La Mécanique du cœur (English version: The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart) is a book written by Mathias Malzieu, lead singer of the French rock band Dionysos (who have recorded a concept album based upon the story).

The makeshift Doctor, Madeleine, who provides midwifery and medical services to the poor and the desperate of Edinburgh, grafts a cuckoo clock to his heart of flesh and blood in order to save it.

Life is relatively happy and carefree for a while as Jack lives with Madeleine in her surgery/workshop and is befriended by two 'working girls' named Anna and Luna.

Against Madeleine's initial wishes Jack demands that he be enrolled in the local school in order to receive an education, but his real motive is to look for, and hopefully be reunited with, Miss Acacia.

In a mixture of anger, frustration, and fear of losing Miss Acacia, Jack attempts to tear out his clock heart with his bare hands.

This news is initially incomprehensible and disturbing to Jack as he is torn between his disbelief at this and his knowledge of Méliès to be honest and trustworthy.

He dresses himself in one of Méliès' old suits and a hat and goes back to the amusement park, where he finds that Miss Acacia is still singing on the stage and Joe is still working on the ghost train.

In the epilogue it is told that Jack becomes a mere phantom of his previous self as he lives with the pain of having lost Miss Acacia for good.

Le distributeur d'aurore boréale— translated literally: The Aurora Borealis Distributor– was a 2016 short film by Stéphane Landowski and Matthias Malzieu.

[3][4] Like many of Mathias' other projects, the short isn't a direct adaptation but features re-occurring characters such as Jack, a love interest, and an eccentric inventor.

Cast: The 13-minute short was produced by Mon Voisin Productions and FullDawa Films, and distributed internationally by L'Agence du court métrage.

[5] While wandering through a book store, would-be director and writer of La mécanique du coeur - Le Spectacle Coraline Jayne discovered the novel, which had been a best seller for two years.

Under the name "L'homme sans trickage"— "The Man Who Was no Hoax" after the book Meliez writes about Jack's life— it was first presented in October 2010 at the Festival Automnales.

Four years later, with the name changed back to the book's title, it was presented again as part of Jayne's residency at Grange aux Histoires and again at Brèche in Aubervilliers.

It got its break in 2015 when it was given the chance to present at Festival D'Avignon OFF in 2015 by the company Cie le Moineau,[6] and opportunities arose at a rapid pace.

As far as it's known, the plot follows the book and only includes the occasional plot-relevant song, in contract to the film's featuring of the concept album.