"L'Heure d'été" by Olivier Assayas

November 27 and 28, 2008

The Austrian Film Museum is honoured to welcome Olivier Assayas in Vienna for the Austrian première of L'Heure d'été (Summer Hours).
 

Starring Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, Jérémie Renier and Edith Scob, the film is being recognized by many critics in Europe and the U.S. as one of the great works of 2008. But L'Heure d'été doesn't flaunt its greatness; it is an extremely nuanced achievement, a story about mourning and loss, and how the meaning of objects and relationships change when death strikes a family unit. It's like a film by Chekhov, but for the 21st century: an old family home in the country that is chock full of memories, works of art and evidence of life lived to the hilt; all of this is suddenly exposed to the needs of the survivors, the younger generation and the dual pressures of "museification" and globalization.
 

This programme is supported by Unifrance and the Institut Français de Vienne.