The Apartment (1996)

A recently engaged man sees a former lover and becomes obsessed with meeting her again.

Director:

Gilles Mimouni

Writer:

Gilles Mimouni

Stars:

Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Écoffey

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romane Bohringer	...	Alice
Vincent Cassel	...	Max Mayer
Jean-Philippe Écoffey	...	Lucien
Monica Bellucci	...	Lisa
Sandrine Kiberlain	...	Muriel
Olivier Granier	...	Daniel
Paul Pavel	...	Jeweller
Nelly Alard	...	Madeleine
Bruno Leonelli	...	Alain Beccaria
Tateo Isaizaki	...	Japanese Businessman
Tsuyu Shimizu	...	Japanese Interpreter
Ricardo Mateo	...	Cafe Waiter
Vincent Nemeth	...	Barman
Bruno Fernández Vella	...	Video Technician
Juan Carlos Martín Alonso	...	Video Technician

Storyline

Max is on his way to Tokyo. He lives in Paris and likes to flirt but has decided to get married. By chance, he seems to have seen Lisa, his greatest love, in a cafe. Max forgets everything, his trip to Tokyo and his fiance. Obsessed with meeting Lisa he finds out where she lives and hides in the apartment. However, a different girl, called Alice, finds Max in the flat. Alice looks quite similar to Lisa, and they have sex. To complicate matters further, Alice is also the girlfriend of Max's buddy Lucien and Lisa is followed by an older man.

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Plot Keywords:

apartment | hitchcockian | cleavage | breaking and entering | marriage engagement | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity

Details

Country:

France Spain Italy

Language:

French English Japanese

Release Date:

2 October 1996 (France)

Also Known As:

The Apartment

Filming Locations:

Place Vendôme, Paris 1, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica,IMA Productions,La Sept Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play that features Lisa and Alice is 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' by William Shakespeare.

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Quotes

Lisa: Do you often stalk people?

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Connections

Features The Kid (1921)

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Soundtracks

Same kind of woman
Words and Music by Peter Chase

User Reviews

Formidable!

This is an astonishing film: a romantic thriller with a convoluted but perfectly constructed and devastatingly symmetrical plot, brilliantly buttressed by the use of recurring visual motifs. Everything in it is beautifully filmed: the women, the apartments; but more amazing is the devastating juxtapositioning of images, almost every scene has echoes of another. This is a story told in light, in colour, in many almost-parallels. Every time I watch it, it fills me with delight.

The acting is great too. Romane Bohringer is stunning as a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown: everything about her changes with her mood. Vincent Cassel plays a very different role to his part in La Haine; but no less excellently: shifty and sympathetic at the same time. And Monica Bellucci - ah!, Monica Bellucci, well, put simply, she plays (is?) the world's most perfect woman. There's one small scene about three quarters of the way through where she does nothing more than smile; yet in that instant, says more than hours of Hollywood junk.

One cannot do justice to this film without at least mentioning the superb, sequential climax: sad, shocking, ironic and subtle in turn. But if one moment captures the brilliance of this work, it's the scene at the start of this fabulous denouement, the prospect of which has been teasingly laid before us throughout the entire story. Yet when the moment comes, it is handled so delicately, so briefly, so deftly, that on reflection it makes you gasp. Only a director of staggering confidence would dare to underplay this vital point. But the confidence is justified. Cinema doesn't come much better than this.