“Every family has it’s time in the sun, but nothing lasts forever” is the telling trailer tagline for Oliver Assayas’ deeply moving upcoming film, “Summer Hours,” a heartfelt, evenhanded and bittersweet look at life and death within our families. It’s also one of Assayas’ most mature pieces of work, leaving behind his detachment and proclivity for genre conventions for an almost forgotten warmth and care.
The picture is beautiful, painful, sad, and carefully and compassionately observed; there’s a sense of generousness to each and every emotion. It’s actually one of our favorite films of the year so far, and it’s one of those thoughtful meditations that can be melancholy, while not turning into a manipulative tearjerker. Without giving away too much, the sequence at the end that looks towards the future is one of the most profound we’ve seen in recent years.
The film is basically about the sudden death of a family matriarch and how it forces the family to deal with their beloved summer home retreat and reexamine their lives. The score was composed by Robin Williamson of the ’60s psychedelic folk band, The Incredible String Band, but it’s hauntingly beautiful and you can hear some of it in the trailer. One ISB song is used in the film (“Little Cloud”) along with a track by French dance pop group, The Plasticines. The song that opens up the trailer is “Loftus Jones,” by Robin Williamson from the album Iron Stone, which also features the improvisational work of Mat Maneri, Barre Phillips and Ale Moller (you can hear it in full here).
The synopsis:
The divergent paths of 3 forty-something siblings collide when their mother, heiress to her uncle’s exceptional 19th century art collection, dies suddenly. Left to come to terms with themselves and their differences, Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), a successful New York designer, Frédéric (Charles Berling), an economist and university professor in Paris, and Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), a dynamic businessman in China, confront the end of childhood, and their shared memories, background and unique vision of the future.
“Summer Hours” opens May 8 in limited release and we highly, highly recommend you go out of your way to see it. It’s very even-keeled, and is touching, sentimental and nostalgic, without ever indulging in any of those qualities.
