Conte d’hiver (1992) - film review

During a summer holiday, Félicie and Charles meet and have a whirlwind romance.  Due to a mix-up with their addresses, they lose track of one another, even though Félicie is carrying Charles’ child.  Five years later, Félicie is working in Paris as a hairdresser for Maxence, who is in love with her and who wants her to move with him to open a new salon in Nevers.  She is also loved by a young librarian Loïc, but Félicie still clings to her first love, Charles, even though the chance of her meeting him again is remote...

The second of four films in Rohmer’s Four Seasons cycle, Conte d’hiver is a fine example of post-New Wave French romantic cinema.  It illustrates perfectly Rohmer’s gift for telling a simple story in an effective and moving way, with believable characters in everyday situations.

As in many of Rohmer’s films, there is a much greater emphasis on dialogue than on action.   However, the dialogue is so natural, intelligent and insightful that the film maintains a balanced momentum throughout and never appears slow or stilted.  Rohmer manages to achieve this because his characters – particularly Félicie – are so naturally articulate and expressive, offering a clear insight into their mood and innermost thoughts.

We quickly get to know the characters, to the extent that we can almost predict their behaviour and responses – not because the film is necessarily predictable, but because we understand the characters so well.  This is a reflection of Rohmer’s excellent writing as well as some fine acting performances.

The only thing that mars the film – or, at least, appears grossly unsubtle – is the lengthy scene where the characters Félicie and Loïc watch a theatre performance of Shakespeare’s play A Winter’s Tale.  In an earlier scene, Loïc already explained the plot in sufficient detail to allow us to make the connection between Félicie’s love story and Shakespeare’s play.  Having then to sit through this protracted piece of Shakespearean theatre feels at best unnecessary, at worst indulgent on the part of Rohmer.  Far from reinforcing the parallels it unnecessarily stalls the plot and creates a false expectation that the film is going to have a fairy tale ending.

However, that is a very minor fault in an otherwise near-perfect piece of French cinema from a popular and unceasingly perceptive film maker.  Watch this film and you feel duty-bound to watch the other three instalments in the Four Seasons cycle.

© James Travers 2001

For further information see:
Dennis Grunes essay

Buy films by Eric Rohmer
More about the French New Wave

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