Our Private Lives (2007)
Our Private Lives
”A Bulgarian immigrant and a flirtatious photographer meet in Quebec's countryside for a romantic getaway, but strange events disrupt their intimacy.”
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Why watch this film?
From Quebec-based experimental filmmaker Denis Côté ("Les États Nordiques"), "Our Private Lives" appears to be a straightforward romantic drama with an austere aesthetic. Yet it puts more emphasis on character development and intimacy, where differences eventually break down idealized notions and bring out sinister secrets. This cult Canadian film is a brief but interesting reflection on privacy, and especially the masks we forge for ourselves in the digital world.
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Plot summary
After a lengthy virtual relationship over the Internet, Milena and Philip take the plunge and agree to finally meet. Having lived in Montreal for over a decade, Milena, an immigrant of Bulgarian descent, accepts to greet her correspondent Philip, a flirtatious photographer from Sofia. Out in an isolated cottage in Quebec's countryside, the couple abandon themselves to one another. Between periods of cultural clashes and fleshly pleasures, the two assess each other and the possibilities for true love. But strange, uncanny events soon disrupt Milena and Philip's quiet intimacy as secrecy and silence slowly set in.
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From the same director
Carcasses
For his fourth feature-length film, Quebecois experimental director Denis Côté (‘Our Private Lives’) crafted a movie that straddles the line between fiction and documentary, eventually selected for Cannes Film Festival in 2009. The docufiction ‘Carcasses’ focuses on a real-life character, Jean-Paul Colmor, to tell a story with some elements of truth and several others that are fictitious, stemming from his interactions with a group of disabled teenagers. The movie is, at least in part, an invitation to reflect on how little we truly need to live, and how much we waste in our conventional lifestyles.
Bestiaire
The seventh feature film by the Quebec experimental filmmaker Denis Côté ("Drifting States," "Carcasses"), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was screened at other prestigious festivals such as Berlin and Toronto, "Bestiario" is an experimental, contemplative documentary that through its images and minimal words invites us to reflect on the dichotomy between humans and animals, in which the former usually proclaims itself master and lord of the latter. Is this really the natural order of things? The approach of the movie may be challenging, but it is certainly a question worth reflecting on.
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From Quebec-born experimental filmmaker Denis Côté ("Drifting States," "Carcasses"), "Curling" is a strange family drama about an overprotective father and his daughter, which highlights its apparent banality and tedium with its naturalistic photography. With its increasingly disturbing ambiguous plot, it conveys a feeling of unease—a strange mystery in the style of "Fargo" or even "Psycho" that unfolds slowly, which will surely test the patience of many. Winner of the Best Director and Best Actor awards at the 2010 Locarno Film Festival.
Drifting States
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