Helena lived to be seventy-five years old and lived in a house in the country all her life, guarding an emotional memory that outsiders would never know, and a house of precious artworks left by her loved ones. On her seventy-fifth birthday, she told her eldest son in private, after my death, the three of you brothers and sisters sold the house and scattered the collection. The eldest son heard it and couldn't accept it. This is the world that mothers have kept for a lifetime. Should they let it disappear in their hands?
Helena can see the changes in the world better than her son. Of the three children of this French family, one went to the United States and one went to China. Only the eldest son worked in Paris. The youngest son who made money in Shanghai, China, when his mother passed away, was the first to propose that the house and the treasured artworks should be sold. The way he made this proposal was also very peaceful, sounded very rational, and there was no reason to return. Keep those. The eldest son wanted to conceal his mother's last wish-he didn't have a will, he just wanted to save the world for his mother. But he soon understood that it was impossible to make everything the same. Mother died, everything became a memorial, and she no longer lived in this world.
The eldest son studies economics. In the dialogue with his mother at the beginning of the movie, it was mentioned that he had written a book. In that book, it is believed that the contemporary economy has no laws to follow, unpredictable, and clueless. He was questioned on the radio, so what use is there for you as an economist?
Seeing the younger brother and younger sister insisting on selling off his mother’s collection, the eldest son felt angry, but he could understand, and even understood, what is the use of insisting on himself. Could he still count on his young daughter who had already used marijuana to take care of those delicate things? Will your art and memory be passed on? He gradually reconciled with himself, and patiently cooperated with others, so that the entire set of porcelain, glass, and furniture, including Corot, Degas, and 19th and 20th century artworks, were taken away by the museum. In the next shot, the museum's lecturer, with a strong French accent, tells tourists from all over the world in English about these French artworks.
The artwork in the museum's exhibition hall looks so lonely, like a child thrown away from the house, careful and silent. It has become a silent strange object, no longer a living memory.
When it was filmed like this, this movie is already excellent. I watched it and thought to myself that Assayas would not disappoint. In fact, not only will it not disappoint, but at the end of the movie, unexpected bright colors suddenly appeared, and they appeared so naturally.
In the last shot of the movie, the eldest son’s problem daughter, Sylvie, brought a group of friends to his grandmother’s house. The house was already sold at this time and was about to change hands. A group of boys and girls (the number is not small), seem to be having fun, listening to music, dancing, swimming, and playing carefree. A complex and precise long shot that consistently shows the activities inside and outside the house. Is this the world that the elder son is worried about is coming and can't help it? What trace of the exquisite and delicate French culture passed down from the Walloo dynasty from generation to generation, in this group of "Americanized" and "globalized" children who drink Coca-Cola and listen to pop music?
But Sylvie and a boy ran into the woods and suddenly stopped, feeling sad. She said: My grandma is dead. This is her house, which has been sold. The boy wanted to comfort her, she talked about the paintings that grandmother had collected. But it seemed that in a blink of an eye, there was no sorrow, and the two children joined hands and ran away together. In the gradually raised lens, the lush greenery is all summer green.
This shot reminded me of the beginning of the movie. In fact, the first shot of this movie was given to Sylvie. On the day of her grandmother's birthday, she and a group of grandchildren ran and ran in the summer woods.
It turned out that Sylvie remembered it all.
Spring is over and summer is here. Summer will come again, and spring will come again.
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