Coeurs

OK, the acting is good, and the camera work is competent, when we're not having to watch the lighting suddenly change for no reason, or when we're not wondering why two people sitting in a kitchen talking are getting snowed on. But the plot is ridiculous. The characters do a lot of talking, but not much else. Two of them allegedly work together in a real estate office, but they never do any work, and aside from one of the other characters in the movie, no one ever comes into their office. I kept wondering how they stayed in business. Two of them are allegedly brother and sister, but the sister is 40 years younger than the brother, and this difference is never explained. And why are they living together? Two are engaged, but there is not the slightest warmth between them, and we are left wondering how the engagement ever happened. Several characters seem to get a personality transplant halfway through the movie. One is always off camera, for no particular reason. None of them seems to have any basic common sense. They are completely unappealing, and therefore we never care what happens to them. The only compensation is the French, which is very clear and simple.

Adapted from Alan Ayckbourn's recent (2004) play, this movie has a structure that reminds me of two well known plays. The structure of some 50 short scenes brings to mind Noel Coward's "Cavalcade". Having plots revolving around 6 characters draws an obvious comparison to Luigi Pirandello's "Six characters in search of an author". But both similarities are superficial. "Private fears" is a distinctly different play.

The interrelationship between the six characters is somewhat random, but clever for this very randomness. These various relationships include real estate agent and client, office co-workers, brother/sister, part-time aged-parent-sitter and employer, engaged couple living together, bartender and familiar client, blind dates. Each character is party to two or three of these relationships. Some of these relationships we see right from the beginning; others evolve right before our eyes. Outwardly casual relationships have subtle intimacy; apparently intimate relationships turn out to be rather casual. The emotional spectrum goes from heart-breaking poignancy to hilarious farce. There is never a dull moment in this movie, (except to those who have a tendency to fall asleep UNLESS there is a car chase, an explosion or steaming sex).

"Private fears" also offers a good mix of art house appeal and mainstream entertainment. Artsy scenes, not overused, enrich the film throughout: entire scene shot from overhead, montage transformation of a conversation at a kitchen table to the snowy outdoors - just two most conspicuous examples. Nor does the movie shy away from cliché comic situations when then are called for.

This portrayal of ultimate loneliness in the urban alienation of the City of Lights is brought to the audience by an excellent cast of mostly director Alain Resnais' veterans.

What's good about this film are the Resnais trademarks - the beautiful apartments, the interesting details of decor and props, the great camera-work, the excellent acting from an attractive cast, the acute observation of people's behaviour, motivations and relationships. So, why the moderate score? All this attention on surface appearances results in a certain superficiality. Several unconnected stories, while not an unknown approach, create a certain distance from the characters. Influential relationships, for example father-son, are not shown on screen. And as in many French films, no-one seems to work much or has to deal with real world problems outside of relationships. There's little real logic in story lines or outcomes. There's also a certain clumsy dependence on overt clichés: video porn is compelling for men but denounced by women, men need space and women need children, there are difficult old men and naive young women, misunderstandings abound. Like candy floss or indeed video porn, enjoyable at the time, but it doesn't leave lasting memories.

Coeurs, the latest achievement of French master Alain Resnais, stands out as one of the finest European productions of 2006, a fact confirmed by the Silver Lion it was awarded in Venice. While the critics and audience at the festival were more anxious to see other films, like The Black Dahlia or INLAND EMPIRE, this small, intimate, bittersweet character study quietly moved towards well deserved recognition, proving that the great New Wave director had lost none of his special touch.

Like one of his best known films, Smoking/No Smoking, Coeurs is based on a play by Alan Ayckbourn. But whereas Smoking/No Smoking retained its untarnished Englishness, Resnais makes it pretty clear that he's keeping his new work as distant as possible from its literary source: the title is completely different (as the French filmmaker thought Private Fears in Public Places was misleading in regards to the subject), and the story is set in Paris, with the inevitable (and, I might add, quite brilliant) changes in the dialogue that this requires.

The film focuses on six people struggling to achieve or maintain meaningful relationships. There's the aging Thierry (André Dussollier, funny and heartbreaking at the same time) who has to fight his feelings for his younger assistant (Sabine Azéma). There's his sister Gaelle (Isabelle Carré), who goes out on blind dates every night and always comes back hugely disappointed. There's Nicole (Laura Morante), a frustrated woman who's trying to find a nice apartment whilst dealing with her unemployed and increasingly detached boyfriend, Dan (Lambert Wilson). And there's Lionel (Pierre Arditi, a laconic revelation), a lonely bartender who has to take care of his father, the rude, sex-obsessed Arthur (Claude Rich, heard but not seen). Over the course of four days, these characters will meet and affect each others'lives in unexpected, amusing, but also very touching ways.

With this masterwork, Resnais proves himself a true auteur, telling us an apparently simple tale of love and longing with a direct, honest approach, from the hilarious beginning to the moving, open conclusion. In adapting Ayckbourn's stage work, he manages the impossible, which is to make the movie look theatrical but not overly bizarre, using subtle, unpretentious tricks: the speaking parts belong solely to the six leading actors (plus Rich's priceless vocal cameo), every single scene takes place indoors (and the locations are always the same), and, most importantly, sequences are linked by a metaphorical snowfall, which gives the film a poetic, almost magical feel.

Those who thought Closer could have benefited from less swearing and more sympathy for its characters should watch Coeurs. It may not exactly end on a happy note, but at least it doesn't risk sliding into misanthropy. Beneath the apparent pessimism, there's a heart beating. The heart of an experienced director who hasn't stopped to amaze us.

This is based on a piece by English playwright Ayckbourn. His is not a name that comes up frequently any more, but he had a long, successful run, specializing in relationships that mingled pathos with humor. This is one of these circular stories, that focus on a group of characters who are tangentially related, but who don't all know each other. There is Lionel the barman and his horrible, bedridden old father. The father is being cared for by Charlotte, who also works in a real estate office with Thierry. Lionel pours drinks for his alcoholic friend Dan, who is also a client of Thierry. Dan and his girlfriend are looking for an apartment, but their relationship is on the rocks.

All of the characters are struggling with some kind of loneliness or other, but it is presented in a light, amusing manner. A few of the characters are older than usual, which is good to see. I thought that the production design clashed somewhat with the realistic narrative. It is all obviously shot on soundstages, sometimes with garish colors, and for some reason the scene changes are noted with flurries of snow, as if it were a Christmas story.