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Summer Hours (2008)

Summer Hours (2008)
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Three siblings must come to terms with their mother's mortality as they decide what to do with her valuable belongings in this warm family drama from filmmaker Olivier Assayas. Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob) is about to turn 75, and her children are gathering at her home in the country for a party. Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) has flown in from New York City, where she lives with her boyfriend, James (Kyle Eastwood). Jérémie (Jérémie Renier) has taken a rare break from his globe-trotting business interests to stop by with his wife (Valérie Bonneton). And Frédéric (Charles Berling), the only one who lives close enough to visit regularly, has also come with his spouse, Lisa (Dominique Reymond). Hélène has inherited a large and valuable collection of art from her brother, and with her health beginning to fail, she approaches Frédéric and asks that he, Jérémie, and Adrienne come up with a plan to deal with the pieces after her death. Frédéric wants to keep the collection together and see if they can persuade a gallery to purchase and present them as a set. Jérémie and Adrienne have other ideas, but as he's pondering a business opportunity in China and she's planning on settling in America for good, they don't have as much influence over the final decision as Frédéric. L'Heure d'Été (aka Summer Hours) was produced in part by the celebrated French art gallery Musée d'Orsay, and was one of a handful of films created to honor the museum in its 20th anniversary year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, (more)
Director(s):
Olivier Assayas
Format(s):
DVD  |  Blu-ray
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Synopsis of Summer Hours

Three siblings must come to terms with their mother's mortality as they decide what to do with her valuable belongings in this warm family drama from filmmaker Olivier Assayas. Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob) is about to turn 75, and her children are gathering at her home in the country for a party. Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) has flown in from New York City, where she lives with her boyfriend, James (Kyle Eastwood). Jérémie (Jérémie Renier) has taken a rare break from his globe-trotting business interests to stop by with his wife (Valérie Bonneton). And Frédéric (Charles Berling), the only one who lives close enough to visit regularly, has also come with his spouse, Lisa (Dominique Reymond). Hélène has inherited a large and valuable collection of art from her brother, and with her health beginning to fail, she approaches Frédéric and asks that he, Jérémie, and Adrienne come up with a plan to deal with the pieces after her death. Frédéric wants to keep the collection together and see if they can persuade a gallery to purchase and present them as a set. Jérémie and Adrienne have other ideas, but as he's pondering a business opportunity in China and she's planning on settling in America for good, they don't have as much influence over the final decision as Frédéric. L'Heure d'Été (aka Summer Hours) was produced in part by the celebrated French art gallery Musée d'Orsay, and was one of a handful of films created to honor the museum in its 20th anniversary year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
102 mins

Complete Cast of Summer Hours


Director(s):
Olivier Assayas
Writer(s):
Olivier Assayas
Producer(s):
Charles Gilbert, Marin Karmitz, Charles Gillibert
Categories:
Drama, Foreign
Summer Hours Awards:
  • 2009 - Boston Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
  • 2009 - National Society of Film Critics - Best Foreign Language Film
  • 2009 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Foreign Language Film
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    Member Reviews
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    Lara G.

    One could make a very poignant movie about objects and their place in our lives, but this isn't it. The characters were utterly flat, static, and not one shows any real insight. The best they can offer is wan discomfort that maybe something important is being lost to them forever. If they don't care, why should I? For all its pretensions to be deep and meaningful, this film delivers a portrait of shallow people who dispose of their inheritance with a few tears, so that it matters little to the viewer whether they keep their art, desecrate it, or put it into museums. It makes sense that it was co-produced by the Musee D'Orsay -- people who assume that the sanctity of art requires no justification -- and thus that we are watching a tragedy undfold -- but this film assumes too much. Probably could have made a decent short story, as long as the inner life of the characters was explored. Here it was too opaque, and for me that was the ruin of the film.

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    Tawnya K.

    This was interesting seeing the emotional struggle of the children as they grieved their mother's death. However, there just isn't much to this movie.

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    Anne R.

    Some familiar, some not so familiar stars-always a pleasure to see characters interpreted by Binoche--believable and mesmerizing-but story was poignant and human interest tho the trappings were a bit different than those many of us would have--still, an intriguing story with heart!

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