Private Lives (Vidas
Prividas)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Thanks to several hits films internationally, the latest
of which is the independent 2004 film The Motorcycle Diaries, Gael
Garcia Bernal is appearing on Interview Magazine and poised to become a major
star. Thanks in part to that, Fox has
issued the 2001 erotic drama Private Lives (Vidas Prividas) as the
highlight of their latest Cinema Latino wave.
The film concerns a woman (Cecilia Roth) who is a former political prisoner
and torture victim under an Argentinean dictator who can only enjoy sex with
hired persons who cannot touch her or even be near her.
A hot young model (Bernal) is among those who she wants to
hear talk dirty and to say she is the only one with issues would be dead
wrong. Instead, though not as
dramatically messed up, all the persons in this tale have some problems and
none of them really get dealt with as much as one would have wished. Besides the erotic content being believable
and in context to the film, memories of the far superior Roman Polanski film Death
& The Maiden (1994) just would not go away. Furthermore, this is one of several films where risk-taking
Bernal shows up with something unusually sexual going on, but he has done this
in several films now and he runs the risk of his presence being a spoof in any
future film with sex. If he shows up,
unusual sex will follow. Hopefully that
will not happen.
Alan Pauls co-wrote the screenplay with director Fito Palz
and they do try something ambitious that is not sleazy, but the film needed to
push the limits much more than it does, instead of settling for the drama that
it is. Though it is not bad, Private
Lives (Vidas Prividas) disappoints a bit, though the acting is very good
all around.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image was shot by
Andrea Mazzon, A.D.F., and is cleverly intimate, becoming one of the film’s
saving graces. This transfer is not bad
either, but it lacks some of the finer details. The Spanish and English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo both have Pro
Logic surrounds, but the Spanish is much preferred here for many reasons,
including that the English makes the sex talk a joke. Except for two trailers, including one for this film, this is a
basic DVD.
- Nicholas Sheffo
