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Private Fears in Public Places

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Private Fears in Public Places

Released Apr 13, 2007

2h 3m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

68 Reviews

53%

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2,500+ Ratings

Six Parisians engage in a lonely and mostly unsuccessful search for real love: Nicole (Sabine Azéma) and Dan (Pierre Arditi) are engaged to be married, but his drinking drives them apart; Thierry (Isabelle Carré) flirts with a religious co-worker (André Dussollier) who has a secret vice; Gaelle (Lambert Wilson) answers numerous personal ads, but her dates never show up.

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Critics Consensus

The premise isn't anything new, but director Alain Resnais' attention to detail and smooth camerawork gives this movie a delicate edge.

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Ben Kenigsberg

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Glenn Kenny

Premiere Magazine

What makes Private Fears so extraordinary is not just how it completely upends the expectations that have come to seem inherent in such a structure, but how Resnais constantly pushes the boundaries of his, well, let's call it visual depiction.

Rated: 4/4

Jan 4, 2008

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Desson Thomson

Washington Post

What reaches us, most of all, are the hidden, unmet longings that keep the film's Parisian characters from finding true happiness.

Oct 27, 2007

Full Review

Carlos Marañón

Cinemanía (Spain)

Intersecting stories of heartbreak and loneliness seen a thousand times. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 2/5

Nov 4, 2020

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)

It is a beautifully crafted work, with lovely cinematography by Eric Gautier and a sharp screenplay by Jean-Michel Ribes, that finds hope in a world where life doesn't always work out the way it was planned.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 6, 2019

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A graceful roundelay of disconnection

Aug 27, 2009

Full Review

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isla s

I liked this film, for the way the various characters manage to open up to their partner/friend/relative, the thoughtful dialogue and there's the ocassional amusing situation that I enjoyed too. I liked that it tackled basic themes, of isolation, aging and so on but in a decent way. Perhaps a little sentimental but its not an awfully cheesy film as such. Its a good, thoughtful film, a little bittersweet but generally its a film I'd recommend.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

"The tenderness with which Resnais observes their efforts makes for genuinely enchanting entertainment."

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

Ayckbourn in French: what was I thinking? It's very stagey, and not a little weird. I don't think we really connected with this one, despite good reviews and festival awards.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good performances can't quite atone for the script's stage origins.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Interlinked relationships story so not too original, but watchable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

Private Fears in Public Places looks beautiful but it lacks in substance.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Alain Resnais

Director

Sabine Azéma

Charlotte

Pierre Arditi

Lionel

Laura Morante

Nicole

Lambert Wilson

Dan

Isabelle Carré

Gaelle

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59%

71%

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Synopsis

Six Parisians engage in a lonely and mostly unsuccessful search for real love: Nicole (Sabine Azéma) and Dan (Pierre Arditi) are engaged to be married, but his drinking drives them apart; Thierry (Isabelle Carré) flirts with a religious co-worker (André Dussollier) who has a secret vice; Gaelle (Lambert Wilson) answers numerous personal ads, but her dates never show up.

Director: Alain Resnais
Producer: Bruno Pèsery
Screenwriter: Alain Resnais, Jean-Michel Ribes, Alan Ayckbourn
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Studio Canal
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 13, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $134.2K
Runtime: 2h 3m