The Apartment
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Movie Reviews of The Apartment
Movie Review: Great Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this to see Monica and after the phonebooth scene quickly realized that this was Wicker Park. I watched Wicker Park a couple years ago and my memory is not so great these days so it was almost like watching the story for the first time. I liked Wicker Park but this movie is definitely better. I still don't remember exactly how Wicker Park ended but I know the ending was different. This is a movie I can enjoy watching every couple of years so I'm glad I bought it. The video and audio quality seemed to be excellent but it would have been nice if the subtitles to the English language music were not included.Movie Review: The Apartment
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh!, esta pelicula es fascinante, desde el principio hasta el fin. Una historia de amor diferente, que te mantiene en suspenso. Y los actores juegan un papel extraordinario, sobre todo la amiga de Monica Belluci.
Una pelicula de coleccion, para verla de nuevo
Movie Review: Great Seller...really
Summary: 5 Stars
Great seller, Shipped and arrived on time as described, doing business was a pleasure and I dont say this just because...I say it because you are a great person to buy from.Movie Review: Nice to see Bellucci and Cassel together, but The Apartment is complex viewing
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the film that made the quadra-lingal Monica Bellucci a star; plus it's the one that introduced her to now-husband, Vincent Cassel. Bellucci is - if possible - de-glamorized here most of the time. She wears a backpack! And pants! And athletic shoes! Such are the pressures when you are Monica Bellucci. To see she and Cassel together at the starts of their now famous careers is a treat.
The movie itself is tortuously complex and riven with holes, most notably: Cassel's Max (rising corporate hotshot and fixer) is tasked with flying to Tokyo to swing some major deal. But he [THINKS HE] overhears Bellucci's Lisa - his erstwhile lover and one-time _almost_ live-in mate - in a happenstance semi-encounter and becomes frantic to track her down. So, what to do? He pretends to wing it to Tokyo, goes out the backdoor of the airport (passing the fiancée, Muriel, who dropped him in the process), calls the high-profile clients in Tokyo telling them he's been unavoidably detained, and makes calls from Paris to Muriel pretending he's in Tokyo. Muriel is, by the way, Max's CEO's sister...but no big deal to the director: nothing ever really becomes of all this. Huh? In real life, Max's ruse would be found out in a day, and the film's entire premise shot. But, whatever, right? It annoyed me that something that blatant would essentially pass unnoticed.
The movie's second-half turns into a head-spinning roundelay between Lisa, Max, Lisa's spurned friend Alice (or is she Lisa?) and Max's friend Lucien. Despite the complexities and bulldozer-sized plot holes, The Apartment still made for 2 hours of enjoyable watching. Writer/Director Gilles Mimouni (Wicker Park) employs a really neat trick of showing you an event from a character's point-of-view, then revealing, say, 40 minutes more of the story, and then showing you the event again from another character's point of view...by which time the quizzical first-time showing has new meaning and gives you an 'ah ha!' moment. It's very carefully constructed and artful stuff.
Movie Review: Better than the American copycat...probably
Summary: 4 Stars
I'd already seen WICKER PARK which was practically a scene-for-scene remake of this film (except for the ending) -- so the mystery was gone. If you're not familiar with either film, be warned that these plots use flashbacks extensively, sometimes going over the same moment from different perspectives -- gradually revealing complex and interesting layers of the story. And, both movies cheat -- making the viewer think a person is somewhere, when in fact, they're somewhere else. For some, it'll be fun. For others, frustrating.
For a few reasons, I recommend seeing THE APARTMENT (L'APPARTEMENT) first. (1) It's the original. (2) It's easier to understand the man's obsession when the love object is Monica Bellucci rather than Diane Kruger. (3) It might be clearer to follow the time-hopping since Vincent Cassel uses radically different hairstyles to help with the distinction. (4) Vincent Cassel is more energetic and open as this nervous, love-obsessed young man while Josh Harnett is the exact opposite. (4) Gilles Mimouni's direction in the French version concentrates more on the drama and so the pacing seems faster then Paul McGuigan's picture postcard style.
The role of the mousey friend makes for some difficult comparisons. Romane Bohringer of the French film is truly plain-looking and she gives a very good performance. In the American version, the role is played by the lovely Australian actress Rose Byrne made to look mousey. But she's so appealing as the insecure and hurt girl that it almost turns story upside down.
Frankly, I prefer the film version with Rose Byrne. But, your preference may be decided by the ending of the the films -- which differ dramatically.