Un cœur en hiver

If you are after car chasings and unreal fight/action scenes, don't even consider reading further and even less watching this movie.

This movie is about human psychology and love. These characters are tormented by a feeling of inadequacy, by strong unresolved love, and deep affection. It's a modern greek tragedy. It reminds us of the real human nature, unlinear, never simple. Forget the white/black type of hollywood movies. The real world is not like that. We are not just good, we are not just bad, we can be strong and weak at the same time. This movie manages to remind us this in the context of a difficult love story accompanied by one of the most beautiful scores ever.

The whole movie seems to have been written and built around this sad, unusual and beautiful music by Ravel (piano sonata for trio).

If you are an intelligent person you'll love the poetry and soft touch of this movie.

English film critics, especially those at a loss for what else to write, often refer to films such as this as 'very French'. This certainly holds true in so far as French cinema is mainly concerned with character rather than plot.

Claude Sautet was a respected 'script doctor' before his breakthrough film 'Les Choses de ma Vie' which not only put him on the map but made an international star of Michel Piccoli and revitalised the career of Romy Schneider. He went from stength to strength and made his last film 'Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud' in 1995 starring Michel Serrault and Emmanuelle Beart.

'A Heart in Winter' is his penultimate film and is as one would expect from Sautet, a piece both beautifully written and constructed. Sautet has here collaborated on the script with Jacques Fieschi loosely based on the novella 'Princess Mary' by Lermontov. The plot is easily told. Camille, Maxime and Stéphane move within the cloistered world of classical music. Camille is having an affair with Maxime but falls for Stéphane and is devastated by his refusal to respond. Emmanuelle Béart as Camille convinces totally as a professional musician and took violin lessons for a year to prepare for the role. She was of course destined to be underrated as an actress because of her beauty. To describe the Stéphane of Daniel Auteuil as 'enigmatic' would be an understatement. A woman might very well be attracted to elusiveness in a man but there is a limit to her patience. That Auteuil and Bart were romantically involved at the time brings a definite piquancy to the film. As Maxime André Dussollier is splendid and the supporting players uniformly excellent. The cinematography of Yves Angelo is stunning and the use of Ravel's music inspired. Sautet was one of the last true craftsmen of French cinema and if as some say this film is a little cold then it is the coldness of a polished gem.

A visually-beautiful film. Even if the plot were not good (but it is) it would still be worth seeing for its good-looks.

Beart (Camille) is magnificent! When I first saw the film I thought she was a real violinist, so convincing was her 'playing'. She and Auteuil (Stephane) employ that subtle 'facial' acting, so popular in French cinema. As both their faces are quite lovely, this is a pleasure to watch. Is Beart the most beautiful woman on screen? Probably.

This movie is like a dream sometimes. It gives clues to the riddles of the characters, but does not reveal their essences. Sometimes you have to wonder if the story is really a kind of allegory, with the characters as symbols, their full significance yet to be revealed.

Look out for what appears to be an important scene featuring Stephane's parents, towards the end of the film. It is not obviously enlightening, but it may prove to hold the key to his love-less character. There is a climax to the story, but no real resolution or explanation. Yes, it's the 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' unresolved-ending phenomenon back with a vengeance. And how much more interesting it makes this intriguing story!

Oh - and the music is a substantial part of the film - not just 'background', which is a good thing.

Un Coeur En Hiver is a deeply moving film. Beart's achingly beautiful performance as a violinist who becomes infatuated with an emotionally stunted craftsman, is breathtaking to behold. The craftsman, played by Auteuil, displays an almost unbelievable emptiness of emotion, as he rejects the "unrejectable" Camile(Beart)! The soundtrack of this movie conveys as much emotion as the lead characters do, and is hauntingly beautiful to the ear. This movie is a must for Beart fans! Just seeing those beautiful intense eyes is reason enough to view this film.

I read that Claude Sautet inspired himself in the Pechorin's Diaries, a part of Mikhael Lermontov's "A Hero Of Our Time". In Phoenix Cinema blog: "For those interested–to understand Stephan's character, read Lermontov's novel A Hero of Our Time. (The novel is even mentioned in the film.) Stephan is a modern-day version of Pechorin." Now Pechorin is a complex Byronesque character that has ambiguous but plausible reasons for his apparent "winter" heart. He is a formidable character in Russian literature (like Oneguine, for instance) and the paradox of his coldness is enough to make a film director/screen writer wanting to start something. This tip should be taken into account before engaging in more audacious explanations for the character of Stéphane.