Private Lives (2001 film)

Private Lives (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.

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. The film is an Argentine-Spanish co-production by Circo Beat and Mate Production, with the participation of Vía Digital. It was shot in Buenos Aires.

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

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

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.

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".

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.

Accolades

 * 2003 || 51st Silver Condor Awards || Best Supporting Actress || Chunchuna Villafañe || Nominated ||
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