Customer Reviews

Private Fears in Public Places

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Resnais has a taste for British drama. One of his best films, "Providence," was filmed in English with a superb cast, including John Guilgud, Dirk Bogarde, and others. His most recent is taken from a stage play by Sir Alan Ayckbourn, England's most prolific, if not best, playwright. This bittersweet concoction came to New York in one of the best productions to appear off-Broadway in years. Filmed in French, it continues to tear at the viewer's flail, tattered soul, as it exposes the loneliness of urban life in brutally exacting scenes. Shown in different settings scattered throughout the great metropolis of Paris, a disparate collection of lost souls wander through their lives and the lives of others as though lost. Each wants, as it were, to go home, but can't find his or her way. Resnais films each scene in winter, with snow visible through office and apartment windows; the wintry setting underscores the cold, hard realty of life without love or warmth or comfort. The cast is uniformly fine. The direction, as one would expect, is perfect. If you like sitting in the snow, you'll love this. Bring a scarf.

The Paris of Alain Resnais' "Private Fears in Public Places" ("Coeurs" <"Hearts"> in France) is a cold, heartless place. A place in which people attempt to meet, talk at rather than with each other and try their best to make a real connection but that is not to be as the vagaries of life invariably get in their way.
All of the characters are of middle age: 40-60 years of age. These are people who have achieved a certain amount of success but whose personal lives are as messy as any 20 year olds.
The décor of "PFPP" plays a major role here: all hard, shiny surfaces, bright, fake colors that do not exist in nature...all of these things contribute to the erzatz 1970's feel of Resnais mise en scene: there is no doubt that the sets are indeed sets as Resnais makes no claim to reality here even going to extreme lengths to open up the 3rd wall and film from above.
Laura Morante, eye-poppingly beautiful as Nicole: frustrated with her fiancé, Dan (Lambert Wilson, recently separated from the Army and at odds and ends with what he is going to do for the rest of his life) are the most interesting of all the couples and quasi-couples. Nicole and Dan circle each other only fitfully making anything resembling contact. They dispassionately argue, they fake romance: they are empty vessels and seem happy to remain as such.
"Private Fears in Public Places" is bright and shiny though at times it gets dark particularly when the incessant snowfall gets denser. Resnais is after obfuscation here. He seeks to muddy what we want made clear. His people are symbols, not real, thoughtful human beings: they seek succor and immediate pleasure and enlightenment. What they get is God's hand squashing them like bugs.

Very Intricate and complex film with a lot of twists and turns in it. Music score was MAGNIFICENT!!! I loved the character Charlotte. She was very complex and kept you guessing until the very end. The ending was very sad and left me with tear filled eyes. Sabine Azema and Isabelle Carre were incredibly HOT!!! Great film for someone just learning french. There are a lot of nuances in the film that require a second viewing in order to catch them. This is one of the BEST films in my collection!

Film follows the story of six people who, to a small degree, are all connected to each other. There is an engaged couple where woman is strong and independent and the man is weak, unemployed and on the path of self-destruction. Real estate agent works in the office with his assistant who is seemingly sexually repressed but makes video tapes that make his head spin. His pretty, insecure sister, overly protected by the stern family members is unable to have a successful date even thru a love ad section. And then, there is a lonely bartender, so professional in his work at the hotel that screams of kitch in its decor and clientele. We learn about his strong willed mother who had horrowing death, father who has left them both while he was a child and is now a bedridden abusive monster. This man quietly completes his duty as a son to both of his parents while leading his solitary life that evolves around sick parents, home and work at a hotel bar. We know that he has lost his love of his life years ago, but there is only a hint that the affair may have been homosexual. There are several funny moments in the movie, particularly when a real-estate agent watches the tape at home, loaned to him by his female co-worker that is peppered with soft porn -- until his sister walks in on him after unexpected return home from her unsuccessful date. All six of these characters are trying so hard to find their way out from their loneliness but with not much success. Throughout the film there are scenes of winter and snow in Paris, that only reminds us that there is coldness in our protagonists lives and there seems to be no end to it. Wonderful meditation on detachment and our inability in today's modern world to connect to each other, greatly due to our own inadequacies.

There are several I've attempted that I won't review - they were all bad. Including this one. Wow, boring from the word go, there was nothing here that was of any interest. Plot was flat and acting mediocre. I just didn't like anything about this film.

this film was based on a play by Sir Alan Ayckbourn - who must be credited for the film's engrossing storytelling since - i understand - the script was very faithful to play - and that the the play itself was designed to intercut short scenes involving six commingling characters - much like a movie

what Alain Resnais (director) and Éric Gautier (DP) provided was some vivid and unexpected imagery to counter the downbeat storyline - using snowflakes drifting down for scene transitions - complimenting the nuanced meandering tone of the dialog

the age group of the 6 characters has shifted upwards considerably from the play's thirty-somethings - but the actors were excellent - with sexy Sabine Azéma as the religious yet mischievous woman with 2 jobs my favorite

the only problem i had with the movie was in believing that Isabelle Carré would have trouble dating

A film about people lost in a personal loneliness and emptiness that they don't understand. The cold snow just keeps falling on them, with no prospect of warmth. The amazing thing is that they have retained their humanity. They are, in general, sensitive to each others' feelings . But, more importantly, they have not ceased to hope.

Wonderful performances all around, wonderful music!

(Check out Laura Morante's other films!)

I got the impression from the picture on the jacket that this was going to be a 'light-hearted romantic comedy' but actually it is a very sad, exploration of loneliness and in the end very touching and done with great kindness and sensitivity. When you do laugh it is so subtle and heartfelt that it surprises you. One laugh like that is worth a thousand of the regular kind. I was especially moved by the two older gentlemen, the real estate agent and the bartender. The bartender is a rather tragic figure who appears to be very cynical at first glance but in a very subtle and understated way reveals a great heart. The real estate agent is the only funny one in the movie, but he too does this in such an understated way that it appears to be even more marvelous. You know sometimes actors knock themselves out to appear lovable or funny. They should take a good look at these people. It would probably go over their heads anyway but I found it strangely awesome. I gave the film only 4 stars because I thought the film itself wasn't up to that high level. Maybe 4 and a half for these lovely performances.

Paris is snowbound in this weird six degrees of separation style film about couples and others who are connected, but don't know it. The alcoholic Romeo makes for the best tale, but the senile grandpa's hilarious sexual harassment of his caretaker is pretty good, too. What it all means I leave to the critics. It's modern French cinema. If you like that, you won't be disappointed.

Beautifully performed and photographed, with striking artistic design, this film about lonely hearts in the city of love leaves you empty, sad, and feeling maybe a little cheated because it's too easy to see the characters driven by somebody else's choices - in this case the writer and director, who want to be sure their characters don't get what they want. And through no fault of their own. These are ordinary people with their strengths and weaknesses who might just as well have found the love they are searching for except for the point of the film, that people are doomed to loneliness and disappointment. Though stylishly presented in a continuing surreal snowfall that not only falls outside in the streets of Paris but divides the separate scenes as well, the interlocking stories of the characters won't persuade every viewer that this is a credible vision of the human condition or the necessary fate of men and women.

The film does ask interesting questions, particularly as it interjects a church-going woman (never mind that she also makes sleazy videotapes of herself to give to her employer) who speaks of the importance of her faith, reads her Bible, and kneels to pray. In parts of the film, we see characters from above as they walk through rooms, as if being watched by some higher power or deity. Or it could just be the sky from which the snow continually falls. Watch the film for the fine performances by actors of a range of ages and see an old master of French cinema at work. But don't expect an uplifting or even believable resolution to all the conflicts and complications.