Private Fears in Public Places

In the half century since Night and Fog (AFF05), Alain Resnais has shown himself to be indisputably one of the masters of cinematic innovation. Age has not mellowed him, though his vision has become more closely tied to the subtle and inward components of the cinema, such as the fineness of performance, and the way that nuanced writing can give us insights into the melancholy of human character. This, his second adaptation of English playwright Alan Ayckbourn after 1993’s Smoking/No Smoking, deals with a network of six related characters. From office to bar to apartment, they circle each other in the course of a snowy Parisian winter, reaching out for help or understanding or love, but inevitably failing to connect. Winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director and the Best Actress award for Laura Morante at last year’s Venice Film Festival, this is a tour de force by a director who has left an indelible mark on modern European cinema.

Ineffably graceful, Private Fears is a heartbreakingly delicate meditation on loss, uncertainty and love made with the kind of serene wisdom available only to true masters.

New York Film Festival