentary style. The transplant centre where hearts, livers and lungs are being distributed as if they were ordinary merchandise, the ice box in which the heart is transported (by a small airplane) and the operation itself, which gives the viewer a unique view into the human body.

'Reparer les vivants' is not a tearjerker in the traditional way: there are no cheap emotional effects. But it's full of genuine emotions, beautifully filmed, which might have a tear inducing effect.

I cannot write a full review, because I stopped watching after noticing that the movie was wasting my time. Most of the time I saw people walk, drive, or do nothing, which did not in the least contribute to the story.

Apparently the movie makers had to do that to stretch the story, which could perhaps have been told in 20 minutes, to movie length.

The movie might be good to watch for people who only rarely watch movies or for old people who are still used to very slow story development from the old days. Today this movie is just impertinent.

Katell Quillévéré's film 'Heal the Living' takes a look at the modern miracle of organ transplants; and the grim truth that the best source of donor material is often the otherwise undamaged body of someone unfortunate enough to die of sudden, localised shock. We see the personal stories of the families of the dead, and the potentially revitalised; we also get glimpses of the medical staff. Their situations are nicely realised, with humanity but without melodrama; however, there's a little too much emotional music to tell us that this is a life or death story in case for any reason we have failed to notice. I like it, but Kieslowski would have done it better in an hour.

The movie makes me want to read the book because there might be so much more, I would think, in the novel. But the beauty of the ocean, the city from the plane juxtaposed with the wharves at La Havre and the bareness of the hallways in the hospital probably could not be realized in the book. Beautiful. I am obsessed, however with finding out about the music. What was the concert pianist playing? Can anyone tell me.

Surgeons at work, a young ocean surfer and a middle-aged woman with a terminal ailment, collide together like erratic waves and shifting currents. The sea serves as a metaphor and transition point in this drama about diverse lives connecting, the nuances of human interaction under trying circumstances and dealing with the unexpected.

Heal the Living includes some fantastic and heart-rending scenes including; a teen racing uphill in the city to greet his love, a police escort in the night for precious medical cargo, a message to an unconscious boy and spending what may be the last moments with someone before they die.

The filmmakers deftly portray the professional nonchalance, human sensitivity (or lack thereof), amazing skillfulness and bewildering medical technology of surgeons and their assistants. The physical operations performed by the surgeons are shown in admirable and excruciating detail. I had to look away more than once. Hospital politics are delved into with doctors bickering over the limits of treating people with compassion. The film is based on Maylis de Kerangal's novel Mend the Living. According to the director at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival premiere, the author was consulted for the movie, did not always agree with certain scenes, but liked the final result. My only wish is for deeper dialogue and a faster pace at times. Wonderful imagery of surfing and the sea.