Tout un hiver sans feu (2004)

Directed by: Greg Zglinski | 88 minutes | drama | Actors: Blerim Gjoci, Marie Matheron, Gabriela Muskala, Aurelien Recoing, Nathalie Boulin, Antonio Buíl, Gilles Tschudi, Michel Voïta

Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a person. But how do you deal with the loss, can you handle it? And what are you going to do with the rest of your life? This struggle takes place with Jean and Laure Rouchat who have lost their daughter Marie to a fire in the cowshed. Consumed with guilt, Laure slips away and enters a mental institution. There’s only one thing Jean can do and that’s try to keep the farm going. That doesn’t work and he starts looking for work in the city. Jean does not express himself but becomes hysterical when he sees fire. Is his work in the metal factory therapeutic? After all, he has to work with red-hot fire all day long. He does this incredibly easily for a traumatized person. Labinota and her brother Kastriot become his new friends in town. They are also severely traumatized, a kind of partners in crime and that immediately creates a bond. They fled the war in Kosovo.

The attraction between Labinota and Jean is understandable, they both crave attention and love. But Laure is Jean’s great love, and that love threatens to ebb away in front of him. And Labinota is married, although no one knows whether her husband is still alive. Both deal with loss and death in a world they never imagined. Jean can tell his story to Labinota and finally he can express his feelings and get rid of his sadness.

The crux of the story is not the death of the daughter, but the threat of growing apart after a dramatic event. Will Jean and Laure find their way together again? Will they remember how much they used to love each other and how much they consciously chose each other? Or was Marie’s death the start of another life? A life in the city with new clothes for Laure and does Jean accept the offer for his farm and his land? Will he sell his past, his land? The despair among these people is played very realistically. It is a gripping, heavy drama without being sentimental. And the worst part is that it can just happen to you.