The Apartment (1996) ( L'Appartement )

The Apartment (1996) (DVD) (*)

~~$24.99~~ $18.97

Original Title: L'Appartement
Screened, competed or awarded at:
BAFTA Awards
British Independent Film Awards
Ceasar Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital Stereo )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
102 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Anamorphic Widescreen
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1996 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
Italy ( Italy, Greece )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Gilles Mimouni

Written By:
Gilles Mimouni

Actors:
Romane Bohringer ..... Alice
Vincent Cassel ..... Max
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

Synopsis:

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.

With a plot more tangled than a spider's broken web, this French drama follows the romantic obsession of Max (Vincent Cassel), a young corporate hotshot who leaves his successful new world behind to search for his elusive lost love Lisa (Monica Bellucci). His mad quest begins after he accidentally overhears Lisa's melodic voice speaking in the phone booth next door. But before he knows it she is gone. Still, he is so elated that he abandons his plans, lies to his fiancee, and after leaving his luggage with his pal Lucien (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), sets off to find her. The hunt leads to a fabulous apartment, where he saves a girl from a suicide thinking that she is Lisa. But this girl, Alice (Romane Bohringer) is as drab and mousy as Max's Lisa is beautifully feline. Max becomes involved with Alice, unaware that she also dates Lucien. Meanwhile the real Lisa attempts to break free from her obsessive rich lover who may have murdered his wife. For this reason, she continues to avoid her apartment, which she has generously loaned to Alice. When these characters collide, the stage is set for a tragic denouement.

Max, the romantic protagonist, is planning a marriage, investigating a murder, chasing after a lost love, and getting bizarrely hooked up with a mystery girl. Switching between time, women, chic cafes and beautiful Parisian apartments, Mimouni's film makes the most of its deliriously romantic setting whilst effortlessly unravelling an intricate and unpredictable plot which playfully ties its lovelorn characters up in knots as it races along to a heady conclusion.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 13 February, 2014.