‘Private Fears in Public Places’ ****
“Private Fears in Public Places” is a film about love and blunders done from the perspective of age, crafted by writer Alan Ayckbourn, 68, and director Alain Resnais, 85. Our younger directors and screenwriters should show this much brilliance and feeling.
Ayckbourn’s comedy-drama follows six characters in search of romance through a set of criss-crossing amours and relationships — and despite the small cast, there’s almost a sense of an Altmanesque ensemble; the characters reappear in each other’s segments, often exposing sides we don’t initially see. In these roles, Resnais has chosen some of his favorite actors, including players with whom he has worked repeatedly since the 1980s, such as Andre Dussollier, Pierre Arditi, Lambert Wilson and Resnais’ companion and frequent star, Sabine Azema. As we watch these funny-sad sequences, the acting sparkles with a finesse that’s a delight in itself, an expertise that reminds you of the ’30s comedies of Ernst Lubitsch or the ’50s romances of Max Ophuls.
Dussollier plays Thierry, a repressed real estate salesman, and Isabelle Carre is Sophie, his restless younger sister. Azema plays Charlotte, a strange, quiet woman who works with Thierry and supplies him with religious TV tapes that prove to have porno fragments underneath. (Thierry finds he prefers carnality to spirituality.) Wilson and Laura Morante play drunken ex-soldier Dan and his longtime fiance, Nicole, who was apartment-hunting, with the help of Thierry, while their relationship fell apart. (Dan finds Sophie in a singles column.) Arditi plays Lionel, a quiet, discreet bartender who keeps Dan supplied with booze at a plush hotel bar, and lives at home with his abusive bedridden father (Claude Rich). Coincidentally, Lionel employs Charlotte, who’s also a very unusual caregiver.
The incredibly prolific Ayckbourn weaves all these plots, subplots and scenes together with real wit and humanity; the film is made with such high polish and artful simplicity that every shot, movement and speech seems perfect.
Much of that is also due to one-time French New Wave giant Resnais, who remains one of the world’s supreme filmmakers.
The cast is tremendous; these actors work with Resnais like a well-oiled stock company that knows every trick and can communicate almost telepathically. “Private Fears” (called “Coeurs” in France) won the Silver Lion, the runner-up prize, at the Venice Film Festival, and the best-actress award for Azema, as well as taking eight French Oscar nominations. It is a movie so subtly moving and effortlessly expert that it seems absolutely ageless. In French, with English subtitles.
– – – – – – Running time 2:00; opens Friday at the Music Box Theatre.
No MPAA rating (adult, for brief “pornography” scenes, language and mature themes).