Vidas privadas (2001)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Fito Páez

Writers:

Alan Pauls (writer)
Fito Páez (writer)

Release Date:

2 November 2001 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

¿Hasta donde podria llegar una mujer por una pasion?

Plot:

Carmen Uranga is a 42 year-old woman who after 20 years jurisdiction of her native country (Argentina)...

Plot Keywords:

Voyeur | Incest | Older Woman Younger Man | Murder | Suicide Attempt

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Cecilia Roth	...	Carmen Uranga
Gael García Bernal	...	Gustavo 'Gana' Bertolini
Luis Ziembrowsky	...	Alejandro Rossemberg
Chunchuna Villafañe	...	Sofía Uranga
Lito Cruz	...	Rodolfo Bertolini
Carola Reyna	...	Roxana Rodó
Héctor Alterio	...	Padre de Carmen
Audry Gutierrez Alea	...	Gladys
Dolores Fonzi	...	Ana Uranga
Luis Machín	...	Eduardo
Eusebio Poncela	...	Voz en Madrid (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fabiana Cantilo	...	Vecina
Lucrecia Capello	...	Amanda
Fena della Maggiora	...	Remisero 2
Yasmin Elias	...	Vicky
Monica Gonzaga	...	Mujer Madura
Azul Lombardía	...	Periodista joven
Javier Olmedo	...	Remisero 1
Martín Pavlovsky	...	Dueño Inmobiliaria
Vivi Tellas	...	Enfermera 1

Also Known As:

Privates Lives (International: English title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Spain | Argentina

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Argentina:16 | Mexico:C | Spain:18 | Japan:R-18

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Circo Beat S.r.l.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Carmen accidentally burns herself on the thick green candle in the restaurant, the candle itself is completely missing from the next shot of the table. It then reappears, lying on its side, in the long shot through the window from Ana's point of view.

Young man loves older woman

Okay, this might not be the best of all Latin American movies, and it certainly doesn't have the most plausible of all plots (much has been said about it already). But, let's be honest about this: I appreciate every opportunity to see the acting of Cecilia Roth and Gael Garcia Bernal, and here they are both brilliant. Gael, especially, as the boy-man who falls in love with the mysterious woman behind the wall, delivers a heartbreakingly vulnerable performance. To see him break down in the end when Carmen's secret is revealed, made me suffer with him. Cecilia, too, is pure gold, and her scenes together with Gael crackle with erotic tension. Carmen, who is unable to lead normal sexual relationships after the trauma of imprisonment and torture under the Argentinian dictatorship, needs other people to audibly perform sexual acts to get some satisfaction herself. She likes to listen to hired couples from an adjacent room but usually remains invisible herself. The first thing that strikes her about young Gustavo is his voice on an answer machine. Since the owner of said answer machine is a friend who runs a model agency and provides her with "performers", she chooses Gustavo to be her next visitor. First she listens to him having sex with a girl, then she wants him to come alone and read dirty novels to her. Their mutual interest grows and, eventually, the middleaged woman and the 22 year old man fall in love with each other. However, their happiness is doomed. Something they don't know about each other (or does Carmen know?) is bound to surface, and a tragedy of Greek dimensions unfolds when it does. I'm quite certain that, in the future, only hard core Gael and Cecilia fans will bother to check out this dimly lit curiosity. Count myself one of them. The DVD (Spanish with English subtitles) is not one to stumble across in your usual video store. All the more, I'm glad to own it now, and I'll certainly watch it again. To see (and hear!) Gael Garcia Bernal lie on a bed, reading erotic fiction to his invisible client, was worth the money alone…