Film Review: L'Appartment (1996)

This is a part one of two from what i like to called as Monica Belucci's contemplation. I mean, who wouldn't love her? with that bosom and milky white skin? um, anyway, the first film i would like to review is L'Appartment.

I had had a sense of deja vu at some time on the film. It turns out that i've seen the Hollywood remade of this film starring Josh Harnett and lovely Diane Kruger. But, there'd be no question on which of the two i liked best. It's this film, hands down.

Pay attention to the timeline of this film as it weaves its story in a flash-back, back and forth fashion. All i could tell is Max (Vincent Cassell) and Lisa (Monica Belucci) are what you'd call a perfect couple meant to each other. But when Lisa went AWOL without any notice, explanation, or whatever, we knew that Max would've been devastated, but eventually, as he tries to pick up the pieces and moving forward, Lisa came back knocking at his door. Well, it's an over-simplification, by far, of course, but suffice it to say that it's enough to made sure the audiences were rooting for Max and Lisa to be back together again.

It's not your everyday romantic drama story, anyway, as it features at least one antagonist to took a role similar and close enough to be named as villain. To be quite honest, she (Romane Bohringer) is the one who drives the film forward, spins it in motion, a spotlight at the center stage. She was torn among three characters, and she delivers nicely. She's the one who really sets her mark on my brain as the film ends.

There's a huge substantial different between this film and its Hollywood remade counter, the ending. I wasn't prepared for the ending, and it wasn't the kind of ending i would expect, or i would like to see. And well, it was rather unpleasant. In my part, it was rather unfortunate how a film this beautiful, with its magical camera-works, imagery, and superb story-telling suffered from the - again, in my part - rather un-satisfactory ending. But on a second thought, the ending was also why i loved this film more than the Hollywood remake.

My rating: *** / ****