Customer Reviews

L'Appartement (Apartment) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.