Private Lives (2001 film)

Private Lives
Private Lives
	Film poster
Spanish	Vidas privadas
Directed by	Fito Páez
Screenplay by	Alan Pauls; Fito Páez;
Starring	Cecilia Roth; Gael García Bernal; Héctor Alterio; Luis Ziembrowski; Chunchuna Villafañe; Dolores Fonzi;
Cinematography	Andrés Mazzon
Edited by	Fernando Pardo
Music by	Rodolfo Gandini; Fito Páez;
Production; companies	Circo Beat; Mate Production;
Release dates	September 2001 (Zinemaldia); 2 November 2001 (Spain); 25 April 2002 (Argentina);
Countries	Argentina; Spain;
Language	Spanish

Private Lives (Spanish: Vidas privadas) is a 2001 Argentine-Spanish melodrama film directed by Fito Páez (in his directorial debut feature) from a screenplay he co-wrote with Alan Pauls. It stars Cecilia Roth and Gael García Bernal.

Plot

Exiled in Madrid, emotionally repressed Carmen Uranga returns to Buenos Aires to visit her ailing father, becoming acquainted with male prostitute Gustavo, whom she hires in order to satisfy her paraphilia, a strange case of phonophilia, eliciting suspicion from her younger sister Ana.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Cast

Cecilia Roth as Carmen Uranga^[2]
Gael García Bernal as Gustavo^[2]
Luis Ziembrowski [es] as Alejandro^[4]
Chunchuna Villafañe as Sofía^[4]
Héctor Alterio as padre de Carmen^[4] ('Carmen's father')
Dolores Fonzi as Ana^[2]
Lito Cruz as Rodolfo^[4]
Carola Reyna^[3]
Luis Machín^[5]

Production

Back to when Páez first thought about shooting the film, he originally targeted Marisa Paredes and Juan Diego Botto to star in the main roles eventually played by Roth and García Bernal.^[6] The film is an Argentine-Spanish co-production by Circo Beat and Mate Production, with the participation of Vía Digital.^[7]^[8] It was shot in Buenos Aires.^[6]

Release

The film was presented in the 'New Directors' section of the 49th San Sebastián International Film Festival in September 2001.^[3] It was released theatrically in Spain on 2 November 2001 and in Argentina on 25 April 2002.^[9]^[10]

Reception

David Rooney of Variety considered the film to display "risible dramatic material" and advised Páez to best "hang onto his day job".^[8]

Casimiro Torreiro of El País assessed that the film wrecks because of several reasons, including "clumsy writing", with "too many buts that undermine the credibility" of the film.^[3]

The review in La Nación gave Private Lives a 'so-so' rating, writing that the "irregular, chaotic, frayed" film "alternates between some passages of great dramatic power and others that are dispensable".^[5]

Jorge de Cominges of Fotogramas rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, citing the performances by García Bernal and Villafañe and as the best things about the film, while pointing out at the absence of a final climax as a negative point.^[2]

Accolades


Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2003	51st Silver Condor Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Chunchuna Villafañe	Nominated	^[11]^[12]

References

^ Soto, Moira (12 April 2002). "Otra vez enamorado". Página12.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cominges, Jorge de (29 May 2008). "Vidas privadas". Fotogramas.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Torreiro, Casimiro (24 September 2001). "'Vidas privadas', una historia sobre la represión". El País.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d González Acevedo, Juan Carlos (26 December 2023). Che, qué bueno que vinisteis: el cine argentino que cruzó el charco. Editorial Diëresis. p. 2005. ISBN 9788493399726.
^ ^a ^b "Historia ambiciosa que naufraga por falta de coherencia narrativa". La Nación.
^ ^a ^b Pérez, Martín (27 May 2001). "¿Al final, todos hablamos de nosotros?". Página/12.
^ "!Qué culebrón, che!". La Vanguardia. 4 November 2001.
^ ^a ^b Rooney, David (9 November 2001). "Private Lives". Variety.
^ "Estrenos de cine 31 de octubre-9 de noviembre de 2001". Europa Press. 11 November 2001.
^ "Fito Páez estrena "Vidas privadas" en Argentina". La Red. 25 April 2002.
^ ""Historias mínimas" y "Un oso rojo" son las favoritas para los Cóndor". Página/12. 11 July 2003.
^ "'Historias mínimas' y 'Hable con ella' triunfan en los Cóndor". El Mundo.

[1] Soto, Moira (12 April 2002). "Otra vez enamorado". Página12.

[cominges-2] Cominges, Jorge de (29 May 2008). "Vidas privadas". Fotogramas.

[torreiro-3] Torreiro, Casimiro (24 September 2001). "'Vidas privadas', una historia sobre la represión". El País.

[che-4] González Acevedo, Juan Carlos (26 December 2023). Che, qué bueno que vinisteis: el cine argentino que cruzó el charco. Editorial Diëresis. p. 2005. ISBN 9788493399726.

[lanacion-5] "Historia ambiciosa que naufraga por falta de coherencia narrativa". La Nación.

[perez-6] Pérez, Martín (27 May 2001). "¿Al final, todos hablamos de nosotros?". Página/12.

[7] "!Qué culebrón, che!". La Vanguardia. 4 November 2001.

[rooney-8] Rooney, David (9 November 2001). "Private Lives". Variety.

[9] "Estrenos de cine 31 de octubre-9 de noviembre de 2001". Europa Press. 11 November 2001.

[10] "Fito Páez estrena "Vidas privadas" en Argentina". La Red. 25 April 2002.

[11] ""Historias mínimas" y "Un oso rojo" son las favoritas para los Cóndor". Página/12. 11 July 2003.

[12] "'Historias mínimas' y 'Hable con ella' triunfan en los Cóndor". El Mundo.

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