Product Details

• Actors: Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Monica Bellucci, Sandrine Kiberlain
• Directors: Gilles Mimouni
• Producers: L'Appartement (Apartment)
• Format: Import, PAL, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: AV Channel
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A3WH58
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,259 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN, SPECIAL FEATURES: Biographies, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: With a plot more tangled than a spider's broken web, this French drama follows the romantic obsession of Max (Vincent Cassel), a young corporate hotshot who leaves his successful new world behind to search for his elusive lost love Lisa (Monica Bellucci). His mad quest begins after he accidentally overhears Lisa's melodic voice speaking in the phone booth next door. But before he knows it she is gone. Still, he is so elated that he abandons his plans, lies to his fiancee, and after leaving his luggage with his pal Lucien (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), sets off to find her. The hunt leads to a fabulous apartment, where he saves a girl from a suicide thinking that she is Lisa. But this girl, Alice (Romane Bohringer) is as drab and mousy as Max's Lisa is beautifully feline. Max becomes involved with Alice, unaware that she also dates Lucien. Meanwhile the real Lisa attempts to break free from her obsessive rich lover who may have murdered his wife. For this reason, she continues to avoid her apartment, which she has generously loaned to Alice. When these characters collide, the stage is set for a tragic denouement.
SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, British Independent Film Awards, Ceasar Awards, ...L'Appartement (Apartment)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Classic Twist to a Modern Thriller, May 4, 2006

By 

Ping Lim (Christchurch) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L'Appartement (Apartment) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] (DVD)

This movie evoked the memory of the Hitchcock's classic. The basic premise was simple enough, a soon-to-be wed man, Max (Vincent Cassel) overheard a conversation in a phone booth which reminded him of his lost love, Lisa (Monica Belluchi). Their previous relationship ended because Lisa left without a trace. Curiosity got the better of him and instead of flying to Tokyo, Japan for his assignment, behind his fiancee's back, he opted to dig deeper into finding this woman, which he's sure was none other than Lisa. The investigation led him to an apartment and hence, the movie's title. The woman was named Lisa but she's not the Max's Lisa. Overcame by lust, Max had a one-night stand with her. Meanwhile, Max's old friend who had been helping him all this while also went out with a woman named Alice. In fact, Alice was the new Lisa. Why was that? In the end, all pieces would fall into the right pieces. The movie was effective in captivating our interest from the beginning till the end because it suggested rather than revealed. So, the whole time, we wouldn't be sure. Then, there were many flashbacks and then, we were brought up to the present. Slowly but definitely, we started to put things together and in many ways, the outcome was quite satisfying. A movie that was planned structurally and yet, it had got the typical French flair. No extras in this DVD offering at all. Commendable watching.

5.0 out of 5 stars the orignal and classic tale, February 13, 2008

By 

Margaux Paschke - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L'Appartement (Apartment) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ] (DVD)

The previous reviewer (Lim) did a great job of summarizing without giving anything away. Apparently, I liked this movie a whole lot more. This movie was a classic french love story - no hollywood ending here. The soul of the movie is best explained by Alice, as she is confronted by Max of her duplicity - Haven't you ever felt such love that you were willing to do anything? Love is the real main character. We see idealized love (Max and Lisa), we see obsessive love (almost all of the characters at one point), we see pragmatic love (Max and Muriel & Lisa for Daniel), etc. There is no right or wrong in this tale. According to Nietzsche, anything done out of pure love is never evil. Hmmm.... All types of love are displayed and the ending is most fitting for each character. I believe that Alice's character was the most intriguing as she starts obsessive and grows into true love.

This is one of those rare movies that you can sit back and enjoy simply on a plot driven level or discuss all the different levels of love and what the ending meant. Either way, it's a great way to spend 1.5 hours!

Hollywood re-made this movie (Wicker Park), which was good but nothing like this very french tale. The U.S. version focused more on the obsessive angle and copied many of the same scenes with a Fatal Attraction twist.