In “Summer Hours,” the great French director Olivier Assayas (who's still little inexplicably known in the U.S.) offers an exploration of the bonds of family and country in a constantly changing world. Dealing with the burden of the past as it influences generation after generation, the film asks, how much are we obliged to honor the wishes of our parents after they’re gone?
The film was an official selection at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, made its US premiere at the 2008 New York Film Festival and screened at AFI-FEST LA. “Summer Hours” will open in
After their mother dies suddenly, New York designer Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), Parisian university professor Frédéric (Charles Berling) and Shanghai-based businessman Jérémie (Jérémie Renier) must decide what to do with her considerable estate and exceptional art collection. Together, they face the end of their childhood, their ties to
Assays finds the right balance between the heaviness of loss and the lightness of time’s passage.
