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Private Lives (2001 film)

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Private Lives
Film poster
SpanishVidas privadas
Directed byFito Páez
Screenplay by
Starring
CinematographyAndrés Mazzon
Edited byFernando Pardo
Music by
  • Rodolfo Gandini
  • Fito Páez
Production
companies
  • Circo Beat
  • Mate Production
Release dates
  • September 2001 (2001-09) (Zinemaldia)
  • 2 November 2001 (2001-11-02) (Spain)
  • 25 April 2002 (2002-04-25) (Argentina)
Countries
  • Argentina
  • Spain
LanguageSpanish

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

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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

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Production

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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

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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

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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

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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Soto, Moira (12 April 2002). "Otra vez enamorado". Página12.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cominges, Jorge de (29 May 2008). "Vidas privadas". Fotogramas.
  3. ^ a b c d Torreiro, Casimiro (24 September 2001). "'Vidas privadas', una historia sobre la represión". El País.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b "Historia ambiciosa que naufraga por falta de coherencia narrativa". La Nación.
  6. ^ a b Pérez, Martín (27 May 2001). "¿Al final, todos hablamos de nosotros?". Página/12.
  7. ^ "!Qué culebrón, che!". La Vanguardia. 4 November 2001.
  8. ^ a b 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.