Line #27 Film/ATaleOfWinter


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ataleofwinter_6_2.jpg]]
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3	''A Tale of Winter'' (French: ''Conte d'hiver'') is 1992 French film written and directed by Creator/EricRohmer. It's the second of his ''Tales of the Four Seasons''.
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5	Félicie (Charlotte Véry) has a fling with hunky chef Charles (Frédéric van den Driessche) on a summer holiday before heading off to Paris. She gives him her address, hopeful that they can continue their romance, but he never writes her back. Five years later, she's living with her mother (Christiane Desbois) and raising Elise (Ava Loraschi), the daughter that Charles unknowingly fathered. Félicie is involved in a LoveTriangle with Maxence (Michel Voletti), the owner of the hair salon where she works, and Loïc (Hervé Furic), a librarian who befriended her when she moved to Paris. But she still carries a torch for Charles, especially once she realized he never wrote her because she mistakenly wrote down the wrong town name on the address slip she gave him.
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7	In the final two weeks of December, Félicie's life takes her on a rollercoaster ride that forces her to examine her values and relationships with the men in her life. But as a new year approaches, Félicie experiences one final fateful twist.
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9	[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused with]] the play ''Theatre/TheWintersTale'' by Creator/WilliamShakespeare (though a performance of said play is part of the storyline), or with ''Literature/WintersTale'' novel from 1983, and its 2014 [[FilmOfTheBook film adaptation]].
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11	!! This film contains examples of:
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13	* ArcWords: "Creator/VictorHugo", oddly enough.
14	* TheBardOnBoard: Not only does the film have the same title as ''Theatre/TheWintersTale'' in French (''Conte d'hiver''), Félicie and Loïc see a performance of it, and the scene where Hermione's statue comes to life makes her cry, since it reminds her of her hope that she'll see Charles again (and provides obvious {{Foreshadowing}} to us that she actually will before the film ends).
15	* BettyAndVeronica: Another of Rohmer's male versions of this, with Loïc as Betty and Maxence as Veronica.
16	* CallBack: A few to ''Film/MyNightAtMauds''--the holiday season setting, a single mother as a major character, and a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager Pascal's Wager]].
17	* ChekhovsGunman: It's quite apparent to us that Charles is going to show up again before the end of the film in an unexpected way, but Félicie also comes to the same conclusion as well.
18	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: After the prologue, the story starts on December 14 and ends on December 31, a span that also invokes DidIMentionItsChristmas.
19	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Félicie (Sanguine), Maxence (Choleric), Loïc (Melancholic), Charles (Phlegmatic).
20	* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Félicie says she decided to have Charles' child because she doesn't like going against nature.
21	* HappyEnding: Félicie [[spoiler:bumps into Charles on the bus, they reunite, he gets to meet his daughter, and they attend the family New Year's Eve party together]].
22	* HasAType: Félicie likes "well-padded" men with dark, wavy hair. This was an ActorInspiredElement, since Rohmer had Charlotte Véry choose who would play Charles from a set of actors' photos, then she chose who played Maxence and Loïc too.
23	* LoveDodecahedron: The four main characters.
24	* MrFanservice[=/=]MsFanservice: In the prologue, Charles is shirtless for most of it, while Félicie is completely nude in some shots.
25	* [[OneBookAuthor One Film Actress]]: The only film appearance for young Ava Loraschi (Elise).
26	* TheOneThatGotAway: Charles, for Félicie.
27	* ProductionForeshadowing: Charles mentions that he's going to the coast of Brittany, which would be the setting for Rohmer's next entry in the ''Four Seasons'' series, ''[[Film/ASummersTale A Summer's Tale]]''.
28	* RelationshipRevolvingDoor: Félicie and Loïc have been on-and-off partners for several years.
29	* SleepingWithTheBoss: Félicie and Maxence.
30	* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Elise is this for Félicie. Félicie even keeps a picture of Charles in Elise's bedroom and tells her all about him.
31	* StrugglingSingleMother: Félicie is this, but she acts like a GlamorousSingleMother, impulsively deciding to move with her daughter to another city on a couple days' notice.
32	* TimeSkip: After a short prologue, the film jumps ahead five years.
33	* TrainStationGoodbye: Félicie and Charles at the end of the prologue.

Context Film / ATaleOfWinter