Un coeur en hiver (1992)
Directed by Claude Sautet

Film Review

Through a remarkable series of intimate slice-of-life dramas Claude Sautet reveals himself to be a filmmaker of exceptional acuity and sensitivity when it comes to exploring the rich complexities of human relationships. Un coeur en hiver (a.k.a. A Heart in Winter) is among his finest achievements, a deceptively simple film on the theme of the eternal triangle which probes the workings of the human heart with exquisite depth and subtlety.  As in most of Sautet's films, certainly his later work, most of the film's interest is in what lies beneath the surface, the inner life of the protagonists, all fragile souls who find it inordinately difficult to express what they truly feel and are fated never to get what they most desire.  There is very little in the way of plot; the film's apparent simplicity belies the dizzying intricacy of the private dramas that are being played out in the minds of the three main characters at they navigate their way through their disintegrating relationships towards the film's desperately bleak conclusion.

Un coeur en hiver bears only a passing similarity with Sautet's previous romantic drama César et Rosalie (1972).  Both films revolve around a potentially destructive love triangle, but in contrast to the sunnier, more vibrant tone of the director's earlier film, Un coeur en hiver is a much more sombre and restrained work.  The feelings by which the three protagonists are led are entirely unreciprocated; the trio are connected by a circular, one-way dependency.  Stéphane depends on his business partner Maxime to shield him from a world which he is socially ill-equipped to deal with; Maxime is infatuated with the violinist Camille and is determined to marry her; Camille soon falls out of love with Maxime and becomes intensely enamoured of Stéphane, even though he gives her no encouragement and has no desire to start a relationship with her.  This hopeless situation resembles a snake endlessly chasing its own tail.  It is the emotionally under-developed Stéphane, a man who appears to be incapable of engaging with anyone except at a very superficial level, who will suffer the most - not only does he lose his friend and protector Maxime, he must also come to accept the central tragedy of his existence, that he is incapable of loving anyone.

Claude Sautet's films are always supremely well cast and Un coeur en hiver is no exception.  The director could hardly have chosen a better threesome than Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Béart and André Dussollier for the three principal roles; all three turn in performances that are so convincing, so subtly and flawlessly delivered, that it almost hurts to watch them as they unwrap their characters' (metaphorical) bandages and reveal the wounds beneath.  At the time they made the film, Auteuil and Béart were in a relationship and had already starred opposite one another in two films, Edouard Molinaro's L'Amour en douce (1985) and Claude Berri's Manon des sources (1986).   There is a heart-wrenching child-like vulnerability to Auteuil's portrayal which Béart manages to mirror perfectly, and whilst both actors underplay all of their scenes, often to the extent that there appears to be no surface emotion at all, it is easy to discern what their characters are feeling - the confusion, the heartache, the crushing sense of loss.  Dussollier's performance is even more subtle, and his character Maxime is the hardest to read, although we can readily imagine what he is feeling: a gnawing sense of betrayal, anguish that he may lose either the woman he has fallen in love with or the friend he has known for many years.  Although all three actors were nominated for Césars in 1993, only Dussollier won an award (in the Best Supporting Actor category).  The only other César the film won was for Best Director.  It also took the Silver Lion award at the 1992 Venice Film Festival.

Music assumes a paramount importance in the film (more so than in any other Claude Sautet film), and it serves to express the deeper, more intimate feelings that the characters are incapable of showing.  The music that Sautet chose - Maurice Ravel's chamber music (performed by world class violinist Jean-Jacques Kantorow) - is perfectly suited to the mood of the film, a jarring fusion of discord and melancholy that elegantly evokes the brittle relationship of the three main characters and their personal quandaries.  Yves Angelo's sombre cinematography has a similar effect, gently hinting at the emotional turbulence beneath the uncomfortably placid surface.  The music and the austere photography complement one another extremely well, endowing the film with an intoxicating mellowness that makes it particularly easy to engage with.  Un coeur en hiver is probably the cruellest of Claude Sautet's films, but it is also the most beautiful and the most sincere, a solemn but intensely moving piece that resonates with truth and human feeling.  After this cinematic marvel, Sautet would make only one more film, the equally spellbinding Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (1995).

Film Synopsis

Stéphane and Maxime are partners in a successful business that makes and repairs violins.  Stéphane is surprised when, one day, Maxime announces he is in love and plans to marry one of his clients, an attractive young violinist named Camille.   But when she meets Stéphane, Camille immediately transfers her affections to him.  Stéphane does nothing to encourage Camille.  A quiet and emotionally withdrawn man, he insists that he cannot begin a relationship with her, but this does nothing to quell Camille's infatuation for him...