Apartment Zero

Plot synopsis:
Adrian LeDuc (Firth) is the owner of a revival house in Buenos Aires. Adrian is emotionally repressed, prone to suspicion and paranoia, devoted to old movies and to his mother, who resides in a nursing home, suffering from dementia. Adrian visits her frequently, holding conversations that, as her illness progresses, become increasingly one-sided. Adrian is a tenant in a rundown apartment building; he lives in apartment 10, although the 1 is missing from his door (hence the film's title). Apart from his mother, the core of his emotional life is movies--specifically classic American movies and stars. Apartment Zero opens with a shot of Adrian in his theater, watching the final scene of Touch of Evil.
As his theater, Cine York, loses more and more money, Adrian advertises for a roommate to share his apartment. After several unsatisfactory applicants he meets the handsome, charming, and macho American Jack Carney (Bochner). Adrian is clearly attracted to Jack and Jack is clearly aware of it. Jack agrees to take the room. They quickly settle into a domestic routine, with Adrian taking over laundry and cooking duties for Jack and Jack joining Adrian for films at his cinema. They also begin to bond emotionally.
In contrast to Adrian's standoffishness, Jack establishes relationships with several of the neighbors, a rather odd bunch. Adrian, upset and jealous, lashes out at Jack, telling him that the neighbors aren't to be trusted. Despite Adrian's jealousy Jack continues to socialize with several of them, including becoming sexually involved with a female neighbor (with implications that he's similarly involved with two of the male neighbors as well). Claudia, the ticket seller at Adrian's cinema, is involved with a political committee that's investigating a series of murders that bear a striking resemblance to those committed by members of death squads that operated in Argentina dating back to the 1970s.
Adrian learns that Jack has been lying about being employed with a local computer company and becomes paranoid that Jack is spying on him but at the same time terrified that Jack will leave him. He searches Jack's room and finds a number of photographs of Jack in paramilitary garb. When Jack returns, a highly agitated Adrian begs him, "If that's a mask, either take it off now or leave it on forever." Jack calms him but his own suspicions are aroused when he realizes that Adrian's been in his room.
Despite being himself apolitical, Adrian allows Claudia's committee to use his theatre to view footage of death squad members. Adrian watches some of it and is horrified to see the same sign in the film as appeared in some of the photos of Jack he'd found earlier. Jack, realizing that Adrian is growing more suspicious, falsifies Adrian's passport and prepares to leave Argentina. Unfortunately for him, the passport is expired and he can't leave. Jack picks up a gay man at the airport and goes to a hotel with him, where he murders him for his passport--but then makes a hash of trying to paste his own photos into the dead man's passport. Claudia spots Jack in a death squad photo. He's identified as "Michael Weller" and listed as dead, but was identified only by his papers and a ring.
Meanwhile, Adrian is devastated by the death of his mother. Adrian gets drunk and creates a disturbance in his apartment, concerning his neighbors. The following morning a television report of the murder of a young man ironically leads the neighbors to think that Adrian has done something to Jack. That evening, the neighbors confront Adrian, forcing their way into his apartment and physically attacking him. Jack--unsuccessful in solving his passport problem--returns just then and soothes and tends to the badly injured Adrian.
As Adrian attends his mother's funeral, Claudia comes to the apartment and recognizes Jack. Adrian returns to find Claudia dead at Jack's hands. Jack tries to charm him, telling him "let me clean up and I'll put the mask back on, OK?" A clearly unhinged Adrian, as terrified of losing Jack as he is horrified by the murder, helps Jack dispose of the body. On the way out they run into one of the neighbors and Jack says he's leaving for California in the morning.
After they dump the body, Adrian suggests they really go to California together and Jack enthusiastically agrees. Back at the apartment Adrian changes his mind and goes for Jack's gun in the living room. Jack comes out of his room and Adrian runs back toward his. Jack realizes what's happening and they both go for the gun. Jack gets the upper hand and begins strangling Adrian, but can't go through with it and lets him up. Adrian again goes for the gun and he and Jack struggle again. With the gun pointed at him and with Adrian's finger on the trigger, Jack says "Do it" and the gun goes off.
Some days after, Adrian is having dinner when a neighbor comes to the door seeking Jack's address in California. Adrian says he hasn't heard from him and shuts the door. He returns to the table and pours two glasses of wine, one for himself and one for Jack's corpse, which he has kept and sat at the table. The final scene shows Adrian's cinema, with a fairly large crowd--all men--pouring out--apparently the lean days are over. That's because the cinema is now a porn theater. Adrian, who has never throughout the film gone out in public without a suit and tie (and umbrella), leaves the building wearing a tee-shirt and Jack's black leather jacket, smoking a cigarette--all just as Jack used to do.

Tags: cruelty, murder, violence, flashback, insanity, romantic

Review:
But I kept hearing about it over the years, about Colin Firth and Hart Bochner's performance, people quoted lines from the film and I, still loyal to my first impression, kept saying meh.
The subject of Colin Firth came out and that lead to Apartment Zero and to an argument that ended in a challenge.
Looking at Colin Firth as Adrian, years after Pride and Prejudice and A Single Man is quite something in itself.
And a big lesson learned, now I'm going to watch Philippe de Brocca's King Of Hearts, another film I didn't care for the first time I saw it, but my friends seem to love.
The cast is superb, and I think this has a good reason, as minor characters play an important role in distinguishing Adrian and Jack's bond from the rest of the world.
Even though Jack is playing all the time, he is a really good actor that caters to any listener's needs, it is obvious that he too develops a strong kind of tie with Adrian.
Surprisingly, even those who were studying film in college and knew Colin Firth's canon well had not.The latest DVD release is priceless for the addition of an original 6 minutes which were cut following the Sundance 1989 and Seattle Film Festival showings and the commentaries from director Martin Donovan and writer/producer David Koepp.
I watched this DVD with my 19 year old film student son, and he found Koepp's and Soderbergh's discussion more informative than any class he's had to date.I won't try to reiterate the comments of other reviewers on this site-- particularly with respect to Firth's excellent performance--but I have to say something about Hart Bochner.Bochner certainly was an inspired casting choice.
Bochner's character's introduction in the movie is at Firth's doorway, a set shot that has Bochner framed in identical clothing and pose as James Dean in a black and white immediately to his right.
Hart Bochner (what an intriguing piece of casting) makes a star entrance that seems to come straight out of Adrian/Colin's cinematic mind.
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.
I have never written a film review but I felt like talking about "Apartment Zero" and here I am, talking.
I've never seen a character like Colin Firth's Adrian in any movie, before or since.
I don't know if it's just coincidence but Martin Donovan, the heart and brain behind this work of art was Luchino Visconti's assistant in "Ludwig" Donovan stays on his characters's faces creating a feel of intimacy that made it a very personal experience for me.
Colin Firth is utter perfection as Adrian - a truly scary, brilliant performance that he has never even come close to before or after.
And, Hart Bochner, now if he had Mr. Donovan to work with again, he might be able to go beyond his devilish good looks, and delve into a character the way he does her, where he has a real director, who obviously adores him, to fall back on.
I wonder if Jack has ever met anyone like Adrian, if he ever had a friend - I mean a friend he didn't have to lie to - The chemistry between Colin Firth (Adrian) and Jack (Hart Bochner) is so compelling that you start to be with them even if, in real terms, they are not likable characters.
Colin Firth is magnificent in the part and his performance is so beautifully constructed that you're bound to discover new things every time you visit "Apartment Zero".
I call it a thriller because that's where you find it, under "thrillers" but for me is as far away from a thriller as "Persona" - that could be considered a thriller too - "Apartment Zero" is one of the most powerful love stories ever put on film.
I'm talking about it now because I bought the DVD, I hadn't seen the theatrical version, only on tape and I had resisted the temptation of seeing it again because I have a powerful memory of the film and 9 times out of 10 the experience of seeing a loved film after many years is kind of depressing.
Creepy and Dark Gem. In Buenos Aires, the lonely sociopath Adrian LeDuc (Colin Firth) owns the Cine York specialized in cult-movies but the poor box-office associated to the costs of the large apartment where he lives alone forces him to rent one room to help in the expenses.
When the mysterious American Jack Carney (Hart Bochner) applies to rent Adrian's room, the needy landlord feels a great attraction for the handsome tenant.
The intriguing and suspenseful story of loneliness and insanity is very original, with top-notch performances of Colin Firth in the beginning of career and the handsome Hart Bochner.
I have already watched at least four times this masterpiece and I include "Apartment Zero" among my favorite films.
There is a moment within the first ten minutes of the film in which we have Adrian (Colin Firth) in bed talking, mumbling rather, to himself.
I know the film so well that a new scene I've never seen before arriving at a totally unexpected moment threw me for six and yet, it made sense, completely.
Colin Firth's performance couldn't be improved but the extra moments he has on the screen not only adds to his perfection but completes the strange and mesmerising journey that the "Apartment Zero" experience is all about.
I'm sure a Hollywood movie would never allow its supporting players to have so much screen time but, personally, that's one of the many things I love about this film.
Jack Carney with his movie star looks, his sensuality and his mystery will fit not just in Adrian's apartment but in his fantasies.
"Apartment Zero" is one of those rare films that you can see many times and that, according to ones mood, it will deliver something different.
Colin Firth (Adrian) creates a unique film character.
I've seen the film a few times but last night I noticed for the first time that Adrian goes through his life only aware of what he fears and that movies, naturally, are his only way to feel free.
It takes you and leaves you there, in the middle of nowhere, just like Adrian, Colin Firth's character.
The structure of the story held together well, being so multi-layered, especially with Colin Firth's character, a cinema owner, who shows films to an ever decreasing audience - until the political faction takes over and fills the cinema again.
The layers of his character are shown visually, through the publicity photos of film stars, and through his emotional reaction to his dying mother.Bochner is also superb, but of course, we know as soon as he appears - and this is what adds to the tension: Adrian's innocent belief in the beautiful man, and the hypnotic stares of the killer.It is a dark movie, but superb, I think.
What it may look like a straight forward thriller is in fact a psychological, erotic, puzzle with false doors and moving walls.Over the years "Apartment Zero" has become a point of reference to me and one of my favourite films of all time..
Colin Firth gives a performance of such maturity that I feel he was ripe for Oscar consideration even then, 23 years ago.The idea of a recluse opening his world against his will and letting the devil into his world has been explore many times in the movies but never quite like this.
Colin Firth gives life to a character I have never seen on the screen before.
In fact Jack looks like those portraits of movie stars that populate the walls of his apartment.
When Colin Firth is trying to convince him to take the apartment, Hart Bochner looks at him innocently but harboring a red hot sexual note: "Is that what you want me to do?" Perhaps, the strangest thing for me is that I was terrified.
Every detail in the movie adds to the actors performances: the frightening neighbors (the way they invade his life is no surprise to his disliking them so much), the music, the camera shots of the "living" city opposed constantly to the claustrophobic dark apartment and even the apartment itself which is almost a character per se.
I was about 13 when "Apartment Zero" came out and I wasn't into "art" films at the time.
Apartment Zero is truly one of the best films I have ever seen.
Though the film is not perfect, it does give one the opportunity to meet the complex characters Jack played by Hart Bochner and  Adrian played by Colin Firth.
And something strange happened, I started to look at "Apartment Zero" from my friend's point of view and realized that she was absolutely right...as the film ended and after we took time to catch our breath, she confessed to me that had seen the film with my perspective in mind and, she concluded, I was absolutely right.
While Adrian (Colin Firth) and Jack (Hart Bochner) fight for the gun one of the two shouts "Do it!" Which one?
I've heard about "Apartment Zero" over the years but I saw it only last night for the first time.
Set in Argentina, he introduces the viewer to the bizarre world of Adrian (Colin Firth), his neighbours and his new housemate, Jack (Hart Bochner).
I was so shaken the first time I saw "Apartment Zero" that in my film going experiences, everything I see is somehow related to that initial overwhelming emotion.
A Single Man. After seeing "A Single Man" a film for which Colin Firth will, most likely, get his first and richly deserved Oscar nomination, I felt the urge to see "Apartment Zero" again.
I remembered it as a film that opened my eyes to certain aspects of my own nature and thought/felt that Colin Firth was actually playing me.
Adrian Leduc, an extraordinary and very young Colin Firth plays an Argentinean pretending to be British and, his performance is impeccable, surprising and ultimately, shattering.
Colin Firth with an Oscar nomination last year for "A Single Man" and probably one this year for "The King's Speech" deserved one in 1989 for "Apartment Zero" His performance is layered so completely that the character becomes real, so real.
Adrian (Colin Firth) lives his life like a man from another era.
I wanted Jack (a surprising and splendid Hart Bochner) to take him in his arms, to look into his eyes and tell him "I love you" I bet Adrian would have become something.
In a short time, Jack has Adrian, along with the other lonely residences in the apartment complex, dependent upon his affections.While the film itself feels a bit dated after more than twenty years, and it takes its own sweet time to explore its possibilities and eventually assume its inevitable direction, there is much to relish along the way.
Too long at times for its own good but "Apartment Zero" will do things to you that very few other films have done to me.
"Apartment Zero" is not a film I can say I like but I do love it.
The central character Adrian, played magnificently by Colin Firth - also ahead of his time - lives his life where the only points of reference are movies.
Colin Firth plays Adrian LeDuc in a performance of such perfection that the character becomes as real as someone I've known for a long time.
This became crystal clear as I watched the film last night, for the first time in many years, there is an enormously human element that protects Adrian for being what he appears.
It is these subtleties that make it all so effective, so seductive and so frightening.As Hitchcock said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."  It is Donovan's superb script and direction coupled with the exemplary performances not only from the two leads but the supporting cast that makes it all come together as a highly engaging piece.Two versions of the film exist and it is Donovan's re-edit for video that is the more effective of the two with some of the more overtly Homo-erotic and violent scenes cut to add more ambiguity and mystery to the characters.
"Apartment Zero" is one of the best psychological character studies ever put on film.
Colin Firth (in an amazing performance) portrays Adrian LeDuc, a lonely movie theater owner in Buenos Aires whose mentally ill mother is in the hospital.Adrian and the other misfit tenants in his apartment building (a transvestite, two elderly British alcoholic sisters, a lonely housewife starved for attention, et al) are all smitten by Adrian's charming new roommate, Jack Carney (played by Hart Bochner, who smolders with every close-up).
Creepy, original and very intense, Apartment Zero does not fall into any neat classification but is equal parts suspense thriller, political message film, psychological character study, and black comedy.
His apartment is filled with posters of movie actors (mostly gay) and he engages Jack in games about movie trivia.Both Firth and Bochner are outstanding, though both play "types" and their characters are explored only on a surface level.
The gay subtext between Colin Firth's character and Hart Bochner's is nicely played by both actors.
I found myself grinning several times as I viewed Apartment Zero - not because the movie is a feel-good romp - on the contrary.
APARTMENT ZERO is one of those rare movies that has to be seen more than once in order to really appreciate it.Once you know what's in store for the main characters, the film suddenly looks and feels different and it basically becomes a love story of sorts between two demented men.
Colin Firth and Hart Bochner are both outstanding in this psychological thriller filmed in Argentina.
When struggling Buenos Aires art house owner Adrian (Colin Firth), is forced to take in a border, yuppie business man Jack Carney (Hart Bochner) agrees to share living quarters and expenses.That Jack is more than he seems at face, and that Adrian is even wierder than one might imagine gives this psychological study in character the foundation it needs to succeed.
It would have made more sense for Jack, the gorgeous Hart Bochner, to have become Adrian's (Colin Firth) lover and therefore provided himself with an excellent cover for his covert operations in Buenos Aires, where the film is set.
Such as it is 'Apartment Zero' is a creepy film and succeeds in creating a dangerous atmosphere that keeps the viewer's attention riveted on what will happen next.Colin Firth is superb, one of his best performances of many on the screen.
The music is wonderful and Adrian's apartment (Zero) is a fascinating setting.Not a great film but very good none-the-less..
The shocking climax of this tale of deceit, perversion, and murder reveals the darker side of the human psyche," according to the DVD presentation of "The Original Theatrical Version" (restoring trims).An influential film (to those who've seen it), "Apartment Zero" is well worth knocking up.Director Martin Donovan, with assistance from David Koepp, create an "Odd Couple" in desperate need of psychiatric care.
Reclusive and closeted Colin Firth (as Adrian) is fixated on both his ailing mother, and Hollywood movie stars, like Montgomery Clift.
Financially strapped, Mr. Firth decides to rent a room in his apartment to sexy and mysterious Hart Bochner (as Jack).
For two hours, the tension between the two men mounts, and you're never really sure who is going to come out on top.******* Apartment Zero (9/30/88) Martin Donovan ~ Colin Firth, Hart Bochner, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Mirella D'Angelo.
Set in Buenos Aires in 1988, "Apartment Zero" tells the tale of Adrian DeLuc (Colin Firth), a paranoid, alienating Englishman obsessed with movies (he even runs a lowly-attended film club), and whose mother is in the latter stages of crippling dementia.
Some may find "Apartment Zero" comparable to the works of Hitchcock, but for my tastes, it's more in step with Roman Polanski's masterpiece, "The Tenant" (1976)--the character of DeLuc plays very similarly to Trelkovsky (Polanski), but the addition of a political and implied homosexual subtext very much makes this a film of the times.
The first Adrian, Colin Firth, an Englishman living with his mother in Buenos Aires and second Jack, Hart Bochner, an American working for some communication firm in the Argentine capital.
With Adrian's dying mother sent to a nursing home he put up her apartment for rent and one of the people looking to rent it is a good-looking charming and what seems like a very nice person Jack who's from the USA working in Buenos Aires.
The ending of the movie "Apartment Zero" was somewhat like the ending of the movie "Psycho", with Adrian acting and looking almost unrecognizable but unlike the Hitchcock horror classic this ending made absolutely no sense at!
Once Adrian has a lodger that looks like one of the movie star pictures that decorate his apartment he will develop a different kind of need.
I remembered it as a film I enjoyed with a great central performance by a very young Colin Firth that's why a generous 8.
Both characters are playing a role, they are both in hiding, consciously, for different reasons but it is Adrian - the magnificent Colin Firth.
I loved the performances, starting with Colin Firth - there is not a single empty moment, his mind and his heart going, sometimes, in entirely different directions.
Adrian LeDuc (played by Colin Firth) lives in Apartment 10, but the 1 fell off the door and was never replaced.
And at the end the final layer is to decide which is Jack and which is Adrian.This was a foreign film for purposes of the Academy Awards, and neither Firth nor Bochner was nominated for Best Actor, though both deserved the award.