Summer Hours (The Criterion Collection)
by Olivier Assayas
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DVD details
Actor: Charles Berling, Dominique Reymond, Edith Scob, Jérémie Renier, Juliette BinocheDirector: Olivier Assayas
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Eric Gautier
Writer: Olivier Assayas
Editor: Luc Barnier
Producer: Charles Gillibert
Producer: Claire Dornoy
Producer: Marin Karmitz
Producer: Nathanaël Karmitz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-04-20
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of Summer Hours (The Criterion Collection)
DVD Review: Olivier Assayas's "Summer Hours" is wonderfully scripted, features brilliant acting and showcases beautiful cinematography
Summary: 4 Stars
"Summer Hours" is the latest film written and directed by award-winning director Olivier Assayas ("Clean", "Demonlover", "Les destinees sentimentales"). "Summer Hours" known as "L'heure d'ete" is a personal film for Assayas who wanted to create a film dealing with diverse characters and conflict visions of the world.
Assayas, who was inspired by legendary director Jean Renoir from his artwork and his films connecting humanity and nature, "Summer Hours" is a beautiful French drama that is based around a family, inspired by its characters but also showing the beauty through art and the lush, beautiful surroundings of the family home.
"Summer Hours" revolves around the children of the family matriarch, Helene (played by Edith Scob) who is celebrating her 75th birthday with her three children and their families. Her children include the oldest son Frederic (played by Charles Berling), who happens to be the only son living in France; her daughter Adrienne (played by Juliette Binoche) who lives in New York and is a designer for a Japanese department store and her youngest son Jeremie (played by Jeremie Renier) are there to celebrate her birthday.
But for Helene, life is loneliness and knowing that this 75th birthday may be the last she sees of her children and grandchildren as they are living their own lives without her. All that is there for her is her longtime maid Eloise and memories of the past, and countless, priceless art and sculpture collections collected over the years by her uncle and the family. Relics that have been part of the family for ages.
While everyone is celebrating her birthday, she talks to her oldest son Frederic and gives him directions of how she wants the paintings, the expensive artifacts in the home to be taken care of and preparing him just in case she is no longer around. Of course, Frederic doesn't want to hear any of this and feels his mom will be around for many, many years to come. But being at the old house and talking with his mother brings back memories of when Frederic and his siblings were young and how the place has so many memories.
When everyone leaves to go back home, Helene is saddened. She knows that she won't see her family for a long time. They say they will visit but each have their own family, their own careers and are all busy. Lonely, saddened, she finds peace while sitting alone in the dark.
And not long after the day of celebrating their mother's 75th birthday, the children are reunited once more but this time to mourn their mother's death but now figure out what will happen to the paintings, sketches and expensive artifacts around the home but also what will happen to the house that they grew up in.
Adrienne is busy with her career, her own personal life and living in New York, Jeremie and his family are planning to move to China and have no chance to visit France to check on the house and for Frederic, he is torn because of his memories of the house and the art that they grew up with and hoped the children would inherit it. But the children are too young too appreciate the art and his siblings may need the money to help them start with their own lives. It's letting go of the things that he once grew up with and appreciated that is the most difficult.
For Frederic, knowing that the things in the home are full of memories of his mother, his childhood and a potential memory for this own children but due to circumstances, he knows that he must let go.
VIDEO:
"Summer Hours - The Criterion Collection #513' is presented in 1:85:1. This is a film that is just gorgeous. The cinematography by Eric Gautier captures the tranquility of the home and its surrounding areas. The attention to detail when it comes to the art pieces is fantastic and I can easily imagine how awesome this film would look on Blu-ray. What I loved about the look of this film is that it does remind me a bit of Jean Renoir, Eric Rohmer and Agnes Varda. The attention to the nature and the living space with so much detail. Absolutely beautiful!
According to the Criterion Collection, "Summer Hours" is presented in its original aspect ration of 1:85:1 and was supervised by director Olivier Assayas and approved by Assayas and cinematographer Eric Gautier. The new high-definition transfer was created from an interpositive.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Summer Hours" is presented in Surround in French and English subtitles. According to Criterion, the audio features a fully digital soundtrack and mastered in 24-bit from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD. Dialogue is understandable and there are sequences where you can hear the birds from the front and surround channels. But primarily, the film is dialogue driven until the final arc of the film goes through a shift as the film, begins to focus on troubled grandchild Sylvie (Frederic's daughter) as she plans to have a big party at her deceased grandmother's home. And from this moment on, we hear French hip hop and pop music and watching all the kids at the party, being rowdy or sitting back and singing to the music.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Summer Hours - The Criterion Collection #513' comes with the following special features:
DISC 2:
* Olivier Asayas - (28:48) In this 2010 interview shot in Paris, director Olivier Asayas talks about what he wanted to explore and what he wanted to capture in his film "Summer Hours".
* Making-Of - (26:01) A documentary featuring interviews with director Olivier Assayas, actors Charles Berling and Juliette Binoche and showing behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of "Summer Hours".
* Inventory - (50:37) A documentary shot by Olivier Goinard at Paris's Musee d'Orsay and focusing on the use of art in "Summer Hours".
* 26-Page Booklet - Featuring the essay "A Time to Live and a Time to Die" by Kent Jones.
JUDGMENT CALL:
"Summer Hours" is a simply story about siblings who have lost a loved one, a parent and having to make decisions of what happens to possessions and property. Something that a lot of people can relate to.
Describing this film by words is not so easy. The premise of those mourning the death of a love one may seem a bit banal and not so interesting but director Olivier Assayas does a a few things right in order to make the film feel just right. From the beautiful cinematography by Eric Gautier and capturing the beauty of the home and its outward scenery. The place looks small but its surrounding so lush with green plants, flowers and overall just this sense of peace and tranquility to the outside world. With Assayas's appreciation of Jean Renoir, he also incorporates along with nature, the beauty of art. In fact, that is what intrigues me about the characters is their appreciation and knowledge of art but also to see how art is used throughout the film.
Also, there is a sense of choreography of how the characters interact with each other. Depending on one's experience of having to dispose of possessions after one's death can easily be seen as a scene of conflict, a scene that can become troublesome but you realized with these characters, this is a loving family but each have their own lives. Older brother Frederic who is more emotional towards the house and the paintings while his two siblings are not as attached. Adrienne is getting married and continuing her life in America to begin her own family, while Jeremie and his family are focused on their move to Beijing. As an older brother, he is conflicted because his mother and uncle loved the house, the art but knowing his siblings are not in the same situation and the money made by selling each piece can benefit them.
And Assayas also manages to inject the significant others of Frederic and Jeremie into the film as they stay strong in support of their husbands and their decisions. Watching these characters, you have a sense of what is important, what is sentimental and what is the finality of their decisions. We can easily understand each of the siblings point of view and then we can also see why one would be tied to the home and the art. These scenes are just beautiful to watch onscreen and one can think, "why would anyone want to leave this haven"? And I believe the children of Frederic sum it up very well when they see the paintings and when told that they can inherit it one day, the look of their faces are not happy but more of a "Why?" and the comment of the son of the painting is of another era? Too young to appreciate the beauty in art and for the character of Frederic, knowing that art should be appreciated, not given to those who inherit it and don't have the same passion.
And that is what I find so beautiful with this story. It was well-written, well-directed and cinematography is absolutely beautiful. "Summer Hours" is a gorgeous film, a touching film but is not perfect. As we get comfortable with the older siblings, the film suddenly switches to Frederic's young daughter Sylvie who brings her friends to party in the house. We see the children blasting hip hop, smoking weed and by the end of the film, you feel satisfied but the generation shift was a bit abrupt but at the same time, you can understand why it was done.
The Criterion Collection has presented us again with another DVD (and also Blu-ray) release of a beautiful film that is worth having in your film collection. As I am viewing the DVD version, I can easily say that I'm quite sure the Blu-ray version will be absolutely beautiful due to the outdoor scenes and the amount of detail presented inside the home and the art and sculptures featured. The special features are quite enjoyable, especially if you are passionate about art.
Overall, "Summer Hours" is a fantastic film that I can easily give the highest recommendation.
Description of Summer Hours (The Criterion Collection)
Widely hailed by critics as 2009?s best film, Summer Hours is the great contemporary French filmmaker Olivier Assayas?s most personal film to date. Three siblings, played by Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, and Jérémie Renier, must decide what to do with the country estate and objects they?ve inherited from their mother. From this simple story, Assayas creates a nuanced, exquisitely made drama about the material of globalized modern living. Naturalistic and unsentimental yet suffused with genuine warmth, this is that rare film that pays respect to family by treating it with honesty.For a film about objects, Summer Hours presents a surprisingly affecting scenario. Then again, Olivier Assayas has never taken the easy road to catharsis. It's no spoiler to note that Hélène Berthier (Edith Scob) passes away shortly after her 75th birthday party, at which she tells her three children, Frédéric (Charles Berling), Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), and Jérémie (Jérémie Renier), that they're free to do whatever they want with her belongings The niece of a renowned painter, Hélène leaves behind a collection of art deco furnishings and precious objets d'art, including Musée d'Orsay-loaned pieces by Degas and Redon. Were he a different kind of director, the superficial would lock horns with the righteous, but these characters aren't quite so simplistic. Frédéric, who resides in France with his wife and teenage daughter, wishes to leave everything as it is, but Adrienne lives in New York with her boyfriend (played by Clint Eastwood's son, Kyle) and Jérémie lives in China with his wife and young children, so they hatch a plan that meets everyone's unique needs. Largely devoid of music, once an Assayas signature, the movie ends with a raucous house party that recalls his 1994 feature Cold Water, and Berling (Les Destinées, Demonlover) continues to do some of his finest work for the filmmaker, anchoring this deceptively rich picture with his subtle performance. Summer Hours marks a return to form for Assayas (after the stylishly inert Boarding Gate) and offers a rewarding new twist on the family melodrama. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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