Avant l'hiver

small domestic scenes from a family's every day life. a meeting. and image of a profound crisis. a film who could have different definitions. thriller, crime, art film, psychological. but who remains admirable work for the impeccable performance of Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil. for the image of reality beyond the words. for a form of delicacy in define the events like a painting in water colors. a film about values and about fear to lost sense of life. a film who is really seductive not exactly for story but for details. the last scene is a good example. not different by many films with similar theme, it is really beautiful for the doses of drama and for the inspired use of silence. a film about a family. its crisis. and the hope.

I saw this film at the Leiden film festival 2013 (LIFF). This could have been the umpteenth story about a middle aged man courting a younger woman, thereby endangering not only his marriage but also risking the health of his patients while slacking off his daily job as a surgeon. But luckily it is much more, due to some complications interwoven in the script that make it interesting nevertheless.

The daily package of red roses that are delivered throughout the running time of the film, seems important and thus are we eager all the time to know who is behind it. In the end we still wonder who is sending the roses, however, but it does not really matter in hindsight as many other sub-plots take over and keep us interested.

A possible minus point is the shallow role of the surgeon's wife. She has typically not enough on her hands other than waiting for her husband to come home. Her garden is her only daily occupation that keeps her from complete boredom, so it seems. I had assumed more initiative from her side, as she is obviously not the unlearned and meek kind of woman.

All in all, I can only moderately recommend this film. It is not a total failure, however, due to several sub-plots that keeps us interested. But that is all there is. This film ranked a moderate 26th place (out of 55) for the audience award.

Philippe Claudel's film 'Before the Winter Chill' begins as if it's going to be a drama about a stalker. It then changes tack, and becomes more of a story about a middle aged man becoming involved with a younger woman. He's not exactly looking for an affair, but his interest in her clearly stems from unhappiness in his marriage, which obviously does not benefit from his behaviour. Yet his "care" for the girl is superficial; his real interest is in the effect she is having on him, and he misses things he might have observed. Yet just as this plotline plays out to its conclusion, the movie reveals a final twist. The problem is that all three stories seem weak and underdeveloped; the strength of feelings on display never quite sufficient to wholly motivate the plot. It's not implausible; but its more a film about the absence of feelings, than the presence of them.

Daniel Auteuil plays a doctor and Kristin Scott Thomas plays his wife. They lead a rather secluded, rather upper-class existence, in a big house, with a very big garden. He works long hours, she does not. He starts getting flowers sent to him, and who is sending them and why, is the central mystery of the film.

This is a slow film, a very, very, slow film. It starts off slowly with domestic scenes and only picks up very slowly. We are unsure about the central mystery. Different indications suggest different answers and different roads to go down.

Around half-way through the film is an unexpected scene which seem to jar with the rest of the film. It is not the most important scene in the film. However it does introduce an important theme. Although having said this, it does not introduce a development in the plot. As such then, do not expect the little scene to have any greater significance than it has. Do not expect anything more.

Film is rather like real-life. Everyday domestic matters feature strongly in the film. Accidents can happen, mistakes can be made, situations can be misunderstood.

The fragility of life is a central theme of the film. So too are personal circumstances and change of circumstances. Film is about relationships, lies, lives and loves. There is passion but it is very pent-up.

It is a slow film, a little dark, with a few brief life-enhancing moments.

Tip: Opera buffs may understand a mistake. 8/10.

They could've made so much more with this story, but it has no direction, it tries to be profound, but it ultimately fails to. The ending leaves you nowhere, and you ask why you've seen this film? For the cinematics? For the actors? Hmm... For sure not for the incomplete and lack of depth of the script.