L'appartement

English Title:	The Apartment [1996]
Year:	1996
Country:	International
Language:	French
Genre:	Drama, Mystery, Romance
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Rating:	7.5 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	4 Have Seen


Director	Gilles Mimouni
Selected Cast	Romane Bohringer as Alice
	Vincent Cassel as Max Mayer
	Jean-Philippe Écoffey as Lucien
	Monica Bellucci as Lisa

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Comments and Reviews


Magic Marmalade 21st May 2024		Rated 8/10 Er... It's complicated. In that this is a very convoluted plot about the relationships between a group of people who are essentially slightly obsessed to the point of what would now be considered stalking each other. ...But that's not to say this is a tone deaf movie, rather it uses this idea to show what a tangled web we weave, and the "no good will come of it" scenario. Quite in spite of the DVD tag line about this being smart, sophisticated, sexy etc. Giving the impression that it's a pose fest and a gratuitously cool and sophisticated sex rom-com type deal, this is actually more in tone and intent, a direct homage to a kind of Hitchcock movie: Romantic intrigue, mystery, investigation, obsession and drama... in fact it reeks of Hitchcock, from the sweeping drama of the musical score, to the characterisations and plot, right down to the cinematography at times, and so is best regarded as the kind of movie to watch if those movies by the master film-maker himself are your cup of tea. To loosely sum up the plot: Cassel's central character is a youngish go-getter playboy type, who encounters Bellucci's: Lisa, becomes obsessed with her, starts following her about, even though she has a suspicious jealous other half, who is also keeping tabs on her, he meets and gets with her, before she disappears from his life... years later, while seeing a different woman he picks up her trail again, and tries to track her down, leading him to an apartment where she once lived, only to discover another woman claiming to be her, living instead, he ends up getting involved with her, and she starts stalking him, all the while seeing another man, who unbeknownst to either, happens to be Cassel's best mate. Nobody is aware of the entre situation except the audience, and only as the film progresses, and little revelations are dropped in lightly, and judiciously, and the whole story unfolds. Quite masterfully done I thought... especially, as this is the kind of plot that Hollywood would make a complete mess of, by virtue of making it too busy, and frenetic in tone, and trying to hit the nail too hard on the head, if you see what I mean - In short, if done by Hollywood, you'd very quickly lose the thread of what's happening, but this keeps it's focus, goes along at a great easy pace, to allow you to keep up with it, and thereby retain your interest and sense of intrigue. It is one of the best Hitchcock homage style movies I've seen. Only one minor gripe is the use of contemporary music tracks at the beginning, which for me, jarred against the tone of the rest of the movie, and the score there... it really didn't need these. I rated it 8, but could easily have gone higher, and over time, I think I will rate it a 9 or 9.5. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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