Apartment Zero
| Apartment Zero | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Martin Donovan |
| Produced by | Martin Donovan David Koepp |
| Written by | Martin Donovan (story and screenplay) David Koepp (screenplay) |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Elia Cmíral |
| Cinematography | Miguel Rodríguez |
| Edited by | Conrad M. Gonzalez |
|
Production
company |
Producers Representative Organization
The Summit Company |
| Distributed by | Union Station Media (USA) |
|
Release date
|
September 15, 1988 |
|
Running time
|
124 minutes (theatrical release & 2007 DVD release) 116 minutes (TV Version) |
| Country | United Kingdom Argentina |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Box office | $1,267,578 |
Apartment Zero is a 1988 Argentine-British political thriller film co-written and directed by Argentine-born screenwriter Martin Donovan and starring Hart Bochner and Colin Firth. The film is famously suffused with homoerotic overtones and moments of black comedy. It was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals throughout 1989.
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.
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Wikipedia