In Winter, Hearts Need To Be Warmed Up (« Hiver 54 »)

Lambert Wilson is the special guest of the FIF, 2019. To honour him, about ten of his movies are showing this week and among them, Hiver 54, l’abbé Pierre. This movie, made in 1989, relates the winter 1954 in France, especially in Paris, and the fight homeless people had to put up in order to survive that winter, when the temperatures drop to -15°C for a while.

In this movie, Lambert Wilson plays the abbé Pierre, the religious man that fought days and nights so that homeless people could spend the winter under a roof, even if it was only temporary. Hiver 54, l’abbé Pierre, is a very emotional movie. It sheds light on the pain and suffering of the homeless people, and their disastrous living conditions. However, even if the events of this winter 54 are dramatic, like the death of an infant during the twenty first minutes of the movie, it doesn’t make room for pity. On the contrary, we feel angry at all the politics that choose to ignore their suffering because they are rich enough to not be preoccupied of the seasons.

But Hiver 54, l’abbé Pierre, is a marvellous movie made of hope. Through it, it is shown that when people gather themselves, they are capable of committing incredible acts of solidarity. As it is said during the movie, it only takes a man to change things, and miracles do come true if we give ourselves the means to accomplish them. It is a wonderful lesson about the sacrifice of oneself to help the other; something that may be forgotten when somebody doesn’t need help.

Mathilde Rozec