Un cuore in inverno

Brother, can you spare a heart?

In Un Coeur en Hiver, the late Claude Sautet looks into the heart of Stephane, a master violin craftsman (Daniel Auteuil), and finds only ice. Stephane is an observer of life, not a participant. The film reveals the consequences of his emotional isolation, of what he has to give up in order to maintain his solitude.

Un Coeur en Hiver is as far from a typical Hollywood romance as Casablanca is from L'Avventura. The film is almost a revisionist portrayal of the usual debonair French romantic lover. While the lovely sonatas and trios of Maurice Ravel form a haunting background, there is a lifeless quality to Stephane and ennui is a palpable presence throughout.

Stephane seems ready to leap into a passionate relationship with a beautiful young violinist, Camille (Emmanuelle Beart) after Maxim, his partner for many years (also in love with Camille), introduces her to Stephane. Stephane, however, is unable to relate to Maxim's friendship or to his growing attraction to Camille and becomes distant and manipulative.

Held back by his reluctance to take risks, his relationship with Camille provides him with the forms of intimacy but without the substance. No pat psychological interpretation is provided but is left to the viewer to interpret. The camera is reserved and intimate. For the most part, emotions are conveyed through glances, expressions, and silences rather than dialogue.

The scene where Camille finally explodes out of frustration over Stephane's emotional distance, however, is powerful, yet is not enough to shake the reluctant lover from his hiding place. At a restaurant, Camille tells Stephanie, "He says he likes music because "music is dreams". "Poor jerk", she blurts out, "You know nothing about dreams". Pointing to his heart, she says, "There is nothing in there, nothing. No imagination, no heart, no balls". Stephane simply sits there with a half grin on his face. I could really feel Camille's frustration in trying to pluck fruit from a barren tree.

Auteuil's outstanding performance makes him a likable figure, a really sweet guy but a very sad one. I felt repeatedly like shaking him from his lethargy and exposing him to joy and the rhythmic beauty of life, perhaps adding a little Mozart to his Ravel.

At the end, however, there is some character development. Stephane finally recognizes that "there is something lifeless inside of me." As his friends depart, he is left sitting alone at a restaurant table, poignantly feeling his loneliness. Perhaps this insight is the beginning of his transformation. A very sad film but beautifully realized.

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.

I think it is an engaging and thoughtful movie - the kind that you keep thinking about, long after you have finished watching.

The plot deals with the central character's coldness in relationships with people around him. He is definitely gifted in what he does. He is sincere and hardworking. People around him tend to be friendly and caring. But it seems our guy has some intimacy issues – he can't go beyond a certain level.

I am not really sure as to what message did the movie want to convey. It can't just be - if you are cold in nature, you are a loser. I don't think Stéphane was cold by choice – he couldn't just change his nature so as to make others happy. I found it odd that a person of such nature would speak with frankness and openness about these issues – the way Stéphane tells Camille in the restaurant. His friendship with Hélène also seems unexplained - what was the basis – did they expect it to go further?

What struck as peculiar was attention given to details on mundane activities - like the craftsmanship involved in making musical instruments or dealing with the restaurant manager. In some ways, these elements helped in keeping one occupied and expectant of things to come.

Daniel Auteuil's portrayal of Stéphane was very natural. Always immaculately dressed, the way he interacted, sometimes with a smirk on his face - it made you empathize with his character. Also at times you felt like saying - what's wrong with this guy? – probably the kind of response director would have wanted to evoke from the audience. Emmanuelle Béart has acted brilliantly and looks amazingly beautiful. André Dussollier also put in a strong performance in his portrayal of Maxime.

Dialogues are thoughtful - but at times their gravity made you feel that these are not the most natural of conversations. Cinematography is splendid – with close shots of characters and focus on eye and facial expressions.

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.

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.