Coeurs (2006)

Director:

Alain Resnais

Writers:

Alan Ayckbourn (play)
Jean-Michel Ribes (writer)

Release Date:

22 November 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

For six strangers in search of love, the City of Lights can be a very lonely place.

Plot:

In Paris, six people all look for love, despite typically having their romantic aspirations dashed at every turn.

Plot Keywords:

Bartender | Video Tape | Bible | Flower | Love

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Sabine Azéma	...	Charlotte
Isabelle Carré	...	Gaëlle
Laura Morante	...	Nicole
Pierre Arditi	...	Lionel
André Dussollier	...	Thierry
Lambert Wilson	...	Dan
Claude Rich	...	Arthur (voice)
Françoise Gillard	...	Speakerine TV
Anne Kessler	...	Présentatrice émission TV
Roger Mollien	...	Soldat poète émission TV
Florence Muller	...	Critique d'art émission TV
Michel Vuillermoz	...	Architecte émission TV

Directed by
Alain Resnais

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alan Ayckbourn		play "Private Fears in Public Places"
Jean-Michel Ribes		writer

Produced by
Valerio De Paolis	....	co-producer
Bruno Pésery	....	producer
Julie Salvador	....	executive producer
Vitaliy Versace	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Mark Snow

Cinematography by
Eric Gautier

Film Editing by
Hervé de Luze

Production Design by
Jacques Saulnier
Solange Zeitoun

Art Direction by
Jean-Michel Ducourty

Costume Design by
Jackie Budin

Makeup Department
Sylvie Aid	....	makeup artist (as Sylvie Aid Denisot)
José-Luis Casas	....	key hair stylist
Patrick Inzerillo	....	hair stylist
Delphine Jaffart	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Hervé Duhamel	....	production manager
Caroline Gonce	....	assistant unit manager
Etienne Grandon	....	assistant unit manager
Frédéric Grunenwald	....	unit manager
Bruno Jouan	....	assistant unit manager
Thibault Leclercq	....	assistant unit manager
Pierre Lochardet	....	assistant unit manager
Béatrice Mauduit	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charlotte Buisson-Tissot	....	assistant director
Dorothée Chesnot	....	third assistant director
Laurent Herbiet	....	first assistant director: preproduction
Christophe Jeauffroy	....	first assistant director
Iris Wong	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Matthieu Beutter	....	assistant art director
Jacky Hardouin	....	construction coordinator
Philippe Margottin	....	set dresser
Marc Pinquier	....	property master

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Jean-Marie Blondel	....	sound
Yannick Boulot	....	sound recordist
Katia Boutin	....	dialogue editor
Thomas Desjonquères	....	supervising sound editor
Florian Fabre	....	assistant foley artist
Séverin Favriau	....	assistant sound editor
Gérard Lamps	....	sound mixer
Lionel Le Bras	....	post-synchronization boom operator
Alain Lévy	....	post-synchronization
Armelle Mahé	....	assistant sound mixer
Armelle Mahé	....	dialogue recordist
Armelle Mahé	....	foley recording engineer
Frédéric Pardon	....	boom operator
Florian Thiebaux	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Géraldine Banet	....	special effects snowmaker
Pascale Butkovic	....	special effects snowmaker
Karine Dubois	....	special effects snowmaker
Benoît Rousselin	....	special effects snowmaker
Stéphane Ruet	....	special effects snowmaker

Visual Effects by
Anita Lech Bedez	....	digital artist
Adrien Borzakian	....	digital artist
Thibault Deloof	....	digital artist
Stéphane Keller	....	matte painter
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects designer
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects supervisor
Ugo Pierantoni	....	digital artist
Fred Roz	....	titles
Laurence Vidot	....	visual effects coordinator

Stunts
Ivan Crasci	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Gilles Balezeaux	....	additional gaffer
François Berroir	....	electrician
Sylvie Biscioni	....	still photographer
Laurent Bourgeat	....	gaffer
Gerard Buffard	....	key grip
Julien Buffard	....	grip
Frédéric Cantin	....	additional grip
Pascal Delaunay	....	additional grip
Samuel de Luze	....	trainee assistant camera
Hervé Denis	....	gaffer
Yohann Favard	....	additional grip (as Johann Favard)
Christophe Guilbaud	....	gaffer
Pierre Jandot	....	additional gaffer
Nathalie Lao	....	second assistant camera
Julien Leblond	....	additional gaffer
Stéphane Lejeune	....	gaffer
Tom Mitaux	....	additional gaffer
Eric Nové	....	grip
Fabienne Octobre	....	focus puller
Ludovic Petit	....	gaffer
Sébastien Plessis	....	additional gaffer
Luc Reyrolle	....	additional gaffer
Eric Sacher	....	crane operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Claire Chanat	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Mélanie Bénard	....	assistant editor
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Beatrice Herminie	....	assistant editor (as Béatrice Herminie)
Isabelle Julien	....	color timer
Frederic Jupin	....	lustre editor

Music Department
Larold Rebhun	....	music mixer

Other crew
Sylvette Baudrot	....	script supervisor
Claire Bodechon	....	trainee production secretary
Virginie De la Chaise	....	production secretary
Ludivine Doazan	....	trainee script supervisor
Isabelle Haspel	....	production administrator
Elodie Jauffret	....	trainee script supervisor
Sylvie Jeanblanc	....	production secretary
Romeo Julien	....	avid conformation
Bruno Podalydès	....	director: TV sequences
Jacques Quinternet	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Soudaine Compagnie
• Studio Canal (co-production)
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• Société Française de Production (SFP) (co-production)
• BIM (co-production)
• Banque Populaire Images 6 (in association with)
• Canal+ (participation)
• TPS Star (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Eurimages (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (participation)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Arsenal (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• BIM Distribuzione (2006) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• IFC First Take (2007) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Mars Distribution (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Sharmill Distributors (2007) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Imagem Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• Weinstein Company, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Soundtrack  trailer

Also Known As:

Private Fears in Public Places (International: English title) (USA) (festival title)
Cuori (Italy)
Petites peurs partagées (France) (working title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Italy:T | Germany:12 | Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M

Company:

Soudaine Compagnie

Trivia:

There is a Scarborough poster in Thierry's home. The English seaside resort of Scarborough is the home of the play's author, Sir Alan Ayckbourn.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Charlotte has the tomato soup thrown at her by Arthur, the front of her blouse and sweater have large reddish stains on them. When Lionel returns home and is talking to her, the stains have disappeared.

Formally dazzling film with some great characters

There are several reasons why I chose "Coeurs" as the first Alain Resnais film I would see, chief among them that it seemed interesting and was one of his more acclaimed recent films (and I didn't want to start with films of his that were probably influenced very heavily by the 'Nouveau Roman' writers he worked with, including obviously Alain Robbe-Grillet on "Last Year at Marienbad" and Marguerite Duras on "Hiroshima mon amour"). Also, I find myself very interested in the works of artists who have lived longer than most of us will but are still working, as there is frequently a sort of experience and wisdom there which fascinates me. Also, it was pointed out to me by more than one person that a screenplay I had written with a friend (before either of us had seen or even heard of "Coeurs") was conceptually similar and, according to the one person who had read it, had some plot similarities too. Naturally I wanted to see it for myself.

Ultimately, aside from the format which is quite similar in its moving frequently between different groups of characters for relatively short scenes, there was only one striking similarity which I could detect: in both screenplays two characters go on a blind date using fake names. Other than that, my approach and thought process was almost entirely dissimilar to Resnais', and naturally, although I'd love to say otherwise, it is his which is more interesting. I call it Resnais' approach, but the film is based on an English play and translated/adapted by Jean-Michel Ribes, so due credit to them as well obviously. Still, I was impressed, after hearing from more than one person about Resnais being a generally unintellectual, commercial film-maker, with not only the film's formally dazzling structure, look, and editing, but with the impressive restraint shown at every step. There's no showboating here, and Resnais does absolutely nothing with the film that is not important somehow to the story and characters. His constant use of partitions, the emphasized staginess of the film (though not the acting), as well as the dissolves linking each scene to the next are all crucial to the thematic content of the film.

I initially met the film with some resistance. Some of the humor was too cute, and it felt like light fluff to me initially. However, much like numerous other films, "Coeurs" eventually came together, making the whole experience worthwhile. Ultimately the only things which truly bothered me were some intrusive clichés, all of which were linked directly to the character Charlotte, who really singlehandedly keeps the film from reaching true greatness. Any scenes with her feel like a waste compared to the dazzling scenes with the other characters. Well, to be fair, not every scene: the stuff with Lionel is quite strong (but certainly not the nonsense with his father, which isn't funny nor dramatically strong). When you have a mosaic-like structure of this sort, it's natural that some parts will be less interesting (and it's up to the individual which parts are less interesting), but my personal reaction to Charlotte and her relationship with Thierry was not even mild amusement, but a severe disinterest. The film is oddly distant, surely to emphasize the loneliness of these characters, but it's also wonderfully warm most of the time, and most of the characters are extremely well-drawn. Then you have a caricature who is never truly explored to significantly lessen the quality of the film. It's just plain disappointing.

A very interesting film, certainly a formally excellent one, but I was disappointed in the lesser sections of it. Still, it gets a strong recommendation from me, due to Resnais' direction, thanks to the truly superb acting, and, obviously, the parts of the film (which is the majority of it) which didn't get on my nerves. It's just frustrating that it falls just short of greatness. Also, I think I'm in love with Gaelle now, not the actress, the character.