Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
by Claude Sautet
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DVD details
Actor: ?lisabeth Bourgine, Andr? Dussollier, Brigitte Catillon, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle B?artDirector: Claude Sautet
Brand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-11-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Koch Lorber Films
DVD Reviews of Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
DVD Review: A beautiful film about love and life
Summary: 5 Stars
It took the powers that be years to decide to release this film on Region 1 DVD format. This is a brilliant film about relationships and love and life. The French know how to make a film that stays with you, there ain't no hollywood ending here. So worth the wait.DVD Review: Great film.
Summary: 5 Stars
Daniel Auteuil stars in this evocative film about a love triangle set amid the world of classical music. Stephane-Auteuil-is a world renowned repairer of violins working in the studio of his longtime business partner, Maxime-Andre Dussollier.
When violinist Camille-Emmanuelle Beart-enters the shop for a repair, an intense relationship is forged between the musician and the shop's owner, Maxime. The withdrawn and cold Stephane shows glimpses of jealousy because, as he explains in a detailed voice-over, the friendship between he and Maxime has evolved into a habit; he's lost the companionship of his friend but also a chance at love, Camille being the perfect match for him.
In one of the films most riveting scenes, Stephane suggests an additional repair to Camille's violin, as she painfully struggles through a rehearsal, and it is clear the two have reached a common emotional ground: he wanting for her to sound well, being a former player with a great ear for music; and she being receptive to his generosity, though humble, blaming her struggle on her skills as a musician and not his precision as a craftsman. In that moment they both want to save the other. The scene's subtext is breathtaking. What follows as the film unfolds is an intriguing tale of strange love-believable love, abandoning sentimentality for reality-that pits the players all against each other, creating strong characterizations and defining the potential for love to drive people apart, not bring them together.
The backbone of the film is Auteuil's performance, for which he was Cesar Award nominated, played stunningly and with great reservation. Perhaps Stephane is incapable of feeling loved or loving. And because of this he secludes himself from people. A tragic character whose strength in the end, or, perhaps his weakness, becomes his immense stoicism.
Claude Sautet directs the film with finesse and a pacing that serves the subject matter wonderfully. This is not a passion-filled portrayal of love, as is common in Hollywood, but a meditation on introversion. The film is shot this way; a quiet and calm testament to the
confusions of love.
The DVD includes cool stuff such as an interview with Sautet, a documentary on his work and trailers for the film and other releases. I highly recommend A Heart In Winter for fans of unconventional love stories, such as Casablanca, In The Mood For Love and the relationship dramas of Woody Allen.
DVD Review: Six Stars...
Summary: 5 Stars
"Stephane" played by Daniel Auteuil and "Maxime" played by Andre Dussollier are partners in a violin trading, making and repair business. Maxime plays the suave, handsome "new business developer" who mixes easily in the social circles. Stephane meanwhile is the quiet, somber, thoughtful, introverted master craftsman.
Maxime falls in love with a young, beautiful, classical violinist named Camille. Stephane happens to be present during a number of Maxime's dates and visits with Camille. Camille finds herself falling in love with Stephane who cannot reciprocate his love for her (or for anyone else for that matter.) Camille obsesses over Stephane and the unrequited love.
Daniel Auteuil is the star of the show - with all of his awkwardness in achieving any amount of intimacy. The storyline keeps you off-balance in this movie - - and the sexual and relationship tensions keep you fully engaged. I also appreciated the demonstration and beauty of the violin repair and tuning craft - and the magnificent contemporary classic music.
DVD Review: Un Coeur en Hiver is a beautiful, sensitive film
Summary: 5 Stars
Un Coeur en Hiver is a film about the deepest human feelings and fears, especially fear of intimacy and fear of rejection. The film is the story of three people. Maxime and Stephane are long time professional associates who operate a small company which constructs and restores violins. Maxime runs the business end of the operation, and Stephane is an expert craftsman who handles the repairs. One day, Maxime informs Stephane that he has met somebody. A woman named Camille, a beautiful and talented violinist. Maxime explains that he and Camille have fallen in love and are planning to live together, but as Stephane and Camille begin spending time together in their professional capacities, it becomes clear that they are attracted to each other. Yet, for some reason Stephane refuses to act on his feelings further confusing Camille. To her, he is an enigma. Eventually, she asks him, "Why are you hiding from me?" Stephane, meanwhile, can only further distance himself from her. Eventually,Camille reveals to Stephane that she wants him, and can accept the fact that he lives in an enclosed world. Stephane replies that she misunderstands him. He cruelly tells her that he has wanted to seduce her, without loving her, and that he listens to her play her violin only because it is his job. Stephane, of course, is covering his true feelings. At first, this seems self destructive, as he is throwing away any chance for the involvement he desires with Camille. His remarks deeply hurt Camille, and, ultimately, she ends up settling for Maxime. At the end of the film, Stephane, Camille and Maxime meet in a cafe. As Camille and Maxime start to walk away there is a look of sadness on Camille's face. As Stephane is left alone, he too shares that look, but he remains unable to express his emotions and share his life with someone else. In his mind, his rejection of Camille is an act of self preservation.
In the beginning of Un Coeur en Hiver, it is observed that violins are the most precious possessions of violinists. This declaration has profound meaning as the scenario evolves. If the instruments are such, they are so because they are safe. They have no free will. They will never abandon their owners. If they fall apart from usage, they always can be repaired. They are dependable and reliable, unlike human beings. Even when two people connect, relations between them are inevitably less than harmonious. Emotions are complex and ever changing in human relationships, feelings are dependent upon the responses of others. Stephane is keenly aware of all this, and it is for this reason that despite his feelings, he distances himself from Camille. He is afraid of allowing himself to love her because of the pain he may be forced to endure. As a result, he presents himself as passionless, which even plays itself out during an intellectual discussion in which he professes to have no opinion on the subject at all.
In the end, Stephane is a lonely figure, one who is unconnected with life. His solitude shelters him, keeping him protected from the hurt feelings that are the offshoots of human connection. Every time I watch this movie I wonder is he better or worse off. While we all are solitary souls, if we do not choose to be brave and risk connecting emotionally with others, our lives can never be complete. This is one of my favorite movies and the beautiful music of Ravel played through the film compliments the somber aura of the story.
DVD Review: He can set a violin on fire, but not his own heart
Summary: 4 Stars
Stephane is a master luthier, and can release the inner soul of a violin, by just nudging the bridge, or pushing the soundpost, he can bring magical sound and responsiveness to a violin. In so doing, he captures the heart of a beautiful violinist, herself repressed and detached, except when she plays. Camille, the violinist, finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quiet and withdrawn Stephane, who himself prefers to stay in the background, guard his own feelings and defer to his more flamboyant partner Maxime who is openly dating Camille. Yet, he allows Camille to see a glimpse of his love for music, the magic in dreams, and seduces her mentally and emotionally, by really listening to her and faithfully attending her recording sessions. In one session, he rushes in and insists on adjusting the instrument after hearing her play. Camille is then able to play with more emotion, feelings and passion, which in turn kindles a desire in her to draw out Stephane and have him experience the emotions he had awakened in her instrument.
Knowing that the instrument is an alter-ego to the musician, Stephane elicits the soloist to fall in love with him. However when she admits to him that she is in love with him, he cannot take the heightened emotionally charged atmosphere and withdraws further into his shell. Even though he was drawn into caring about Camille, Stephane denies it emphatically, which hurts Camille tremendously. About now the violin is forgotten, and the love triangle storyline marches on through a public humiliation, a broken partnership, with Camille returning to Maxime. As they drive off, she looks back at Stephane wistfully, who then returns to his usual business (or so it seems).
One is left with the feeling of loss and uncertainty for both Stephane and Camille, yet realizing that this ending is more realistic in the human drama, than a "happily ever after" type of ending typical in American films. I do like the complexity, behaviorial and psychological drama of this film, and its reflection on how life is, the bursts and episodes of heightened drama amongst the background of banal existence.
Description of Un Coeur en Hiver ( A Heart in Winter )
Studio: Koch International Release Date: 11/07/2006 Run time: 101 minutesDaniel Auteuil (Manon of the Spring) plays Stephane, the curiously diffident coowner of an exclusive violin brokerage and repair shop. A brilliant technician, Stephane can make any instrument live up to its promise, yet he is emotionally remote himself, disconnected from passionate experience. His partner, Maxime (Andr? Dussollier), lacks Stephane's gifts but is rich in personality and desire. When Maxime's new lover, a violinist named Camille (Emmanuelle B?art), is drawn to Stephane's still waters, the latter is briefly moved, thus destroying the fragile, symbiotic relationship between all three individuals. Veteran French filmmaker Claude Sautet (of the Oscar-winning C?sar et Rosalie) has made a powerful film here expressed in the smallest of gestures, just as one might tune the strings of a violin ever-so-slightly to achieve perfection. Sautet indeed employs such a sonorous motif in this story, in which violins always seem to be playing and suggesting that the principal characters look at life as they do music: something to be tinkered with and manipulated for effect. --Tom Keogh
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