Project 289 - Day 35 : Love & Death in an Age of Croissants

I love all things French (which would not have made me very popular in a room of right wing Christian conservatives in the USA post 9/11, when the French were blamed for being cowardly in the face of terrorism, when in fact they were a hastily disregarded voice of reason; but I revel in flying in the face of the massed mob's orthodoxy where I believe fundamentals of decent human behaviour are being trampled in the rush to populist activism) and tonight that led me to Dendy Newtown where I saw the French movie, "The Summer Hours".

I had to rush there from a nightmarishly busy day at work but for once the public transport system obliged by actually having trains leaving on time (I know - it's the fourth sign of the apocalypse.... I expect fiery horseman in my apartment block's tennis courts any nanosecond now!) and I got there with enough time to pick up the tickets I'd bought on the net (I love doing most things online!), join Dendy's movie club for 2 years, and buy two Tiramisu-flavoured choc tops (gourmet ice cream in a cone served at the same food bar you can get wine at - tres chic and oh so Newtown, which I adore!) before the bf arrived and we headed into the confines of Cinema 2.....

..... for a movie that was a wonderful exploration of what happens to families after a loved one dies, and the previously taut fabric of their familial existence unravels just enough that they all realise that nothing will ever be the same again. Previously held assumptions are quickly shown to be wafer thin delusions, and reality comes roaring up with a ferocity that surprises people who mere days before were in the safe embrace of a decades long cocoon of family. Of course the family in most cases rallies and unites but with different dynamics driving the interactions between the members, and that takes some getting used to; as does dealing with the fallout from those dynamics coming into play. In the case of the characters in this movie, it means the selling of a home and artwork that one son sees as a treasured birthright to be preserved at all costs while his two siblings, living outside France and subsumed in their own demanding worlds, are not as troubled by it. The bonds of family hold, but everything is different, and there is grieving not just for the loss of the mother but for all that she represented, and it takes time for them all to adjust to a world none were really prepared to encounter.

For all that wonderful rumination on the human condition, I found it a little difficult to warm to the characters. It's not that they were unlikeable; just not emotionally engaging enough for me to truly care about them, and that's usually what draws me into a movie, and keepsme  transfixed - the emotional resonance I find in the film. It was there in some way, just not profound enough for me. Having said that, the bf (seen above contemplating life by the movie's poster), who has a fine eye and heart for these things, thoroughly enjoyed it so maybe I was just having an off night. 

Who knows? But at least the choc chops were yummy, and I had the company of my beautiful man in a cinema I adore in the suburb I call home. Life doesn't get any better than that especially when it ends with a kiss and a cuddle, and a snuggly good night's sleep in the first cosy grip of Autumn,