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Apartment Zero Reviews
I was quite excited about Apartment Zero, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. It felt like it was trying a bit too hard to seem deep—throwing in political twists that were very heavily foreshadowed, that ending up as a distraction from the juicy psychological drama I wanted more of. The slow pace had me checking my watch a few times; instead of being intriguing, it tipped into melodrama. Still, Colin Firth was fantastic as Adrian, perfectly twitchy and awkward, and Hart Bochner brought just enough charm and creepiness to keep things lively. Plus Dora Bryan and Liz Smith popped up adding some fun and eccentricity. Not amazing, but their performances made it worthwhile.
Interesting to view this again after 25 years - how times have changed. Now I appreciate the black comedy more and the cine references - especially to 'Psycho' in the closing sequence. But the complicity and denial of the neighours now reads as a rather heavy-handed political metaphor. Totally unbelievable that they should not recognize the transvestitism of their fellow occupant. Colin Firth is miscast and his Eraser-head 'do' is weird - would have worked better with a younger, effete, blond actor with a lighter voice. And given Jack is an amoral hustler and Adrian homosexual and that the story extends over several weeks or even months, then surely the relationship would have become rapidly sexual and physical.
In "Apartment Zero," Adrian LeDuc(Colin Firth) runs a moribund repertory cinema club in Buenos Aires but turns down his friend Claudia's(Francesca d'Aloja) offers to rent out his theatre for political meetings, preferring, in his words, to keep the blood off the walls and on the screen. With his mother(Elvia Andreoli) requiring constant medical care, he puts an ad in the newspaper for a roommate. After a few applicants that do not meet his high standards, Jack(Hart Bochner), a hunky American, shows up to rent the room, with Adrian even making him breakfast. Early on in "Apartment Zero," Adrian admonishes people who watch films on video, saying they prefer to skip through the slow parts. Later on, I was thinking again of that statement, wondering if Adrian could possibly be commenting on the film he is in, as it suffers from a particularly crawling pace, even with its psychosexual themes on full display. Just as the movie finally kicks into gear when it takes a turn towards the baroque in its last act, it also takes an extremely roundabout way to also take full advantage of its intriguing post-junta milieu. A situation Adrian ignores because he has had his head in the sand, apparently due to his love of movies.(He even acts more English than Argentinian.) In any case, Colin Firth is superb, years before he would cause half of England to have a spontaneous orgasm.
It's not surprising that a film featuring a main character that can only see the world through the lens of movies would remind me of so many other movies. Not in a bad way though. Martin Donovan's film doesn't collect moments from other films so much as it invokes their mood. The biggest touchstone is Polanksi, especially "The Tenant". The blend of hostile paranoia and repressed sexuality reproduces the atmosphere of that film (as well as invoking its setting).
Apartment manager takes in a tenant to his own unit with dark mercernary ties to a corrupt Argentinian regime. After a slow start, this one recovers to some degree. Not sure if the leads are supposed to be gay but there is an unmistakable amount of sexual tension between them.
Both the film and Bochner are seductive, erotically charged, and intriguing in this worthwhile thriller.
Disturbing, unsettling, and you just can't get enough of it--A drama lesson!!
An intriguing psychological drama with sexual overtones.
If you cant get the DVD, watch it on You Tube
Good for any list with tags like 'homoerotic tension' and 'neurotic introvert' but as far as suspense/thrillers go, the endings in such movies are just too important to give this one a pass for ALMOST having a good ending.
Interesting but confusing.
I liked this one. Colin Firth really starts to show his chops. I was watching, thinking that there was something David Lynchian about this movie, then Mr. Firth's character brings up Blue Velvet! Crazy!
A stuffy British sociopath and a slick American psychopath room together in Argentina: a darkly comedic and twisted thriller results.
Ein seeehr junger Colin Firth hat mich am Anfang doch irritiert, aber der Film hat mir von Minute zu Minute besser gefallen und man steigert sich im gleich Maße in die Handlung hinein, wie die Hauptfiguren auch immer verwirrender und verwirrter werden. Sehr spannend und definitv empfehlenswert.
good & slow about abnornmal behaviors & relationships... reminded me of "Psycho"...
Anyone seen this early Colin Firth gem? 21 years before A Single Man, our Colin did an unColin character study.