A Tale of Winter (1992)

I wasn’t exactly overwhelmed by the first five minutes of A winter’s tale. A man and a woman on a beach. Dreamy cinematography. Romantic? Yeah, no, we’ve seen this kind of scene a 2,00000 times before. But after watching the film, I realize that scene is not so bad as it could have been, given another movie. A winter’s tale is a dynamic film that in a very interesting way puts the viewer’s reactions and feelings to test. Actually, I expected a completely different film; something brash, extravagant. The present film takes its departure in the events of everyday life. Felicie has a short romance with Charles. Even though Felicie has several lovers during the film, the events of which takes place five years after the introduction, she is convinced that she will meet Charles again. It is chance, mistakes and not bad intentions that break off their relationship. This is Felicie’s view. Chance/fate will become a theme in the film, and an important aspect of how that theme is developed is the way the notion of fate or chance is depicted as expressions of an attitude, of emotions. One thing about A winter’s tale that I liked was how Rohmer makes us re-evaluate the main character. At first, I felt that Felicie’s hope was an expression of naivite, the other side of which was a callous and cold relation to other people. As the film moves on, I did not really see her that way anymore.  What is it that about myself that makes me react to Felicie this way? As I said, Rohmer has an eye for everyday life. For this reason, this is not the typical romantic tale about two lovers separated by external or internal obstacles. Most romantic films are cynical because they are mostly about calculation, perhaps in softened form. How can lover x make y fall in love with her? A game of tricks and persuasion commences. A winter’s tale is different. Few scenes have a functional role. The film follows Felicie with her lovers, with her daughter. They sit at home, they have dinner parties, they are trapped in traffic chaos. The brilliance of the film lies perhaps also in its tendency to sidestep the rhythm of the typical romantic film. Rohmer is not opting for frantic dramatic twists nor is story developed in a mournful, elegiac pace. There is something matter-of-face in the film that makes it different. And it is for this reason that the first scene works so well: as a contrast to the drab world depicted in the rest of the film. -- There are several aspects of the film that I don't know what to do with. There are several references to religion, prayer, and faith. If the message is simply that prayer can affect our lives, then A winter's tal will still be the typical "romantic" story about how the lover manipulates the world, the lover, or even God. Which is not a very romantic idea, I'd say. But I think there is nothing that settles this interpretation, and there are things that stand in obvious conflict with it, too.