What is happening on screen in Claude Sautet‘s 1992 film ‘Un coeur en hiver‘ is both very simple and very complicated. It is about an unconsumed and perhaps one-sided love story. We are left to guess what are the inner springs of the characters and the reasons for emotional failure. The heroes of the film belong to the world of music, and more precisely of the violin. This instrument sounds gorgeous in the hands of its masters and awful when anyone else tries to play it. The same can be said for the characters in the movie. Passion and openness are needed for fulfillment in love as well as in music.
Stephane (Daniel Auteuil) and Maxime (André Dussollier) are 40+ and they partner in an exclusive workshop where old and valuable violins are repaired, maintained, bought and sold. Their clients are some of the most famous musicians. Among them is Camille (Emmanuelle Béart), a young violinist, talented and breathtakingly beautiful. Maxime leaves his wife (from whom he lived separately anyway) to start a relationship with Camille, but she seems more interested in Stephane. In a way that defies any masculine logic, Stephane rejects her. What are the reasons? Is Stephane too immersed in the world of music (the world of dreams as he defines it)? Doesn’t he want to destroy his friendship with Maxime, even though he only defines it as a ‘partnership’? Did he get used to loneliness? Is she too shy to respond to the increasingly explicit feelings of the younger, so beautiful and so talented woman? Or maybe his heart is frozen, ‘in winter’ as the title of the movie describes it. We won’t get any answer, Claude Sautet lets us find one by ourselves.
‘Un Coeur en Hiver‘ is a film specific to Claude Sautet‘s filmography, romantic trios and the balance between love and friendship being two of his recurent themes. The tone is restrained, but the hidden passions are the strongest. The cast is interestingly chosen. The actors were not selected for the chemistry between them, because the relationships described on screen are not passionate and shared love stories. Maxime is superficial and his feelings for Camille seem more possessive. I’m not a big fan of André Dussollier, I thought that he was OK but no more, like in other movies he starred in. Camille is younger and the most passionate of all, she lives with Maxime but she desires Stephane. I think that even if the role succeeds in the musical parts, Emmanuelle Béart can’t clarify why her Camille fell so strongly in love with Stephane. Is it just music? Finally, Daniel Auteuil creates a Stephane that surrounds himself with a carapace of icy politeness and gentleness, leaving us to guess what is hidden behind it. Everything takes place in a very sophisticated and very French atmosphere, with many scenes filmed in restaurants, recording studios, violin repair shops and the country house of the master musician who is the teacher of heroes. An exceptional soundtrack including a lot of chamber music (especially Ravel) adds a lot. ‘Un Coeur en Hiver‘ is a feel-good film, a little mysterious, a quality romantic drama that deserves to be watched or re-watched.