tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post4701298216102934991..comments2024-03-28T02:30:08.913-04:00Comments on Not Just Movies: Summer HoursJakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-71282892731262159072010-01-10T11:39:26.208-05:002010-01-10T11:39:26.208-05:00Jake, I'm just discovering your site and you h...Jake, I'm just discovering your site and you have some fantastic reviews here, this one included.<br /><br />I was impressed with the ability of Assayas to make a very "French" film and have art culture be a major part of it, while keeping it from being pretentious. I actually WAS enthralled (or, at the least, emotionally invested) as the siblings discussed estate planning and French tax law.<br /><br />I wasn't aware of Assayas' background in genre filmmaking, but it kind of surprises me, as SUMMER HOURS is as far from any movie with Asia Argento in it as one can get. Any particular reason the Musee d' Orsay picked him for their (planned) anthology here?Troy Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843741571724231174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-74962603353296080752010-01-07T12:18:51.266-05:002010-01-07T12:18:51.266-05:00Oh yea, and Claire Denis is very much worth explor...Oh yea, and Claire Denis is very much worth exploring in depth. I haven't seen her latest yet, either, but I can heartily recommend starting with <i>Beau travail</i> and <i>Vendredi soir</i> (<i>Friday Night</i>). She's another sensitive, complex filmmaker.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-2960283633098405152010-01-07T12:17:39.027-05:002010-01-07T12:17:39.027-05:00I love this movie as well, it was one of the best ...I love this movie as well, it was one of the best I saw last year. What's so great about it, as you point out, is Assayas' steadfast refusal to turn these stories into melodrama, to use revelations about the characters as "plot devices," or to moralize about modern society in any way. Instead, he's simply examining the ways in which people form associations and emotional connections with objects, which are in themselves meaningless without these familial and psychological connections. I especially love the ending, which is both a joyful, youthful celebration, looking forward, and also a mildly nostalgic, melancholy remembrance of the past. As you say, Assayas doesn't castigate the younger generation for liking hip-hop and technology, and the film is all the richer for avoiding such cliches.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-34822515488103866292010-01-06T22:30:01.166-05:002010-01-06T22:30:01.166-05:00Yeah, there are so many places this could have lap...Yeah, there are so many places this could have lapsed into tedium but Assayas never once flagged, never once went for the easy (even the more complex French iteration of it) answer. Of course, besides Demme, the most obvious connection of the film's thematic and -- not aesthetic, but perhaps spiritual is the best term -- link is Ozu, though I didn't bring it up because I've found the few Ozu films I've seen to be laments of the impersonality of the modern generations where Assayas shows more empathy for youth and understands that they too have the same priorities as their elders. They've simply made that but a small part of fantastic new opportunity.<br /><br />At any rate, it's only the latest shred of evidence that I'm woefully behind on current French cinema. I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen a Claire Denis film. I'd hoped to rectify that with 35 Rhums, but it never came near me. I might watch some of her other works before it hits home video, but at the very least I'll be renting it when it comes out and going from there.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-11725055483778650652010-01-06T21:45:12.841-05:002010-01-06T21:45:12.841-05:00Summer Hours does superficially have "French ...Summer Hours does superficially have "French movie" written all over it, as you put it, but this isn't exactly familiar ground for Assayas. His previous movie had Asia Argento running away from Hong Kong gangsters and Kim Gordon. And kinky half-sex. I'm not knocking Boarding Gate (a masterpiece, in my opinion) or Summer Hours; I love them both dearly. But Assayas is not conventional or stereotypical in any sense. Ever. <br /><br />This is a great review. I think the comparison to Demme is apt, as is your qualification of that comparison. I like that you highlight the camerawork as well; in that regard I think Assayas is almost peerless.Doniphonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02407443845368110678noreply@blogger.com