Nue propriété

The mother gives love, the father money and the sons cease to be impartial based on their own preferences. Private Property, about the disintegration of an already incomplete family, is an intimate drama to its marrow. As pleasant as a blast of freezing air to the face, packed with reticent “I wonder what they’re thinking” shots and with an appropriately unsatisfying open ending. The film doesn’t stand above others in terms of its form, content or even the (probably intentionally) tired acting of Isabelle Huppert. I prophetically venture to say that Joachim Lafosse will not save either French or Belgian cinema. 65% (30/01/2012)

The minimalist opening credits prepare you for the form of this picture. Just a few locations, a couple of actors, no music (with one small exception at the end) and lots of long emotionally tense scenes, without even one single cut or camera movement. Seriously a very low-key French work about a broken family and their trials and tribulations living together on a large country estate. The rising tension between the wonderfully written and acted characters is the central focus of Private Property. And unimposing, and therefore all the better, “little big" movie. (07/07/2007)