''Summer Hours'' (french: L'Heure d'été) is a 2008 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Olivier Assayas Olivier Assayas (born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his slow-burning period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs and French comedies. His work has become synonymous with the ...

. It is the second in a series of films produced by the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

, after ''

Flight of the Red Balloon ''Flight of the Red Balloon'' (french: Le voyage du ballon rouge) is a 2007 French-Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It is the first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, and tells the story of a French family as se ...

''. In the film, two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings after the death of their mother. The film was a critical triumph in the United States.

Plot

On a summer day in the country, at the home of the widowed Hélène Berthier, who has dropped her married name of Marly, her three children, their spouses, and all her grandchildren assemble for her 75th birthday. Her preoccupation is over what will happen to the house and the valuable contents accumulated by her uncle Paul Berthier, who was a noted artist and to whom she was devoted. She hopes the children will decide amicably among themselves. Shortly after she dies, and the three heirs do not agree. While Frédéric, the eldest, wants to keep the house and contents as somewhere for the whole family, his two siblings just want a few mementoes and everything else turned into cash. Adrienne lives in New York with an American man, while Jérémie and his wife have made their home in China. As Hélène made no legal provision, tax on the estate will be heavy and the lawyer suggests reducing it by donating artefacts to the State. The Musée d'Orsay agrees to take some precious items for its collection, following which the remaining contents are auctioned and the house sold. Before the new owners take over, Frédéric's daughter Sylvie asks all her school friends there for a final party and for one last time the place is full of happy young people. The faithful housekeeper takes fresh flowers to Hélène's grave.

Cast

Charles Berling Charles Berling (born 30 April 1958) is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Life and career Charles Berling, son of a navy doctor, is also the nephew of the literary critic Raymond Picard. His mother, Nadia, "only daughter of (French) se ...

as Frédéric Marly *

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer. She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...

as Adrienne Marly, Frédéric's younger sister *

Jérémie Renier (; born 6 January 1981) is a Belgian actor. His film debut was in the critically praised (1996), directed by the Dardenne brothers. He became better known to worldwide audiences in ''Brotherhood of the Wolf'' (2001) and (2005). The latter ...

as Jérémie Marly, Frédéric younger brother * Édith Scob as Hélène Berthier *

Dominique Reymond Dominique Reymond (born 12 February 1957) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than seventy films since 1984. She has been to the Geneva Conservatory. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reymond, D ...

as Lisa Marly, wife of Frédéric *

Valérie Bonneton Valérie Bonneton (born 5 April 1970) is a French stage, film and television actress. Life and career Valérie Bonneton was born in Somain, Nord department. Her father was an insurance salesman and her mother a housewife. She grew up in nei ...

as Angela Marly, wife of Jérémie *

Isabelle Sadoyan Isabelle Sadoyan (12 May 1928 – 10 July 2017) was a French-Armenian actress. She was the wife of actor Jean Bouise. Her filmography includes films by Jeanne Moreau, Claude Chabrol, Claude Lelouch, Luc Besson, Jean-Luc Godard, Henri Verneuil, ...

as Éloïse, Hélène's faithful housekeeper *

Alice de Lencquesaing Alice de Lencquesaing (; born 11 August 1991) is a French actress who appeared in Mia Hansen-Løve's 2009 film '' Father of My Children'' with her father Louis-Do de Lencquesaing. Her mother is cinematographer Caroline Champetier Caroline Champe ...

as Sylvie Marly, Frédéric's elder child

Production

Principal photography began in Paris on 4 June 2007 and was completed on 27 July 2007. The film was known under the working titles ''Souvenirs du Valois'' and ''Printemps Passé''.

Release

The film received its United States premiere on October 1, 2008, at the 46th New York Film Festival. The

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

released a special edition of the film on April 20, 2010.

Reception

''Summer Hours'' was a critical triumph. It received 93% positive reviews on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, and was one of the most highly decorated foreign-language films in the United States in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. The film won and was nominated for numerous critics' awards: * Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film *

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the annual awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle. Winners 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple winners ...

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film is an award given annually by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It was first introduced in 1975 to reward an outstanding film not in the English language. Winne ...

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the annual awards given by the National Society of Film Critics since its inception in 1990. Winners 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Superlatives Countries with m ...

*Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film *

Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards The Vancouver Film Critics Circle (VFCC) was founded in 2000 by David Spaner and Ian Caddell, in order to help promote Canadian films and the British Columbia Film and Television Industry. Its membership includes print, radio, on-line, and telev ...

* Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (nominated) * Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language film (nominated) *

Houston Film Critics Society Awards The Houston Film Critics Society is a non-profit film critic unincorporated voluntary organization in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The group presents an annual set of film awards for "extraordinary accomplishment in film" in a ceremony h ...

(nominated) *

Online Film Critics Society Awards The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. The organization was founded in January 1997 by Harvey S. Karten ...

(nominated) *Denver Film Critics Society (nominated) * Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards (nominated) Édith Scob was nominated for a

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

for her portrayal of Hélène. In 2017 the film was named the ninth "Best Film of the 21st Century So Far" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

References

External links

*
''Summer Hours: A Time to Live and a Time to Die''
an essay by Kent Jones at the

2008 drama films Films directed by Olivier Assayas 2000s French-language films French drama films Musée d'Orsay Films produced by Marin Karmitz Films with screenplays by Olivier Assayas 2000s French films {{2000s-France-film-stub