Summer Hours (2008)
Summer Hours (L’heure d’ete) (FR) Directed by Olivier Assayas Written Olivier Assayas Starring Juliette Binoche; Charles Berling; Jeremie Renier; Isabelle Sadoyan; Edith Scob; Dominique Reymond; Valerie Bonneton; Kyle Eastwood; Alice de Lencquesaing
An exquisitely executed film from fifty five year old French director Olivier Assayas. Assayas has often been associated with grittier material (Clean; Irma Vep), although there is a historcial drama (Les Destinees sentimentales) in his ouevre as well, and the ex Cahiers du Cinema critic has long been an ardent supporter of Asian filmmakers (Hou Hsiao-hsien; Edward Yang, et al) working in the realm of minimalistic neo-realism. His expressed affinity for these films that are principally about behavior, character, and tone as opposed to plot is in evidence here moreso than in any of his previous work. This is Assayas’ best work to date, an example of an experienced director (with over twenty films to his name) hitting his proverbial stride. Summer Hours benefits from an exceptional cast, and has the feel of one of the great Eric Rohmer summer films (perhaps the title is no accident?), albeit with an updated sensibility. The mundane seeming subject matter - namely, a well-off trio of siblings gathered at their elderly mother’s rural estate, and later the decisions foisted upon them regarding the disposition of the inherited property (which includes valuable post-impresrionistic artwork and art nouveau furniture), might seem uninvolving on the surface, but Assayas (who also wrote the script) manages to infuse narrative tension as the pedestrian events unfold. One keeps anticipating the shoe dropping in the various spots where movie cliches would normally lay siege, but Assayas refuses to let us off that easy, opting to allow the characters enough elbow space to interact in a potentially less dramatic, but ultimately more human and satisfying way. As a result, there are no villains or heros to be found, merely individuals with a mix of strengths, weaknesses, agendas, perspective, and sometimes conflicting emotions. The leads - Edith Scob as silver-haired seventy five year old matriarch, Helene, the niece of a well-known French artist; Charles Berling as her eldest son, economics professor and author Frederic; Juliette Binoche as designer daughter Adrienne; and (Dardenne Brothers regular) Jeremie Renier as their brother, sneaker company executive Jeremie, are all fantastic. The supporting players, including Isabelle Sadoyan as housekeeper Eloise and Alice de Lencqueraing as teen grandaughter Sylvie, are equally as natural (Clint Eastwood’s son also appears as Adrienne’s boyfriend James). This is a deftly balanced treat that manages to artfully weave any number of provocative subjects and ideas (globalization; family history; the erosion of familial connections as siblings age; technology; the lasting importance of traditional art) in its nuanced meld of images and dialogue.