THIS week Ayr Film Society have a French choice, in the shape of Avant L'Hiver.

Neurosurgeon Paul and his English wife Lucia find themselves in a middle age, middle class funk, their relationship not what it once was.

In a café close to his office, a young North African waitress, Lou, introduces herself to Paul, claiming he performed a life-saving operation on her when she was a young girl.

Paul begins to receive flowers at his office, his hospital and his home, all from an anonymous source. Repeatedly running into Lou, he accuses her of harassing him, a claim she denies.

Paul apologises and befriends Lou, quickly becoming entranced by this mysterious young woman, to the detriment of his work and his marriage.

Claudel also adds a reminder of France's wartime Nazi collaboration in a scene involving an elderly Jewish woman, which feels out of place despite being the film's most effective moment.

Claudel injects a message about the negative effects of displacement, with Lucia's sister's spell in a psychiatric ward blamed on their parents' decision to move the girls to France at a young age.

Both Paul and Lou share absent Daddy issues.

There's a lot of clutter in Before the Winter Chill, with Claudel constantly bombarding us with his thoughts on colonialism, absent fathers and the role of bankers in the economic crisis.

But when he focuses on the meat of the plot, the relationship between Paul and Lou, his film is a melancholy marvel.

As ever, the screening takes place on Thursday (November 26) at 7pm, for 7.30pm start. Tickets are £5 adults, concessions for students.