A Very Private Affair
{{Short description|1962 film by Louis Malle}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = A Very Private Affair
| image = Vie privee.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Vie privée}}
| director = Louis Malle
| writer = {{Plainlist|
- Jean-Paul Rappeneau
- Louis Malle
- Jean Ferry (adaptation)
}}
| producer = Christine Gouze-Renal
| starring = {{Plainlist|
}}
| cinematography = Henri Decaë
| editing = Kenout Peltier
| music = Fiorenzo Carpi
| studio = {{Plainlist|
- {{abbr|PROGEFI|Production Générale de Films}}
- {{abbr|CIPRA|Compagnie Internationale de Productions Cinématographiques}}
- {{abbr|CCM|Compagnia Cinematografica Montoro}}
}}
| distributor = {{Plainlist|
- Consortium Pathé (France)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Italy)
}}
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1962|1|31|France|1962|4|21|Italy}}
| runtime = 103 minutes
| country = {{Plainlist|
- France
- Italy
}}
| language = {{Plainlist|
- French
- Italian
}}
}}
A Very Private Affair ({{langx|fr|Vie privée|lit=Private Life}}) is a 1962 romantic drama film co-written and directed by Louis Malle and starring Brigitte Bardot and Marcello Mastroianni.{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/52336/Vie-Privee/details |title=Vie Privee (1962) |department=Movies & TV Dept. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2012 |access-date=22 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020225359/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/52336/Vie-Privee/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 October 2012}}
Plot
Jill is an 18-year-old French woman from an upper-class background who lives with her widowed mother in a luxurious villa on Lake Geneva and takes ballet lessons in Paris with her close friend Carla. Despite dating Dick, her ballet instructor, she is secretly infatuated with the older Fabio Rinaldi, an Italian magazine editor and theater director who is married to Carla. Dismayed by her unrequited love, Jill moves to Paris with Dick, despite her mother's protests, and pursues a career as a ballerina. However, she soon grows bored with Dick and ballet, and briefly turns to modeling to earn money.
After being discovered by film producer Maxime, Jill begins acting in films. Within three years, she becomes a world-famous sex symbol, although she faces intense media scrutiny for her many love affairs and is constantly hounded by paparazzi. While attending a premiere at Maxime's behest, Jill suffers a nervous breakdown after being mobbed by crazed fans and paparazzi. She is admitted to a clinic and shortly thereafter travels in secret to Geneva with her doctor, Juliette, to stay at her mother's villa, but she is not home. She then seeks out Fabio, who accompanies her back to her mother's villa and reveals that he has divorced Carla. As they enter the villa using a spare key, a horde of paparazzi who were tipped off by Juliette gather outside, distressing Jill.
The next day, Fabio smuggles Jill out of the villa and into his apartment. While he is at work, she attempts suicide by drowning herself in his bathtub, but he rushes to her rescue and nurses her back to health. They soon become lovers while hiding in Fabio's apartment before he leaves for Spoleto, Italy, where he is staging an open-air production of Heinrich von Kleist's play Das Käthchen von Heilbronn for the arts festival. In the meantime, Jill stays with her mother at the villa, which is surrounded by paparazzi. Maxime visits Jill, attempting to convince her to return to Paris, but when she expresses that she wants to quit acting, he threatens to sue her for breach of contract.
Evading the paparazzi, Jill travels to Spoleto and happily reunites with Fabio. She is not recognized in public at first, until she encounters a close friend named Alain, a paparazzo, who publishes a photograph of Jill and Fabio in the newspaper. Soon, rehearsals for the play are hindered by hordes of fans and paparazzi, prompting Fabio to ask Jill to stay in his hotel room. Enraged by the media circus surrounding Jill, Fabio throws out Alain and his friends while they are keeping Jill company and vows to protect her. In response, Alain and his colleagues besiege the nearby rooftops, eager to take pictures of Jill.
After Fabio transfers Jill to a higher room in the hotel, she quickly grows frustrated with having to stay alone in the room. On opening night, Fabio discourages Jill from attending the play, fearing her presence will cause an uproar, and she angrily accuses him of holding her captive. Shortly afterwards, Fabio calls Jill and pleads with her to come to the premiere, but she refuses. When Jill climbs out onto the rooftop to watch the play, she is spotted by Alain, who takes a picture of her. Startled by the flash of his camera, Jill loses her balance and falls to her death with a serene expression on her face.
Cast
File:Brigitte Bardot in A Very Private Affair, 1962..jpg in A Very Private Affair]]
- Brigitte Bardot as Jill
- Marcello Mastroianni as Fabio Rinaldi
- Nicolas Bataille as Edmond
- {{ill|Jaqueline Doyen|fr}} as Juliette
- {{ill|Eléonore Hirt|fr}} as Cécile
- {{ill|Ursula Kubler|fr}} as Carla
- Gregor von Rezzori as Gricha
- {{ill|Antoine Roblot|fr}} as Alain, a photographer
- Dirk Sanders as Dick
- Paul Sorèze as Maxime
- Gloria France as Anna
Production
Principal photography took place from 10 June to 27 August 1961 in Paris, at the Franstudio in Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, in Geneva, Perugia and Spoleto.{{cite web |url=http://cinema.encyclopedie.films.bifi.fr/index.php?pk=49846 |title=Vie privée (1961) Louis Malle |website=Ciné-Ressources |language=fr |access-date=21 April 2025}} Select "Tournage" tab.
Reception
According to a 1963 report by the Centre national de la cinématographie (CNC), Bardot's two films, The Truth and A Very Private Affair, generated a combined net profit of $640,000 for their distributors in the United States.{{cite book |author=Centre national de la cinématographie |author-link=Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQDUj6oRpCkC |title=Bulletin d'information |year=1963 |publisher=Le Centre |language=fr}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb title}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20190527084818/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-very-private-affair-v52336 A Very Private Affair] at AllMovie
- {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
- {{TCMDb title}}
{{Louis Malle}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Very Private Affair, A}}
Category:1962 romantic drama films
Category:1960s French-language films
Category:1960s Italian-language films
Category:Films about tabloid journalism
Category:Films directed by Louis Malle
Category:Films scored by Fiorenzo Carpi
Category:Films shot in Switzerland
Category:Films shot in Val-de-Marne
Category:Films with screenplays by Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Category:French romantic drama films
Category:French-language Italian films
Category:French-language romantic drama films
Category:Italian romantic drama films