Vidas privadas

I see this film on DVD in 2005. Available in the US finally. I do not that agree with the previous reviewer. Although the film is kind of forced and unconvincing, especially towards the ending, the film is ambitious and thought-provoking. It seems to attempt to provoke sentimentalism, which I do not care for. It seems to provide some sexual sensation, which I find rather uncomfortable (maybe this uneasiness is meant) What I appreciate is that the film intricately incorporates critical and politicized views. This film reminds me of Polandsky's MAID AND DEATH, which is also situated in Latin America. Both female and male leads are great. If the plot of the film is forced, their acting is not. It the plot has to try hard to be touching, their acting can touch people more elegantly. It is a pity that their acting might be thought "funny" to some viewers though....

I watched many foreign movies , but this one has some very bad subtitles. so thats the main cause , another.. its kinda boring..

this movie is under category of "cheating wife" incest" category .. but...i understand that this happens in movie ..or not.

not worth to watch.

Okay, this might not be the best of all Latin American movies, and it certainly doesn't have the most plausible of all plots (much has been said about it already). But, let's be honest about this: I appreciate every opportunity to see the acting of Cecilia Roth and Gael Garcia Bernal, and here they are both brilliant. Gael, especially, as the boy-man who falls in love with the mysterious woman behind the wall, delivers a heartbreakingly vulnerable performance. To see him break down in the end when Carmen's secret is revealed, made me suffer with him. Cecilia, too, is pure gold, and her scenes together with Gael crackle with erotic tension. Carmen, who is unable to lead normal sexual relationships after the trauma of imprisonment and torture under the Argentinian dictatorship, needs other people to audibly perform sexual acts to get some satisfaction herself. She likes to listen to hired couples from an adjacent room but usually remains invisible herself. The first thing that strikes her about young Gustavo is his voice on an answer machine. Since the owner of said answer machine is a friend who runs a model agency and provides her with "performers", she chooses Gustavo to be her next visitor. First she listens to him having sex with a girl, then she wants him to come alone and read dirty novels to her. Their mutual interest grows and, eventually, the middleaged woman and the 22 year old man fall in love with each other. However, their happiness is doomed. Something they don't know about each other (or does Carmen know?) is bound to surface, and a tragedy of Greek dimensions unfolds when it does. I'm quite certain that, in the future, only hard core Gael and Cecilia fans will bother to check out this dimly lit curiosity. Count myself one of them. The DVD (Spanish with English subtitles) is not one to stumble across in your usual video store. All the more, I'm glad to own it now, and I'll certainly watch it again. To see (and hear!) Gael Garcia Bernal lie on a bed, reading erotic fiction to his invisible client, was worth the money alone

I agree with the previous review that this is very painful to watch. As a loyal Almodovar fan, I went to see this film because Cecilia Roth was in it as well as Gael Garcia Bernal who I'd seen in a couple of other films.

It was during the Miami Film Festival and Fito Paez happened to be in the audience that night. There was a huge Argentinian fan base watching that night.

What a horrible movie. My husband and I wanted to get up and leave but when we started looking around, the loyal fans gave us dirty looks and I did not want to be rude and interrupt anyone's viewing (the rows were very long and we were sitting right in the middle of our row).

This guy's idea of suspense music is a single high pitched piano note every 5 minutes (extremely annoying and it just didn't work). The story makes no sense and his attempt at creating a twist left you going "huh?".

Do not waste your time. If you want to see Cecilia Roth, get an Almodovar film and if you want to see Gael, get any other film he's been in.

PS: As soon as the movie ended, we left the theatre very very quickly.

OOOOOk.

Here we go.

What do I like about this movie? Well, the photography was good. It seems It could have been in black and white to give more power to the images with the type of music Fito Paez selected to make. It was like try too hard and too much of it. That piano Psycho style. I don't know. Too strange. Unless you want to go on that direction. Then go on that direction with the movie too. May be it would have been a darker picture (with high contrast too) for a darker subject matter.

I like Cecilia and Gael. These characters are difficult to identify with unless you are going thru the same thing. I spoke with an friend from Argentina and said that Gael accent was petty good. Remember, Argentinians are picky, so I believed him.

The camera could have moved more and Fito could have play more with the close ups much better (Philadelhia movie style).You know, Jonathan Demme.

It's no doubt that music could have better to get you in tone with the movie.

This story is a little hard to believe. If this has happen before to someone, that person should tell this story.

Fito, it seems you have money. Please use it wisely in movies. There are more fascinating stories where I am sure you can make more money.

Latinamerican films need to make a change but in a uplifting way. And I don't mean happy endings. But stories that most people can identify with and enjoy more at the same time.

Also if I ever do any movie, this a good one to watch what not to do.

Over and Out. Until next time.

Thanks.