Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jeremie Renier
Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.
Stats: 255 reviews
Olivier Assayas' bittersweet story of family treasures, "Summer Hours", is about as minimal as one can get. It's a procession, but not in the way we criticize familiar books and films. Instead, however, it has an almost compulsive obsession with observation. Our action sequences ...( read more)
Three siblings amicably divide a large French estate. Thoughtful, realistic and well-acted, but mundane, and even tedious at times.
A far cry from the international thriller material of Boarding Gate, here it is a drama dealing with dissolution of a family as well as the value people place on objects, both commercial and sentimental. Like Resnais/Marker's Statues Also Die, Assayas shows that some works of ar...( read more)
Slight but affecting family tale which branches out into art's place in history and peoples' affections.
Life, death, aging, youth, family, letting things go and cherishing things forever are just a few of life's moments examined in the intelligent and meditative Summer Hours. However, those looking for a movie with even a moderately fast pace will be screaming at the screen, beggi...( read more)
I normally prefer dramas but this story was just too simple. It was more like a psychological study of three grown-up children and their relationship to their retired mother in a modern wealthy French family. How will the inheritance be divided or will the house be sold after mum...( read more)
It?s a beautifully framed film ? look out for the long tracking shot at the party ? wonderfully acted, and daring in its subject matter; one usually avoided, or played for melodrama or laughs.
"Summer Hours" is a movie about life just like life is. Such as we see in "L´eau froide", his first movie, Olivier Assayas offer us great and naturalistic interpretations/characters placed in simple stories without almost any action. As realistic as it is possible.
A beautifully sad story about family bonds, growing older, change, and the stories that get left behind.
Extraordinary!!! Writer-director Olivier Assayas made a movie lighter than air, that makes you cry/smile. this is pure art!!!
The actors all find the correct notes. It is a French film, and so they are allowed to be adult and intelligent. full review
Even for a French drama, Summer Hours is so slow as to be practically still. full review
The magic of Summer Hours is that even in its elusiveness, it gives us something to hang onto. full review
Summer Hours, in spite of its potentially dowdy subject matter, is packed nearly to bursting with rich meaning and deep implication. full review
Lots of films are called haunting, Summer Hours truly is. full review
Sometimes a cute-stalker movie can win the audience's heart. Management only makes you ponder the line between true love and a restraining order. full review
This bittersweet meditation on familial bonds, the passage of youth and the merits of tradition is deeply nuanced and strikes just the right emotional notes. full review
For André Téchiné and Patrice Chéreau, who have specialized in probing/expansive family melodramas, Summer Hours would be a trifle. For Olivier Assayas, it's almost a masterpiece. full review
Hats off to Olivier Assayas's plain yet hauntingly beautiful Summer Hours, a true -- albeit nonsecular -- meditation on art and eternal life. full review
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