''A Heart in Winter'' (french: Un cœur en hiver) is a

French film French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influ ...

which was released in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. It stars

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

and

André Dussollier André Dussollier (born 17 February 1946) is a French actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as fi ...

. It was chosen to compete at the

49th Venice International Film Festival The 49th annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 to 12 September 1992. Jury The following people comprised the 1992 jury: *Dennis Hopper (head of jury) *Jirí Menzel (head of jury) *Gianni Amelio *Anne Broch ...

, where it won four awards, including tying for the Silver Lion. It was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1994 BAFTA awards. The romantic drama was the second-to-last film made by French writer/director

Claude Sautet Claude Sautet (23 February 1924 – 22 July 2000) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was a chronicler of post-war French society. He made a total of five films with his favorite actress Romy Schneider. Biography Born in Montroug ...

. He would work with Béart again on his final feature, 1995's '' Nelly and Mr. Arnaud'' (original title ''Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud'').

Plot

Highly regarded violin restorer Stéphane (Daniel Auteuil) works and plays squash with his longtime business partner Maxime (André Dussollier). After Maxime, who is married, begins romancing concert violinist Camille (Béart), Stéphane is called in to do some urgent repairs on Camille's violin. Camille begins to fall for Stéphane, and reveals the truth to Maxime. Stéphane's cool reaction causes confusion for Camille, and she lashes out at him for denying his feelings.

Cast

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

– Camille *

– Stéphane *

– Maxime *

Élizabeth Bourgine Élizabeth Clémentine Madeleine Bourgine (born 20 March 1957 in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French actress, appearing in film, television and theater. She is credited with more than 60 roles in film and television, mostly French prod ...

– Hélène *

Brigitte Catillon Brigitte Catillon (born 20 July 1951) is a French actress and screenwriter. She was nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for ''A Heart in Winter'' directed by Claude Sautet. She was also nominated for the Molière ...

– Regine *

Myriam Boyer Myriam Boyer (born 23 May 1948) is a French actress. She appeared in more than eighty films and television shows since 1970. At the age of 18, she married with whom she had a son, Clovis Cornillac. From 1975 until his death in 1999 she was marri ...

– Mme. Amet *

Maurice Garrel Maurice Garrel (24 February 1923 – 4 June 2011) was a French film actor. Garrel was born in Saint-Servais, Isère. He appeared in over a hundred films and was nominated twice for a César Award for best supporting actor: in 1991 for ''La ...

– Lachaume *

Jean-Luc Bideau Jean-Luc Bideau (born 1 October 1940) is a Swiss film actor. Personal life Jean-Luc Bideau is married to Marcela Salivarova, a director of Czechoslovak origin. Together, they have two children: Nicolas, head of Presence Switzerland Presence ...

– Ostende

Music

The film features a number of performances of chamber music composed by

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, played by

Jean-Jacques Kantorow Jean-Jacques Kantorow (born 3 October 1945) is a French violinist and conductor. His son is the pianist Alexandre Kantorow. Biography Kantorow was born in Cannes, France, into a family of Russian-Jewish origin. From the age of 13 he studied a ...

(violin),

Howard Shelley Howard Gordon Shelley (born 9 March 1950) is a British pianist and conductor. He was educated at Highgate School and the Royal College of Music. He was married to fellow pianist Hilary Macnamara (her death), with whom he has performed and reco ...

(piano) and

Keith Harvey William Keith Harvey (25 December 1934 – October 2018) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half. Career Born in Crediton, Harvey played for Crediton United and Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a profess ...

(cello). New Zealand musician

Jeffrey Grice Pianist Jeffrey Grice was born in 1954 in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 1966, his family moved to Auckland where he attended Sacred Heart College in Glen Innes, counting among his classmates the future founding members of NZ's iconic rock band ...

appears in the film in the role of the pianist. The film contains only excerpts of Ravel compositions, but the soundtrack album includes them in their entirety, performed by

(violin),

Philippe Muller Philippe Muller (born 20 April 1946, in Mulhouse) is a French cellist. Biography Philippe Muller (born April 20, 1946, in Mulhouse) is a French cellist and pedagogue. His first contact with the cello was under the guidance of Dominique Prete, p ...

(cello) and

Jacques Rouvier Jacques Rouvier (born 18 January 1947 in Marseille) is a French pianist. He studied at the Paris Conservatory with Jean Hubeau, Vlado Perlemuter, Pierre Sancan and later on Jean Fassina. He won two Premiers Prix (first prizes): in piano performanc ...

(piano). A fourth Ravel composition not excerpted in the film, ''Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure'', is on the soundtrack album. The film helped further popularise especially Ravel's Piano Trio. The track listing: # Trio Pour Piano, Violon Et Violoncelle #* i. Premier Mouvement #* ii. Pantoum #* iii. Passacaille #* iv. Final # Sonata Pour Violon Et Violoncelle #* i. Allegro #* ii. Très Vif #* iii. Vif, Avec Entrain # Sonate Pour Violon Et Piano #* i. Premier Mouvement #* ii. Blues #* iii. Perpetuum Mobile # Berceuse Sur Le Nom De Gabriel Fauré Actor Emmanuelle Béart practised violin for at least a year before the film began shooting, so that she could convincingly mime the performance sequences.

Production notes

Béart and Auteuil were in a real-life relationship and married during the making of this film. Claude Sautet based it on his memories of reading Russian

Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...

's "Princess Mary". The film is distributed by

Koch-Lorber Films Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television se ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of 85% based on reviews from 13 critics.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

gave the film 3.5 out of 4, and wrote: "Un Coeur en Hiver, directed by Claude Sautet, has the intensity and delicacy of a great short story."

References

External links

* *
''A Heart in Winter''
Philosophical Films {{DEFAULTSORT:Heart In Winter, A 1992 films 1992 romantic drama films French romantic drama films 1990s French-language films Films about violins and violinists Films about classical music and musicians 1990s buddy films Films directed by Claude Sautet Films whose director won the Best Director César Award Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor César Award-winning performance 1990s French films