A Heart in Winter

Stephane and Maxime run a violin workshop in Paris. Maxime is the partner who deals with clients; Stephane is the craftsman, the one who holds the instrument and gets close to nobody. One day Maxime says he has fallen in love with a new client, Camille. Stephane and Camille meet and she quickly fixates on him. He draws her in, lets her come closer, and does precisely nothing. The subject is not love but manufacturing love without joining in. Stephane's coldness is never explained as a wound; the film withholds the reason, and that is exactly what makes it uncomfortable. Camille's collapse happens in a rehearsal room rather than on a stage. Claude Sautet directed and co-wrote. Daniel Auteuil plays Stephane, Emmanuelle Beart plays Camille and Andre Dussollier plays Maxime. Yves Angelo shot it. The music is Maurice Ravel's; the violin sonata and the trio are played inside the story, present as the characters' work rather than as score. It won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1992, and Sautet took the Cesar for best director. Who it is for: anyone who likes French chamber drama, stories built on classical music, and quiet acting. Who it is not for: anyone wanting movement. Almost nothing happens, the lead is closed by design, and the film offers no release at any point.