A Tale of Winter (1992)
"Conte d'hiver" (original title)

Felicie and Charles have a serious if whirlwind holiday romance. Due to a mix-up on addresses they lose contact, and five years later at Christmas-time Felicie is living with her mother in ... See full summary »

Director:

Eric Rohmer

Writer:

Eric Rohmer

Stars:

Charlotte Véry, Frédéric van den Driessche, Michel Voletti

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charlotte Véry	...	Félicie
Frédéric van den Driessche	...	Charles
Michel Voletti	...	Maxence (as Michael Voletti)
Hervé Furic	...	Loïc
Ava Loraschi	...	Elise
Christiane Desbois	...	Mother
Rosette	...	Sister
Jean-Luc Revol	...	Brother-in-Law
Haydée Caillot	...	Edwige
Jean-Claude Biette	...	Quentin
Marie Rivière	...	Dora
Claudine Paringaux	...	Customer
Roger Dumas	...	Léontès
Danièle Lebrun	...	Paulina
Diane Lepvrier	...	Hermione

Storyline

Felicie and Charles have a serious if whirlwind holiday romance. Due to a mix-up on addresses they lose contact, and five years later at Christmas-time Felicie is living with her mother in a cold Paris with a daughter as a reminder of that long-ago summer. For male companionship she oscillates between hairdresser Maxence and the intellectual Loic, but seems unable to commit to either as the memory of Charles and what might have been hangs over everything.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | winter | train | librarian | french new wave | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

29 January 1992 (France)

Also Known As:

A Tale of Winter

Box Office

Gross:

$213,687 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnie Eric Rohmer (CER), Les Films du Losange, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Felicie: For me the dream was reality. An absent reality.

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Connections

Follows A Tale of Springtime (1990)

User Reviews

Tender Tale of Hope and Coincidence

As he grew older it seemed veteran screen-writer and director Eric Rohmer grew a little more romantic and a little less cynical of life and love. His most famous work, the "Six Moral Tales" of the late 60s are expose's of human failings, pomposity and self obsession. Most of the characters are deeply flawed and many, though fascinating in their way, are distinctly hard to like or forgive. In the "Proverbs & Comedies" series of the 80s , the tales of life are a little softer, lighter, the characters more sympathetic and once the 1990's arrive and Rohmer's new "Four Seasons" series finds it feet, that trend has developed further.

The FOUR SEASONS stories carry a little more plot and rely less on the fairly heavy philosophy and religious conviction one would have encountered in MY NIGHT AT MAUD'S for example. There is hope where there had been despair.

CONTE D'HIVER is a bitter sweet tale of pretty young hairdresser Felicie and the aftermath of a brief passionate affair with the charming Charles. The result is that she bears his daughter but accidentally loses contact with him before he is aware of this. Life for Filicie is then a matter of putting up with a string of second-best lovers in the vain hope that Charles will somehow re- establish contact.

The action flits between Paris and provincial Nevers and as always the people the dialogue and the direction are wonderfully natural. The cinematography and editing are spare and unobtrusive and the acting is superb. There is one sequence, a lengthy scene in which Felicie watches , and is moved by, a stage production of a Shakespeare play that drags on far to long but otherwise this films almost skips along compared to some of the directors previous works, where the pace is always very measured and very slow. In all, a delightful film with a good cast headed by the attractive Charlotte Very, one of several excellent young actresses Rohmer cast around this time (Amanda Langlet and Emanuelle Chaulet being the others that spring to mind). Recommended