Ce sentiment de l'été

The action begins in Berlin in summer. Sasha, a Frenchwoman in her late twenties lives there with her husband Lawrence. Sasha works in an art shop doing stencil prints. Lawrence aspires to be a writer and makes a living as a translator.

One day Sasha collapses walking home, is taken to hospital and dies. The subsequent action extends to three summers and two more cities, Paris and New York, with short interludes in the villa that Sasha's parents own in Annecy, fronting the lake with mountains as backdrop. The subject is how Lawrence deals with tragedy with the help of an ever-changing group of friends and of Sasha's sister, Zoé.

We are witnesses of many conversations in somebody's apartment, bars, and walks in the night sometimes remembering Sasha. Finally, the moment arrives where the protagonist will wonder if it is not an insult to the memory of his dead wife to go out with someone else.

I did not particularly like this movie. It looks as its characters with the cold detachment of a scientist watching insects. Except for Zoé, what we know the first time about a personage is the same we know at the end (for instance, there is no hint on the relationship of Sasha and Lawrence but a short initial scene). But then, perhaps these were the director's intentions. At any rate, the movie keeps your interest.