Appartement zéro

I had a strange memory of this film. Unsettling. Frightening. Every so often I meet someone who's a devotee of Apartment Zero and I kept meaning to see it again. Well, last night, it happened. It took me completely by surprise. Clearly the first time I saw it I hadn't venture "into" the apartment. This time I did. Colin Firth is, is, I can't find the words. He creates a character I've never seen before in a movie. The sort of character you keep at arms length. Too creepy and gloomy but before you know it, you're with him, you feel for him, you start to recognize him until you say, wow, that's me. Hart Bochner is pure perfection as the catalyst with the mask. The characters in the building, the Greek chorus, are a xenophobe's nightmare. Elegant, brittle, hilarious and yes, terrifying at times but look at it. Where is the terror coming from? It points in one direction but you go there on your own. Oh yes. This Zero is a Ten.

I've never seen a character like Colin Firth's Adrian in any movie, before or since. It reminded me however of some people I know, including me. Colin Firth gives him life without trying to win friends. He is so tightly screwed that there's no room for anything in his life other than old movies, the kind that let you escape to, sometimes, darker pastures. "Touch Of Evil" is playing at his deserted revival theater in Buenos Aires when the film opens. We see Colin's face watching and the voice of Marlene Dietrich "He was some kind of a man". I had seen "Apartment Zero" many years ago and I remembered the impact, I went home and couldn't fall asleep. The faces of Colin Firth and Hart Bochner keeping me awake. I never saw the film again until last night. I remembered entire sequences, music and faces. It was strange to see it again after a lifetime of personal experiences. I laughed out loud, I wept, I was terrified. My only qualm was the length. I got impatient sometimes waiting for those moments that I knew, were about to come. Now I own it and I know I'll come back to it again and again. Highly recommended.

I couldn't speak for quite a while after the movie was over. I had been taken for an emotional ride and I was totally unprepared for it. Colin Firth is extraordinary in his tragicomic creation. Firth manages to find a "shape" for his character's insecurities. It is moving and funny, creepy and never before seen. Can you name a character like Adrian in another movie? Someone made the comparison with Roman Polanski in "The Tenant" and although I understand, I disagree. There is a flash of intellect in Firth's Adrian that made the character, for me, totally real. I know that guy and that thought alone is disturbing. Hart Bochner's Jack is perfect as the catalyst, the tempter because when he's looking at Adrian we can break through the darkness and realize that he's as human as Adrian. The Apartment Zero is populated by a multinational chorus who, individually, will give in to the stranger. Am I confusing you? Bits of Pasolini's Teorema as well as Harold Prince's Something For Everyone and at the same time light years away from both of them. A true original.

Two empty souls meet, live together, and ultimately face off in this unique psychological thriller.

Adrian LeDuc (Colin Firth) is captivated by his new apartment mate Jack Carney (Hart Bochner), who seems perfect. He's charming, charismatic, and understanding. So much so that nearly every tenant in the building is soon under his spell.

Yet, there's just something not quite right about Mr. Carney. Something dark and perhaps dangerous. Solving the mystery behind this man will prove to be the single biggest challenge of Adrian's life. That is, if he survives.

APARTMENT ZERO is a wonderfully quirky, somewhat twisted tale about skewed perceptions, sociopathy, and murder.

Definitely recommended for those seeking out the unusual...

An original film!! I enjoyed it from the moment it started!! A very appealing film. Wonderful cast!! A must for Geraldine Page fans (you have to see it to understand that)!!!! An unknown little gem!!