By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Olivier Assayas
Starring: Charles Berling | Edith Scob | Isabelle Sayodan | Jérémie Renier | Juliette Binoche
Original language title: L'Heure d'été
Country: france
Year: 2009
Running time: 103
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0836700/reference
Bruce says: “This film began as a commission from the Musée d’Orsay and then evolved into a different animal from what had originally been envisioned. By the time the film was made the relationship with the d’Orsay evaporated. Hard-core Assayas fans will be surprised. SUMMER HOURS is a film about what passes from generation to generation and it is unusually tender and nostalgic for an Assayas film. Two months before filming Assayas’ mother died; subsequently he re-edited the script he wrote while his mother was still alive. As the film gently flows along, Assyas reminds us that things cannot remain as we want them to be; transformation is a constant.
“Three siblings – Frédéric (Charles Berling), Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), and Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) – and the two brothers’ families are gathered at their mother Hélène’s country home not far from Paris. Hélène (Edith Scob) is cranky, not able to live in the moment. She has a career and is well taken care of by her faithful maid Éloïse (Isabelle Sayodan). The camera takes a visual inventory of the house and its contents before meandering outside to document the landscape. Hélène lives little in the present. Her eyes are on the future, when she dies. What will happen to her home and all the objets d’art that adorn it? Her heart is turned toward the past and the days she spent with her famous uncle, Paul Berthier. She summons Frédéric and behind closed doors discusses her will and how the estate should be handled. First there are the pair of Corots, the Majorelle desk, the Derain screens, the Daum vases, and most importantly the Berthier sketchbooks, the last of his work still in the family. Frédéric is uneasy with the conversation because he knows what will happen when his mother dies. His sister lives in New York and his brother lives in China. They will not care to maintain a property in France that they might use once a year, if that.
“Hélène dies. A life that has been filled with souvenirs, secrets and stories that no longer interest anyone vanishes. The siblings find themselves at the house once again and the disposition takes form. Adrienne and Jérémie confirm Frédéric’s worst suspicions; they want the house sold and the contents auctioned. Frédéric is heartbroken and performs his executorial duties sorrowfully with the understanding that his mother’s good intentions cannot be honored. Later Frédéric and his wife stroll through the Musée d’Orsay and discover his great uncle’s writing desk on display. Just before the house is to be sold, Frédéric’s children ask if they can throw a farewell party. Rock music blares, and from empty room to empty room kids are drinking and doing drugs. As Hélène’s granddaughter roams the grounds she tells a friend about her favorite place on the property which was also her grandmother’s favorite place. Objects don’t define current generations as they once did; memory and appreciation are the remaining heirlooms. Charles Berling’s (HOW I KILLED MY FATHER, THOSE WHO LOVE ME CAN TAKE THE TRAIN, DEMONLOVER and LES DESTINEES) performance is the key to the film’s potency with wonderful support from Edith Scob (EYES WITHOUT A FACE and MAN ON THE TRAIN) and Isobelle Sayodan (THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE, THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE, and MR. KLEIN). 4.5 cats
“SUMMER HOURS screened at the 2008 New York Film Festival”
Hilary says: “I saw SUMMER HOURS on Sunday as part of IFFB and highly recommend it, except for Juliette Binoche’s hair. The blonde does her no favors, but vaguely increases the resemblance between her and one of her on-screen brothers. I suppose it’s used to code her character as edgy and artsy, along with the brightly colored hooded sweatshirts she wears throughout the movie. ”
Diane says: “Oh, dear! Hillary and Bruce liked SUMMER HOURS a lot (French sibs face loss of country home), but I must have been in a bad mood when I saw it just now. I can only afford it 1 cat. I kept getting an inkling that some new element was going to propel it to a plot–the vase, the incest, the answering machine–but I was so wrong. There wasn’t a single aspect that interested me. Even when some pretty camera shots caught my eye, I just thought, ‘Why?’
“Bruce writes in his review that the film was commissioned by the Musee d’Orsay (and then evolved into something else). Great irony, as the film, populated with pieces from that museum, demonstrates that objects taken from their context lose their emotive power and meaning. It’s an anti-museum work.
“But some new trailers to entice me: IL DIVO and IN THE LOOP, which trailer’s craziness looks like it might fully and delightfully carry the full film. I see that Jay gave it 5 cats. Can’t wait!”
Michael says: “Like Bruce, I was taken by the tenderness and nostalgia that permeates Olivier Assayas’ SUMMER HOURS. The filmmaker known for the sparse, edgy work of such films as IRMA VEP, DEMONLOVER and CLEAN examines the value of objects, both as works of art and emotional touchstones that populate lives, and relationships and how they change over time. I was captivated by how easily the film flowed between gentle emotion and practical observation. Assays working from his own script, makes pointed observations by juxtaposing art and emotion. In a wonderful scene where Frédéric and his wife Lisa are looking at a vase that throughout their lives held flowers in the family summer house and was now on display at the Musée d’Orsay. Frédéric laughs at how there was another valuable vase in the collection that he gave to Eloise, the family housekeeper as a remembrance. The conversation then shifts to the Christmas card that Eloise sent them and how it moved them. The attachment of emotions to works of art, and then to the mundane and what is important in life.
“it’s a surprisingly powerful film, beautifully shot, and superbly acted. Noms for Direction, Ensemble Cast and Cinematography at least from me. 4 ½ cats”