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| Un Coeur En Hiver (A Heart in Winter) |
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  (8/10)
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Runtime: 105 |
| Public Rating: 9.88 (8 votes) |
Director: Claude Sautet |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Foreign/Drama |
Year: 1992 |
| Writer(s): Jacques Fieschi and Jerome Tonnerre |
| Reviewed by: Goatdog |
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Stephan is a master craftsman of violins. He can tell from a single note whether something is wrong with an instrument. He puts a passion into his work that is reflected in the urgency in his eyes and the set of his mouth. He works with his partner, Maxim, who doesn't know as much about the instruments but knows people better. Their relationship has flourished for several years, since they took lessons from the same teacher as teenagers. Maxim is as outgoing and friendly as Stephan is introverted. Theirs is a working relationship: Maxim considers it a friendship, but Stephan doesn't think himself capable of such feelings. Through the course of this film, he finds exactly how much he is capable of feeling, and how much of that he is capable of bearing.
Maxim introduces him to a brilliant and beautiful violinist, Camille (Emanuelle Beart) (aren't they always as brilliant as they are beautiful in the movies?) The two have been seeing each other, and Camille needs her violin fixed before she can start a recording. She and Stephan instantly dislike each other, but their shared passion for the violin and their relationships with Maxim keep them from actively hating each other.
Inevitably, because this is a movie, their feelings for each other develop past that first dislike. He breaks tradition by not listening to a recital she is giving--is it because he can't stand being around her, or he's afraid she will see his longing for her? She is intrigued, and chases him, first over coffee, then over the phone when he cuts off contact with her. Is she entranced with him because of his brooding nature, or because of his passion for the violin, or is it more because he hasn't thrown himself at her? The answer to that question leads to one of the most emotionally honest and real scenes I have ever viewed.
Those accustomed to American romances where the dour bachelor is eventually won over by the breathtaking beauty are going to be either disappointed or refreshingly energized by this film. Things don't always work out, because some people can never climb out of their shells and take risks, like the risks Stephan would have to take. Some are just not capable of the depth of feeling required of a romantic relationship. American romances don't believe that. This film embraces it.
The film I was most instantly reminded of is the 1993 Merchant/Ivory drama, "The Remains of the Day", with its similar "romance" between Anthony Hopkins' butler and Emma Thompson's housekeeper. In that film, Hopkins' character is incapable of voicing the things he feels for Thompson's, and the filmmakers were wise to allow Hopkins' brilliant silent acting tell the story he couldn't.
Daniel Auteuil, with his look of perpetual fear and resignation, is perfect as the reserved Stephan. He doesn't speak much; he says that it's "better to be silent and appear intelligent." He's not really all that interested in appearing intelligent, though. He's so used to being quiet and noncommittal, protecting himself from life's heartaches, that he can't remember/doesn't know what it is like to have strong feelings.
The director won the Cesar award (the French equivalent of the Oscar) as Best Director, and Andre Dussolier won Best Supporting Actress as the patient friend Maxim, but the real story in this movie is Daniel Auteuil's shattering performance. He is undeservedly overlooked in this country, perhaps because he doesn't star in bad American comedies like his better-known countryman, Gerard Depardieu. If that is the case, I hope they don't attempt to make a sequel to Green Card, and if they do, I hope they don't call Auteuil.
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