A gorgeously subtle examination of an unusual love triangle, Un coeur en hiver is a triumph for all involved. The film follows of a pair of business partners (André Dussolier and Daniel Auteuil), who run an exclusive stringed-instrument workshop, and the beautiful and talented violinist (Emmanuelle Béart) who comes between them. At first, it seems like standard material, but Claude Sautet's film is unique in that the characters' inevitable ruin is brought on not by an illicit affair but by the contemplation of an illicit affair. Thus the film becomes a moving, if occasionally frustrating, portrait of emotional frigidity. Sautet's subdued and perfectly paced direction (for which he won a French César award) and the script, by Yves Ulmann, Jacques Fiéschi, and Jerome Tonnèrre from a short story by Mikhail Lermontov, frame three superlative performances. Dussollier, who also picked up a César, hits all the right notes as the gregarious Maxime, and Auteuil is consistently fascinating, subtly hinting at hidden depths beneath Stephane's maddeningly enigmatic mug. Béart's Camille, though, is at the heart of the film, and her performance is both technically flawless (she studied the violin for more than a year before filming) and emotionally harrowing. The film also features a stunning Ravel soundtrack, performed by violinist Jean-Jacques Kantorow.