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N/ANow in his mid-80s, the French director Alain Resnais returns with this elegant and melancholic study of loneliness and longing, which is based on Alan Ayckbourn's play, and which has been transposed from London to a wintry Paris. Filmed in a series of studio-bound interiors, Private Fears in Public Places dispenses with a conventional plot. Instead, over the course of around 50 brief scenes, it discreetly examines the interconnected and unfulfilled lives of its half-a-dozen middle-aged characters.
"I suppose we must pass through life alone", muses the gentle bartender Lionel (Pierre Arditi), who cares for his cantankerous, foul-mouthed elderly father. Elsewhere, estate agent Thierry (Andre Dussollier) yearns for his devout secretary Charlotte (Sabine Azema), whilst his live-in younger sister (Isabelle Carre) is repeatedly rebuffed in her quest for romance. And an engaged couple (Laura Morante and Lambert Wilson), who are clients of Thierry, are themselves heading for a break-up.
"BEAUTIFULLY JUDGED ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCES"
It's how Resnais stages this spectacle that makes Private Fears in Public Places such a pleasurable watch. The artificial, colour-coded sets, the graceful camerawork of Eric Gautier, and the recurrent linking device of falling snow create a fairy tale ambience. Within rooms glass dividers, curtains and screens reinforce the emotional gulf between the various individuals. There are playful touches here, including a fake religious TV show adored by Charlotte, and a home-made pornographic tape stumbled upon by Thierry. But it's the beautifully judged ensemble performances which invest the film with real humanity.
Private Fears in Public Places is out in the UK on 20th July 2007.
