In most cases (and in so many romance films), the heart clinging to a past love can be silly, at best, and self-sabotaging, at worst. Nostalgia filters the past through rose-tinted lenses, skewing our perspective of what’s true and what’s imagined. In another filmmaker’s hands, A Tale of Winter could very well be this cliché, but writer-director Éric Rohmer gives every reason to believe that Félicie’s love is true. Their separation is caused not by a breakup, but by a simple wrong address. She hasn’t closed herself off to finding someone else, but the feeling, hers and the scenes themselves, don’t quite match to the summer romance montage. When she does talk about The One to her prospective suitors, she’s sane and sober, regardless of whether or not she’s right. And because of excellent writing and Rohmer’s approach, we can’t say her choice is wrong.
Synopsis
Felicie and Charles have a 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.
Storyline
Single mother Félicie has two suitors: salon owner Maxence, who she works for, and librarian Loïc, who her young daughter Elise approves of. However, Félicie longs for Charles, the man she fell in love with in a summer five years ago.
TLDR
This is what romance is all about!
What stands out
The characters, and yes, this includes Félicie. Look, whether or not you agree with Félicie’s reasoning, and whether or not she meets Charles again, it’s undeniable that Félicie would never love someone the way she does Charles. It may not be a choice many would personally make, but it is a choice true to her character, someone who’s true to herself.