Private
Typecast Releasing | Release Date: November 18, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
For a movie rooted in reality, Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo's taut psychological drama is in desperate danger of drowning in metaphor. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Private, Italian director Saverio Costanzo's stunning human drama, would seem like something out of Kafka if it weren't based on real events and a relatively common fact of contemporary Palestinian life. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
Political realities are a powerful bonus to, rather than the only reason for, Private, an emotionally gripping drama. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
An emotionally and politically loaded allegory. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Selected as Italy's entry for best foreign film at this year's Academy Awards, Private was disqualified for not being predominantly in Italian. A pity, since this meticulously nonpartisan film, even as it makes the case for passive resistance, shows what devastating lack of appeal the strategy has for young Palestinians. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Perhaps inevitably bleak and grueling, Private is also involving and provocative -- and critical of Israeli treatment of Palestinians in an effectively understated manner. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The film possesses a quiet but powerful tension. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJoshua Katzman
Director Saverio Costanzo shrewdly de-emphasizes the political issues, instead charting the subtle shifts in power between the prisoners and their captors. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
Private never reconciles its conflicting impulses, and consequently, the human impact of the struggle--so powerfully explored in "Paradise Now" and "The Syrian Bride" --never acquires the emotional weight it should. The semi-absurdist closer amounts to little more than a knee-jerk declaration of hopelessness. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
For all its documentary-style urgency, Private often feels forced. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
Israeli soldiers are cast as the killers, while the Palestinians are the hapless bunnies. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is thus reimagined as "Bambi." Read full review
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