Product Details

• Actors: Pierre Arditi, Sabine Azéma, Isabelle Carré, André Dussollier, Laura Morante
• Directors: Alain Resnais
• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Ifc
• DVD Release Date: August 7, 2007
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000Q7ZL4M
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,892 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Art House & International > European Cinema > France > French New Wave

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Set inside a magically snowbound Paris, six lonely souls converge and commingle in their search for lasting connections. A warm-hearted story about six characters longing for love in wintry Paris, PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES interweaves multiple stories into a beautifully realized and deeply affecting whole.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Can Bear It, August 11, 2007

By	David Schweizer "Almawood" (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LoveBound, October 27, 2007

By	MICHAEL ACUNA (Southern California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artfully Masterful!, November 6, 2008

By	Jerry L. Dunn "Incirlik Hodja" (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!