At the heart of the movie is Edith Berthier ( Edith Scob ) she is now 75 and at the celebrations of her birthday, she gives the task of liquidating her estate to her oldest son Frédéric (Charles Berling)
Obviously he wants to leave everything for his siblings and their children to enjoy for future generations. However the children have other plans, Jeremie (Dardennes brothers regular Jeremie Renier) works for Puma in China. Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) is a designer for a Japanese store who's based in New York. It's only Frederic (Charles Berling), an economist and academic, who lives and works in France. Frederic is the only of the three who wants to preserve a part of their life but the older siblings see no point in it and want to get on with their lives. The rest of the movie is the process of selling the house and the precious artifacts thereby destroying a piece of their lives.
Some sequences in the movie were splendid and have stayed with me. I thought that the musical piece accompanying the scene which gives us a voyeuristic glimpse of the happenings at the celebration was haunting. Similarly Edith's face as she sits in the dark after her children have departed their home is evocative of the heartbreak that parents face when their children have left them for far off places. In my opinion the movie was accurate in depicting the lives of people who have left their homes for distant shores although they are nostalgic about their past they are too busy in their new lives to preserve the past that they have left behind. This is a movie about trying to make a life for oneself in distant lands while letting the past disintegrate. I loved the movie four stars. 5/21/10
A look at estate liquidation - Ted - Pennsylvania, USA
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film
Summer Hours is about a recently deceased woman whose children decide on what to do with her massive estate. Due to estate taxes they sell much of her expensive art to museums and are also forced to sell her home. The film shows the grandchildren spending a final summer in the home with some of their friends.
This film is very interesting and the art in the film is nice to look at.
The supplements include an interview with the film's director Olivier Assayas, a documentary on the film's production and a documentary about the film's subject matter of fine art.
A Tale of Two Directors - Zarathustra - Sacramento, CA USA
I agree with Robert Holzbach on this one, but I'll be a bit more charitable. Summer Hours is beautifully filmed and well acted, but the story is just not that compelling. Let's face it: a film about liquidating an estate is just not that interesting unless you're an estate liquidator.
My favorite contemporary French director is Cedric Klapisch. His recent film Paris is also beautifully filmed and acted and he tells a compelling story of a dancer who needs a heart transplant. Both films feature Juliette Binoche, who is still excellent in her middle years.
If you're a fan of the French new wave, comparing these two films is a bit like comparing Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales to Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless. Godard wins easily.
Ok... so what happened? - Rizzo - Denver, CO
I can't get over the disappointing ending in this film. If you truly adore the history of fine art, you may enjoy this DVD Criterion Collection, especially the special features. The storyline is about a 75 year old wealthy French woman who owns a magnificent estate that is filled with a large collection of fine, museum quality artwork. The more memorable pieces in the film are a Louis Majorelle desk, paintings by Corot, Felix Bracquermond vases, panels by Olidon Radon, and a Christofle Tray. And her life is focused around the paintings and drawings of her uncle, painter Paul Berthier (fictional).
Sensing her death, she invites her three grown children over for a birthday party. Two of the children, live away from France. Plus, she has a devoted housekeeper.
We get the sense that she was in love with her uncle, the painter Paul Berthier as she speaks of him constantly. And it is a tender moment when the children are gone from the party, she says: "lot of things will be leaving me, memories, secrets, and stories that interest no one anymore." And to her, all she has are the objects.
Fast forward to her death, and the focus is not on grieving, but the three children are vacillating what to do with the estate, and the decision is to sell it. The next step is to discuss with committee members from the museum how to disperse the valuables. Much time is given to the discussion of the art.
Although you might feel there is a little drama, who fights over what, what happens to the estate, when does it sell, who gets a share of the profits, etc. Nothing much like that was discussed. There always remains an air of suspense, but what happened? We assume much of the artwork has gone to the museum as a donation in lieu of a huge tax bill.
Then, as little as we know about the characters, mainly the son who lives in France, comes out of the blue his dealing with a teenage daughter in trouble at school. Why did this storyline come into the picture. It means nothing.
So, all in all, the storyline is good.......until the end. The DVD film provides an hour documentary titled The Inventory, given by the experts from the Musee d' Orsay Museum, and, there is an interview with the director. Take the time to watch these special features, they are more interesting than the film. Forget about the ending!! ....Rizzo
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