Summer Hours

Dir. Olivier Assayas. 2008, 103 mins. 35mm. With Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier, Edith Scob, Dominique Reymond. Named Reverse Shot’s best film of 2009, Assayas’s deeply personal family drama is one of the great films about the meaning and value of things, the inextricable bond of family, and the forward march of time. Binoche, Berling, and Renier play a trio of siblings dealing with the aftermath of their wealthy mother’s death, her passing raising questions about their livelihoods, careers, inter-relations, and, of course, how they will divide, keep, or sell her belongings. Rather than descend into a drama about squabbling family members, Summer Hours becomes a spry, intricately composed—and enormously moving—meditation on life and death. “The film’s real greatness stems not merely from its exploration of family but its depiction of a distinctly 21st-century family in particular. In the microcosm of the Berthiers’ story, Assayas finds globalization, commerce, the history and the arbitrary value of objects, and the question of what defines art and what makes art meaningful.” —Farihah Zaman, Reverse Shot 

Preceded by Reverse Shot Talkie: Olivier Assayas 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.