Ein Herz im Winter (1992)

Ein Herz im Winter: Directed by Claude Sautet. With Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Béart, André Dussollier, Elizabeth Bourgine. Beautiful violin virtuoso Camille has two obsessions: the music of Ravel, and a friend of her husband’s who crafts violins. But his heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate.

“The plot revolves around the u0026#39;love triangleu0026#39; of Camille, Stephan, and Maxine. Camille is a young up and coming concert violinist, and Stephan and Maxine are violin craftsmen. Camille is one of their many clients. The main character of this film, Stephan–played by Daniel Auteuil–is brilliant. He is a good looking and quiet man who knows what he wants and is secure in this: solitude–regardless of the amorous advances of Camille, the beautiful and brilliant young violinist who winds up dating his business partner Maxime, and whom he could seduce very easily. Many people analyzing Stephanu0026#39;s character would immediately say that he is sociopathic, deranged, insecure, or whatever. But Stephan is actually fully in control of his life throughout the whole film. He is not aware of fleeting passions like infatuation because he does not exist outside of passion: He is passion incarnate as he is very in tune with what he wants and is skillful at asserting his desires; so much so that those who encounter him become very jarred. His personna functions as a mirror that reflects other peopleu0026#39;s neuroses and fears back at them instead of absorbing them into itself and thus becoming poisoned. In this way, heu0026#39;s almost like a freelance mobile psychoanalyst passing through different bistros and concert halls in Paris, and disrupting the otherwise u0026#39;normalu0026#39; relationships of those he encounters. The psychological tension throughout the film is thick from the start, and reaches a point of absolute saturation at its apogee. The viewer cannot help but find himself emotionally invested in the plot. The background score of the film is beautiful.”