_Private Fears in Public Places

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Guest

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:21 pm

A shockingly brilliant film that has me reeling and groping for
words ... especially since I hated Resnais' last film, the musical
_Not on the Lips_, so very much. This one comes recommended
as a "masterpiece_ from reliable sources. The only disappointment
I have was that I waited so long to see it. And for all the
stylistic flourishes (and the riotous Sabine Azema), the
quiet wisdom and dignity of it could have made it a tribute
to Ozu.

I guess I better continue when I have had a chance to mull on
this more ...

Guest

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:54 am

i haven't heard of this movie. what's it about? i'm not familiar with
those names. is it a french film? if it's really "shockingly brilliant"
as you say i will most likely take your word for it and get it Smile

Guest

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:46 pm

On Dec 17, 5:54 am, mikestra...@webtv.net wrote:

Quote:

It is about 6 lonely, aging people's intersecting story in snow-bound
Paris. It is wickedly funny and bawdy at times, and almost starts
out like a musical: Nicole (Laura Morente, in her Italian
gesticulating
drama queen mode) yelling "tiny!" to poor Thierry's (Andre Dussollier,
awkward bachelor) real estate agent; I half expected them to burst
into songs. Fortunately, unlike _Not on My Lips_, things get much
more serious. Thierry's sister Gaelle (Isabelle Carre) secretly goes
to
bars to wait for blind dates who never show up (an artifice since
Carre is half Dussolliner's age and is gorgeous). Thierry shares an
office with Charlotte (Sabine Azema), a prim bible-thumping woman
with a wierd double life, both kind-hearted angel and temptress devil.
She cares for Lionel's (Pieree Arditi) senile and profane father at
night while Lionel serves drinks at the bar. His frequent patron
is Dan (Lambert Wilson), fiancee of Nicole's. But more than
one degree of separation away and these lonely souls are out of
each other's sight. There is only one exception, when Gaelle and
Nicole cross path in Lionel's bar -- with disastrious results.

Azema's character provide most of the enigma and narrative
surprise to the film. Her theology and view of heaven and hell
(something that "burns inside of us") is unusual. Or is it boredom
and ennui, that indifference, our acceptance of indifference
the real evil that her spiced-up videos try to combat? Is the
costant snow fall that dissolves one scene into another
just another metaphor for "the dead" that James Joyce
wrote so touchingly about? (It is constantly snowing where I
live too right now.) She brings desire and confusion back
to Thierry's life and seems poised to do the same to another
bachelor (Lionel) who has resigned to his fate of solitude.
(By the way, you can tell everyone is lonely and quietly
desperate by their little rituals -- Gaelle wearing the same
flower in the same bar, Dan ordering the same drink, Nicole
rehashing the same quarrel ...) But she also causes a near
fatal heart-attack. The spark of life and the proximity of
death are ever present in this compact, elegant film. The
rakishly handsome Dan is the only other character colorful
enough to match her. (I do think Morante is miscast, she
overacts horribly in the early frames, but do recover and
deliver a poised parting with Lambert Wilson in her final
scene.)

But back to Ozu. This film is so much about disappointment
-- fathers disappointed in their sons, lovers disappointed in
their fiances, sister as ashamed of her own colorless life
as her brother's accidental obsession with pornography
(Dussollier's nearly wordless scenes with the videos, and
his acute embarrassment upon being discovered by his sister,
are among the funniest and heartbreakingly true I've seen all
year). And yet all of it is touched on so discreetly. Lionel, in
particular, is so reticent about his parents, he barely manages
to finish a sentence. But haltingly or not, they communicate.
Some of the most touching scenes happen between Lionel
and Charlotte, when she intuits his dark family secrets and
gets him to talk ... a little anyway. (The film, filled with
wonderful music, draws to a complete silence during one of
these conversations.) In fact, his impossible father is
shown only through the bedroom door, with his legs showing.
When the father is rushed to the hospital the camera finally
enters the sick room, and we get a whirlwind tour of the
momentoes -- paintings, pictures -- dotting the walls. A
nice touch, and how very true to life -- only in the absence
of the person do we get to notice his sad belonging, a lifetime
of his memories. Lionel in turns shows astounding
sensitivity to and understanding of (and probably not a little
envy towards) Dan when he hooks up with the beautiful
Gaelle. Lionel may have given up hope of happiness a
long time ago, and Thierry may be returning to that same
dead-end, but the dignity of these long suffering wage-
earners makes me think of so many Chishu Ryu characters
in Ozu's film.

The film is just superbly photographed and scored, with
its many self-conscious, fourth-wall breaking overhead
shots not detracting one bit from the searing emotional
truth. In his old age Resnais has not lost any of his
technical brilliance but seems to have found profound
expression of emotional truth and wisdom unseen even
in his past masterpieces. _Coeurs_ (the original title)
ranks with his very best, and I just can't wait to see
where this will take Resnais in his next film.

Guest

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:00 am

sounds like something i would really like. i heard it's going to be on
IFC this sat, but i don't get IFC. guess i'll just have to buy the
movie!

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