Summer Hours (2008)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Summer Hours (2008) – O. Assayas

The movie opens with Helene’s 75^th birthday and her three children (with spouses) and grandchildren are gathered at the country estate, about an hour from Paris by train.  Helene (played by Edith Scob, from Eyes Without A Face) is an art collector, or more specifically, the guardian of the art treasures of her uncle, a famous painter long deceased.  The atmosphere is relaxed but a little wistful and Helene wants to talk about her will with her oldest son (played by Charles Berling) who is reluctant.  Later, after Helene has passed, the three children (including Juliette Binoche as the daughter) discuss what to do with the house, the artworks, the memories.  It is melancholy but real, not difficult, manageable -- but existential.  A museum is contacted and a bequest is made.  Director Olivier Assayas is interested in these people but also in the stuff in which time and energy and love have been devoted.  There is a real sense of place and we as viewers also grow comfortable in the estate and feel a bit mournful as it is packed up.  But after all, it is just stuff and Assayas seems to know this (or he is willing to contemplate it).  Two out of three siblings have left France and their lives are elsewhere (as globalisation takes hold).  Then, there is a shift to the younger generation, living their lives, building new memories perhaps, instilling their will and emotions into objects, places, music, and more.  All that will later dissipate.  But the film is so alive that it makes it all seem worth it nevertheless.