Coeurs is celebrated French director Alain Resnais film version of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s successful play 'Private Fears in Public Places".
Involving 6 characters whose lives are interwoven, the film deals with love, loneliness and the search for connection.
Nicole and Dan are quarrelsome lovers who are searching for an apartment. Their Real Estate broker Thierry is witness to the terminal romance.
Thierry’s much younger sister Gaelle, spends her lonely nights in bars being stood-up by blind dates.
Then there is the pious Charlotte who harbours dark secrets and works for both Thierry and lonely bartender Lionel.
Set in a snow covered Paris, Coeurs never quite shakes the Englishness of the original play. The set ups and situation remain very British which felt at odds with the very French cast and setting.
With some 50 scenes, some very short, Alain Resnais uses the image of falling snow as a way to segue from one scene to the next. But with so many scenes I found the flow of the film somewhat hampered, particularly towards the end.
Resnais also uses screens and glass walls to physicalise the separation felt by the characters. It is a clever device though, for me, it never lets you forget that you are watching a film based on a play.
For the most part I found Coeurs engaging and quite intriguing as there is no detailed exposition at all but rather a gentle, lyrical observation of character.
The acting from the all cast of Resnais regulars is wonderful; though I did find the character of Charlotte a little puzzling. 3.5 stars.
