Un cœur en hiver

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.

The plot revolves around the 'love triangle' of Camille, Stephan, and Maxine. Camille is a young up and coming concert violinist, and Stephan and Maxine are violin craftsmen. Camille is one of their many clients. The main character of this film, Stephan--played by Daniel Auteuil--is brilliant. He is a good looking and quiet man who knows what he wants and is secure in this: solitude--regardless of the amorous advances of Camille, the beautiful and brilliant young violinist who winds up dating his business partner Maxime, and whom he could seduce very easily. Many people analyzing Stephan's character would immediately say that he is sociopathic, deranged, insecure, or whatever. But Stephan is actually fully in control of his life throughout the whole film. He is not aware of fleeting passions like infatuation because he does not exist outside of passion: He is passion incarnate as he is very in tune with what he wants and is skillful at asserting his desires; so much so that those who encounter him become very jarred. His personna functions as a mirror that reflects other people's neuroses and fears back at them instead of absorbing them into itself and thus becoming poisoned. In this way, he's almost like a freelance mobile psychoanalyst passing through different bistros and concert halls in Paris, and disrupting the otherwise 'normal' relationships of those he encounters. The psychological tension throughout the film is thick from the start, and reaches a point of absolute saturation at its apogee. The viewer cannot help but find himself emotionally invested in the plot. The background score of the film is beautiful.

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.

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, I wish to convey that I view this movie as one of the greatest ever made. (That is, if you can cope with it). Un Coeur is an exquisite and worthy swan song for veteran filmmaker Claude Sautet.

I know people who do not like this movie and charge its precepts as self-indulgent, stodgy, and other such indictments. Of course, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. For me however, the scene in which the character played by Ms. Beart is rehearsing Ravel with her quartet and the character of Mr. Auteuil stares her down as only a man from France can do; with a heady combination of lust, reluctance, and sobriety- that scene takes 'psychodrama' to a new level. C'est froid, ca!

There are only a handful of movies at the top of the mountain of Parnassus. For me, this is one of them. Bravi.