Apartment Zero (1988)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Martin Donovan

Writers:

Martin Donovan (story)
Martin Donovan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 September 1989 (West Germany)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Set in modern day Buenos Aires, the film centers around a relationship between two emotionally crippled roommates...

Plot Keywords:

Roommate | Movie Theater | Murder | Serial Killer | Buenos Aires

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hart Bochner	...	Jack Carney
Colin Firth	...	Adrian LeDuc
Dora Bryan	...	Margaret McKinney
Liz Smith	...	Mary Louise McKinney
Fabrizio Bentivoglio	...	Carlos Sanchez-Verne
James Telfer	...	Vanessa
Mirella D'Angelo	...	Laura Werpachowsky
Juan Vitali	...	Alberto Werpachowsky
Cipe Lincovsky	...	Mrs. Treniev
Francesca d'Aloja	...	Claudia
Miguel Ligero	...	Mr. Palma
Elvia Andreoli	...	Adrian's Mother
Marikena Monti	...	Tango Singer
Luis Romero	...	Projectionist
Oca Spirito	...	Woman in Cinema 1

Also Known As:

Conviviendo con la muerte (Argentina)

Runtime:

124 min | USA:117 min (DVD)

Country:

UK | Argentina

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Producers Representative Organization

Trivia:

Liz Smith was cast at short notice after the original cast performer withdrew because of illness.

Quotes:

Jack Carney: [after breaking a dead woman's back] I should have been a chiropractor.

Movie Connections:

References Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

Soundtrack:

Cambalache

Colin Firth from Argentina

Adrian LeDuc is a nut. Everyone knows that. His neighbors talk about him in a whisper. They've never been inside his apartment and their imagination takes them through the most perverse scenarios. They couldn't possibly imagine the innocence of the man or his loneliness. Colin Firth creates a character with a million different faces without ever changing his. He could be an emotional wax work. The fact that he invents an identity for himself shouldn't come as a big surprise, he doesn't have one of his own and that is abundantly clear from the first time we see him. He is in the projection booth of his movie theater looking at the screen as if he was in the peep room of a sex shop - Ironic how things are going to turn out. "Apartment Zero" is almost 20 years old but it feels ahead of its time, still. I was able to see it again in its theatrical version with those 6 minutes missing from the video release. Oh what a difference 6 minutes make. There are moments that underline Adrian's loneliness at the beginning, so powerful that the lecture of the entire film is based on the effect provoked by those chilling moments. Adrian/Colin talking to himself at night for instance. Hart Bochner (what an intriguing piece of casting) makes a star entrance that seems to come straight out of Adrian/Colin's cinematic mind. The star has arrived and everything is about to change. Everything will be destined to cater his comfort and well being. Laundry, breakfasts. The star is essential in the movie of Colin/Adrian's life. Hart Bochner - his character's name is Jack Carney, "carne" in Spanish means "meat" - realizes very soon the power he has over Adrian but he doesn't know how to use it. His own feelings (first he discovers to have feelings in a superlative piece of subtle, brilliant acting) get mangled and his frustration takes different forms. Hart intermingles with each one of the neighbors. Those moments in themselves are like short movies with their own kind feel. Suspenseful, erotic, farcical, romantic. - If you listen to Martin Donovan's (the director) commentary in the DVD he credits his actors for practically everything but there is a love there that I'm sure allowed him to get into the darkness with such assured step, fearlessly. The DVD also includes a great exchange between David Koepp and Steven Sodebergh - "Apartment Zero" is unmissable from every front.