8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To believe or not to believe....., November 15, 2001
This review is from: A Tale of Winter [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This story, set in a misty, rain-soaked Paris in mid-winter, is about Felicie
(Charlotte Very) an attractive but confused young woman who having had a passionate holiday romance with a handsome stranger five years before, can still not think seriously about any-one else. And even though she knows only his first name, Charles (Frederic van den Driessche), and has not seen or heard anything of him since (because she foolishly gave him a wrong address) she still hopes to come across him in the street and to introduce to him his pretty little daughter Elise (Ava Loraschi.).
She has two current boy-friends, Loic (Herve Furic), and Maxence
(Michael Voletti), competing for her affections and wanting to marry her, and both show endless patience in listening to her obsessive thoughts about Charles and to how she cannot ever love them the way she still loves him.
She is an ordinary girl, while Loic is an intellectual, and having to listen to the boring conversations he and his friends indulge in makes her feel small, and realise eventually they are not suited. And so she leaves him to go off to another town, Nevers, to live with Maxence and work in his impressive hairdressing salon. But she has been there only a few days when she begins to have doubts: she finds that Elise doesn't like it because the flat has no garden, and that she doesn't like it because, on just one occasion, Maxence calls her "The boss's wife.". And so she returns to Paris and to Loic. I spent the rest of the film feeling sorry for good-natured Maxence, left alone with his shattered hopes in his empty flat when he thought he had just achieved his dream of a lifetime. No further mention is made of him and no further thought given to him poor bloke.
Loic, having just been rejected for another man and told he is not so well loved as the mysterious Charles, shows great fortitude and forgiveness by placidly accepting the lesser role of mere friend. She tells him later that the real reason she left Nevers, was because while praying one day in a church a conviction had come upon her, like a revelation, that she must leave. This conviction is reinforced later while watching a production of Shakespeare's
"A Winter's tale." in which an act of Faith works a miracle and brings a statue to life. She thinks that if she can only have such Faith, then it might also work a miracle for her and bring Charle back to her. And having such Faith is a "wager" that cannot be lost, because even if her belief turns out to be false and she never meets him, she will still have the hope and comfort that Faith brings.
As always in a Rohmer film, the characters are very natural and real. Felecie seems to give little thought to her appearance and is nearly always to be seen very casually dressed in a colourless anorak with the hood up, her hair loose, and her scarf pulled round her neck in any old way. And she seems always on the move. We see her getting off and on buses and trains and walking the streets always accompanied by her sweet little daugher Elise - a constant reminder of her lost love. In this way we see a good deal of Paris and Nevers which adds a lot to the interest and documentary quality of the film.
For some odd reason - perhaps because he likes women so much - Rohmer's films always seem to centre on the female of the species. Very rarely, if ever, is the male point of view given any prominence. And so it is with this film.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Updated Shakespeare, June 19, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: A Tale of Winter [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This film is loosely based on Shakespeare's _A Winter's Tale_, and Rohmer does a good job of capturing the essence and the haunting qualities of the original play. Ever wonder about a lost love, or a missed opportunity? The bulk of this film is about someone who thinks she's known true love, but is beginning to lose faith. Should she give up on a love that seems a dream in the dark light of a cold winter day?
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Please make up your mind!", June 12, 2006
"Tale of winter" ("Compte d'hiver") is part of Eric Rohmer's "Tales of the four seasons", and probably my favourite film by this director.
The main character is Felicie (Charlotte Véry), a young woman that had a beautiful summer affair with Charles (Frédéric van den Driessche) during her holidays. They want to meet again, but due to a mistake that Felicie makes, that doesn't happen.
Five years after that holidays, we see that Felicie has a tangible way to remember Charles, her little daughter (Ava Loraschi). Felicie lives with her mother and her daughter in Paris, and has two lovers. She can't decide whether she wants to be with Maxence (Michael Voletti), a hairdresser, or to Loic (Hervé Furic), an intellectual. The real reason for her lack of commitment is that Felicie is still in love with Charles, even though she hasn't seen him in five years. But can she continue loving someone that isn't there for here?
On the whole, I can say that I really liked this movie. I found it engaging, and I liked the long dialogues. Truth to be told, at times Felicie was so indecisive that she made me want to shout "please make up your mind". All the same, the ending of "Tale of winter" more than makes up for that little problem. That is the reason why I strongly recommend this film to you :)
Belen Alcat
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