Un coeur en hiver (1992) - film review

Stephane and Maxim are partners in a successful business that makes and repairs violins.  Maxim falls in love with and plans to marry one of his clients, an attractive young violin performer, Camille.  However, Camille finds herself attracted to the quiet and unresponsive Stephane.  When Stephane shows no signs of reciprocating her growing attraction for him, Camille becomes deeply upset...

This is the kind of gentle romantic drama in which director Claude Sautet in particular, and French cinema in general, excels.  Through some brilliant acting performances (notably from Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Béart) and subtle direction, the film has genuine emotional impact, never once stepping over the line into sentimentality.

The character of this film is rather like that of the fine pieces of violin music which provides the film’s very effective score: brooding yet sincere, capable of stirring the most unemotive of souls.  Although he has played the part of the reluctant lover a tad too often in his career, Daniel Auteuil is quite simply superlative in this film. Claude Sautet’s direction is at its most mature and considered, making this what many consider to be his greatest film.

© James Travers 2002

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