Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Movie: Summer Hours (L'Heure d'ete)

We saw Summer Hours last night at the State Theater in Ann Arbor. It is a fine French meditation on communication via art and on the meaning of objects across generations. The story centers around the passing of a family matriarch, Helene, who had devoted her life to the artistic reputation of her uncle. She leaves a houseful of art (fine and decorative) to her three children, one an economist in Paris, one an artist in New York and the other a businessman in China. Much of the movie centers on their decision about whether to sell or hold and on the working out of their relationships with their departed mother, with their childhood pasts and with the house and the art.

Recommended if you are in the mood for a thoughtful film.