Private Fears in Public Places

Description

Set inside a magically snowbound Paris, six lonely souls converge and commingle in their search for lasting connections. A warm-hearted story about six characters longing for love in wintry Paris, PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES interweaves multiple stories into a beautifully realized and deeply affecting whole.

Customer Reviews:

If You Can Bear It.......2007-08-12

Resnais has a taste for British drama. One of his best films, "Providence," was filmed in English with a superb cast, including John Guilgud, Dirk Bogarde, and others. His most recent is taken from a stage play by Sir Alan Ayckbourn, England's most prolific, if not best, playwright. This bittersweet concoction came to New York in one of the best productions to appear off-Broadway in years. Filmed here in French, it continues to tear at the viewer's flail, tattered soul, as it exposes the loneliness of urban life in brutally exacting scenes. Shown in different settings scattered throughout the great metropolis, a disparate collection of lost souls wander through their lives and the lives of others as though lost. Each wants, as it were, to go home, but can't find his or her way. Resnais films each scene in winter, with snow visible through office and apartment windows; the wintry setting underscores the cold, hard realty of life without love or warmth or comfort. The cast is uniformly fine. The direction, as one would expect, is perfect. If you like sitting in the snow, you'll love this. Bring a scarf.

Average customer rating:

Understanding
Reality TV Stars Sink OK Story

The Private Public
Starring: Traci Bingham , David Burns (II) , Jason Cornwell , Curt Smith , and Kelly Lynch (II)
Director: Dana Altman
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000C825M
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Customer Reviews:

Understanding.......2004-09-01

Hey, I believe i understand the movie better then anyone except a few of the people that worked on the movie. I was behind the REAL scenes. I saw more then just the fun and games that they put on the movie for the "behind the scenes" Everyone worked truly hard on the film included chad calek justin holstein and dana altman. ALL of the actors committed their time to this movie. The crew did amazing work and always stuck at what they did no matter how stressed they got. You have to understand that they made this movie in 1 month. If you ask me everyone did an amazing job and i'm very proud of them all. If you ask me these people deserve a lot of respect.

Reality TV Stars Sink OK Story.......2003-10-29

There's a decent "coming of age" story lurking somewhere inside "The Private Public," but Robert Altman's director grandson Dana is clearly not up to the task.

Admittedly awful in most ways, it is undeniably entertaining from beginning to end. "Real World" stars over-emote, "Baywatch" actress Traci Bingham provides nothing but large breats and small skirts, Curt Smith from "Tears For Fears" delivers some of the most pretentious voiceovers I've ever heard, and wall-to-wall pop music both dates the movie badly and seems rather lazy. When a character falls down, for instance, it is accompanied by a song with lyrics like -- you guessed it -- "I'm falling down." The male-bonding scenes are also so phony that I began to suspect everyone involved in this production is gay. The Chinese kid, in particular, belongs in a community theater version of "M. Butterfly." And David Burns' performance is so terrible, he's brilliant. His attempts to look like a suave "lady's man" are so inept and cringe-inducing that this video just might become a hot cult item. Think Vin Diesel crossed with Screech and you'll come close to Burns. Jason Cornwell fares markedly better a.) because he's a genuinely handsome man, and b.) has a natural charisma on camera. This being said, he's no Laurence Olivier. Watch the restaurant stockroom scene for glaring evidence. His obviously improvised lines while reading cans of food ("What the hell is machine-separated chicken?) are so rancid, you'll be smiling.

NOTE TO ALL FILMMAKERS: DO NOT PUT REALITY TV AND BAYWATCH STARS IN YOUR FILMS! These clowns WILL STAIN anything they come in contact with.

As an added treat, be sure to watch the Behind-the-Scenes documentary. Burns delivers a deluded speech about how, while he "respects the craft of filmmaking and acting, it comes easy to [him]." But the real gem is Cornwell talking candidly. He crams more casual profanity into every sentence than you ever thought possible. The same man who appeared so likeable in the feature comes off as an uneducated, pompous dirtball in the extras. Hell, maybe he is a great actor after all.

As I said earlier, the story -- while hardly revealatory -- is OK, but the ill-conceived execution transforms this movie into an even more awkward car accident than the one which befalls Cornwell's character.

Average customer rating:
ABC News 20/20 School Choice

Manufacturer: ABC News
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000QXCP9K
Release Date: 2007-05-17

amazon.com

What parent wants to send his or her child to a second-rate school? So what should be done if your public school is no good? Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed into law the first statewide school voucher program in America. How does it work? Well, Florida now gives every school in the state a grade from A to F based on how well kids do on a yearly test. If any school gets an F twice, then parents in that district are allowed to use a voucher to get their kids out. Out and into even private schools. And how does the money work? Well, Florida spends on average about $5,000 to educate each child. Instead of continuing to just give that money to failing schools, Florida will now assign about $3,000 of it to the child. So any child who wants the voucher can take it to another school. John Stossel steps into the hot issue of "school choice." This "20/20" show contains the following additional stories: Gorilla Bonding Philly Coroner

Average customer rating:

the heart is lonely hunter

Coeurs: Private Fears in Public Places
Starring: Coeurs (Alain Resnais)
Manufacturer: Christal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000NVL046
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Customer Reviews:

the heart is lonely hunter.......2007-06-16

this french movie is a very good movie. it's not a romance or a thriller. it's about lonely people who silently and desperately seeking love and romance. what we got here were some adults who had reached either the break point or burning point of their lives. the loneliness was so huge that almost became unbearable. but they could only keep such feeling in private or in check.
the thing about love is such a weird thing. you couldn't say that there's nobody around you who's not interested in you, you could only say that when such person appeared, the chemistry simply is not right. it's an animal's instinct, all the mobile creature got such weird instinct. did you see some animals or creatures in 'nature' or 'wild lives' programs? when approached by same species, the female one either accepted the new comer or just ran away. you can't explain the why, but it's definitely about the chemistry or the odor didn't smell right.
this movie is also about the chemistry, about the unknown element of love and acceptance. some people are doomed to be lonely in their lives. they are too choosy, too picky and would rather stay lonely instead of seeking company or comfort with open heart.
there were moments in your life the best thing could have happened that would have changed your whole life, but you just didn't want to accept them or, you just missed them.
'private fears in public places' is not an appropriate interpretation. it's really about 'chemistry'; either you have it or you don't have it, or, well, gone sour after awhile.

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