THIS latest effort from French director Olivier Assayas is the sort of unassuming drama that quietly goes about its business in such a way that you barely notice it sneaking up on you.
But it does, and with quite a remarkable ending too, one that
subtly and elegantly reinforces its timely theme about how the monetary value of art and property is inconsequential compared with its sentimental value.
It's a theme explored through the story of three grown-up siblings forced to decide what to do with their family heirlooms after the death of their mother, who for much of her adult life was the custodian of the estate of her uncle, a famous artist.
Youngest sibling Jérémie (L'Enfant's Jérémie Renier) and New York-based designer Adrienne (a blonde-haired Juliette Binoche) both favour selling up, with only elder brother Frédéric (Charles Berling) seeing the value in following their mother's example and maintaining their rickety house and its lovingly used artefacts as a family base for generations to come.
Assayas homes in on the melancholic after-effects of the decision to sell to show how easily things can be stripped of their meaning for the sake of some cash. The end result is surprisingly rich and absorbing.
The full article contains 233 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
