The French film Conte d'hiver (1992) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title A Winter's Tale. The movie was written and directed by Éric Rohmer.
It stars Charlotte Véry as Félicie, a young woman who has met the love of her life, and then loses him because she mistakenly gave him her wrong home address. Together they have conceived a daughter, but, of course, he doesn't know that. (Remember--this was before Facebook. People could just disappear and not be found.)
I didn't find Félicie a very interesting character, and I didn't find Charlotte Véry a very compelling protagonist. So many great French actors to choose from. Why Véry?
When you hear that the director is Rohmer, you know that you'll get dialogue, and more dialogue, and then some added dialogue. The dialogue could be fascinating, as in My Night at Maud's (1969). However, in this movie the dialogue consists mainly of "Do you love him?" "Yes, but not enough to live with him."
One thing that saved the movie for me was Ava Loraschi as Elise, Félicie's daughter. In the film, we know that she's four years old. She was probably five or six when she played the part. The little girl had real dialog, and she could act! I thought she would have become the French Shirley Temple, but she didn't.
Another saving grace in the film was that one of Félicie's lovers (sort of) takes her to see the Shakespearean play A Winter's Tale. Naturally, it's strange to my ears to hear Shakespeare's dialog in French, but the actors were talented and I enjoyed what Rohmer showed us--the famous last scene. The actor playing Paulina was particularly talented. (I guess you could make a case that the two Winter's Tales had some tangential relationship. It's a stretch, but it's possible.)
The movie worked well on the small screen. It carries a solid IMDb rating of 7.3. I agreed and rated it 7.
It stars Charlotte Véry as Félicie, a young woman who has met the love of her life, and then loses him because she mistakenly gave him her wrong home address. Together they have conceived a daughter, but, of course, he doesn't know that. (Remember--this was before Facebook. People could just disappear and not be found.)
I didn't find Félicie a very interesting character, and I didn't find Charlotte Véry a very compelling protagonist. So many great French actors to choose from. Why Véry?
When you hear that the director is Rohmer, you know that you'll get dialogue, and more dialogue, and then some added dialogue. The dialogue could be fascinating, as in My Night at Maud's (1969). However, in this movie the dialogue consists mainly of "Do you love him?" "Yes, but not enough to live with him."
One thing that saved the movie for me was Ava Loraschi as Elise, Félicie's daughter. In the film, we know that she's four years old. She was probably five or six when she played the part. The little girl had real dialog, and she could act! I thought she would have become the French Shirley Temple, but she didn't.
Another saving grace in the film was that one of Félicie's lovers (sort of) takes her to see the Shakespearean play A Winter's Tale. Naturally, it's strange to my ears to hear Shakespeare's dialog in French, but the actors were talented and I enjoyed what Rohmer showed us--the famous last scene. The actor playing Paulina was particularly talented. (I guess you could make a case that the two Winter's Tales had some tangential relationship. It's a stretch, but it's possible.)
The movie worked well on the small screen. It carries a solid IMDb rating of 7.3. I agreed and rated it 7.