Private Fears in Public Places

A potent force in French cinema, Alain Resnais sent shockwaves around cinematic world with his the pioneering avant-garde works of the 50s and 60s, best epitomised by 'Hiroshima mon amour' and 'L’Année dernière à Marienbad'.
The director’s career since has continued to thrive, as he has displayed an extraordinary versatility in style and subject. Most recently, the influence of theatre has made its mark on the director’s work, with 'Private Fears in Public Places' providing a prime example of this.

Set in Paris, the artifice of Resnais’ technique transforms the setting into a magical, winter wonderland, where snow incessantly falls and punctuates scene breaks with striking visual force. The story meanders through this dream-like space, as the lives of six emotionally dysfunctional intertwine and glide across each other, often in surprising ways.

André Dusollier ('Cortex', 'Une Belle fille comme moi') plays Thierry, a bumbling estate agent, who is trying to find a flat for a bickering couple - Dan (Lambert Wilson – 'Rendez-vous', 'The Matrix Re-loaded') and Nicole, played the striking Italian actress Laura Morante ('The Son’s Room', 'The Dancer Upstairs'). Dan tipsily divulges his woes to the generous ear of Lionel (Pierre Arditi – 'Le Parfum de la dame en noir') and encounters Gaelle (Isabelle Carré – 'L’Avion', 'In His Hands'), Thierry’s shy younger sister, constantly on the search for that special someone. Finally, Thierry’s colleague Charlotte continually bombards him with recordings of religious shows of bizarre content, in a witty role played with aplomb by Sabine Azema.

'Private Fears...', Resnais’ second adaptation from the theatrical work of English playwright Alan Ayckbourn (following the 1993 two-part 'Smoking'-'No Smoking'), is another skilful work, which evinces his mastery as a filmmaker and esteemed position as a consummate artist, revered across the world. The gorgeously fluid-camera work, elliptical editing and innovative narrative converging the actions of these quirky characters, combine to form yet another unique film, which saw Resnais triumph once more at the prestigious Venice Film Festival with the Silver Lion for Best Director, 45 years after the ground-breaking Marienbad set the festival alight.