MovieChat Forums > Apartment Zero (1989) Discussion > This is probably a better movie than man...

This is probably a better movie than many people think...

posted 19 years ago by redwoods168
24 replies | jump to latest

I watched "Apartment Zero" last night. It's not perfect but it's definitely a movie with depth, presented within an intricate political, cultural, personal, and psychological web.

I just checked the rating of this film here, and was disappointed to see it's only a 6. I think it deserves a 7.5 but I wonldn't rate it too high either.

What I find interesting about this movie is:

1. The political/ideological overtone that involves both history and current international politics;

2. The exploration of deep personal and psychological issues of the vulnerable individual within the context of modern life of alienation;

3. It's a movie about movies, and therefore offers a rich cultural context; which in turn, offers plenty of room for the audience to play;

4. It offers a good character development in the case of Adrian. The acting of this character is very well-done. (But the character of Jack is not as good. Granted, he is very handsome, but he seems to be very self-conscious of his good looks, and therefore appears to be too superficial, without depth. I don't see much homosexual overtone in this story. I mean, there can be deep friendship and love even between two straight males, I believe.)

[–] confusedcat_05 19 years ago

I mean, there can be deep friendship and love even between two straight males, I believe.

Very much agree. I just watched it yesterday and don't think it's very homosexual either.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] maturity 18 years ago

I saw the 124 minute version and still don't see the homosexual subtext. You're biased by culture to see homosexuality in non-sexual actions. I don't think you can say that someone is "gay" unless they repeatedly perform intimate acts with others of the same sex (kissing, touching, oral sex, or intercourse). There was nothing overtly homosexual about Adrian or Jack. Adrian was more asexual, while Jack was bisexual leaning to hetero. The movie isn't straight or gay. It's both and it's neither. Colin Firth's character in "Where The Truth Lies" was clearly bisexual, at least in the uncut version. But nothing so absolute can be said in regard to Apartment Zero, because it's all left ambiguous.

[–] roastmary-1 18 years ago

Adrian is "0" He's not gay, that will imply some kind of identity. I think that is at the center of the puzzle and the drama.

[–] maturity 18 years ago

Yes, I agree. He is neither homosexual, nor heterosexual. He's too uncomfortable and closed-off and repressed to have any sexual feelings for either sex. Jack is kind of a chameleon, he will go both ways.

Also, he's not really "Apartment 0." Look closely, one of the numbers has fallen off and you see a mark where it used to be.

[–] All_Clowns_Are_Evil 18 years ago

adrian is most definitely gay - closeted and probably in denial even to himself - but didn’t you notice in the final scene when he's more casually dressed, and all the patrons are leaving his cinema? they are ALL male, and mostly couples.

- sometimes the magic works, sometimes the doves die in your sleeves

[–] maturity 18 years ago

He was running a porn theater, not a theater for gay men. At least, that was my impression. The old theater wasn't making money. What does? Porno.

You can't be gay if you haven't acted on it. That's like saying he had "lust in his heart." Either he acted on it, or it's not really who he was.

People are too quick to argue that someone's gay, when they have no real proof. Many people seem "gay" to homophobes, but that's just their view.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] abelardo64 18 years ago

Adrian's theater has become a porno house because in a way he's not himself anymore. He looks like the other guy, he is smoking and the expression on his face is an expression we've never seen before. He runned a revival house where only classics where allowed, but that guy doesn't exist anymore. The porn , in a way, has taken over his life. He killed a man remember, he killed the only friend he's ever had.

I also believe he is gay but never acted on it.

[–] vampirock_x 15 years ago

I didn't make any judgement on Adrian's sexual orientation as I agreed with many here almost nothing in the film gave it away convincingly. BUT I told myself "now he's gotta be gay" at the end of the film when he called the "corpse of Jack" a "silly girl" in such a intimate tone and cheered for a drink in a table decorated obviously for a date. I'm surprised no one here mentioned that.

All the other elements were not convincing enough, but the ending was like the last piece of the puzzle.

However, I think the writer and director really did a great job as to obscure this issue. Obviously, they want it to be intimate enough for different kind of audiences to presume what they like in mind and not be offended.

What made the universe made me.

[–] belleged66 18 years ago

Well i had a girl friend< who was a gay who I went out with to the pub , the movies and occasionally had cooked a meal with at home.I did deeply care about her as a friend. We also shared a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 years. Gosh now I have lived with and made love to the same man for 7 years. I have had hetrosexual relationships with men since I was 15. But now I have to wonder am I bisexual after watching this movie. Why is it so important to put people in a box. But if I have Adrian was hetro, to close to his mother/ He probably was constantly told from an early age. to be a nice boy and don't go out with unclean women, don't trust people. Plus the people in the apartment building where verry interesting indeed. I thought Colin's character in "Where The Truth Lies" was gay. But i saw the cut version. Gotta say it was not exactly one of my favorite films with him in it. Anyone want the DVD of it. I do not think I would want to see WTTL twice. Great actors shame about the film. Or maybe I just missed the plot??

[–] linda303 17 years ago

One does not have to *like* a film for it to be a great film. I liked Apartment Zero very much, but did not like WTTL at all, despite the outstanding performances and technical aspects of the film, which were par excellence.

[–] tomk1of1 8 years ago

That is the problem. People make everything especially gay people about sex. Can one be heterosexual without overt sexual acts... of course...same goes for gay people.
And who cares anyway? Well nearly everyone,another problem.
Anyhow,...This is a good movie and the relationship between the two men is essentially the story.

[–] maturity 8 years ago

If you don't date or act on any desires you're asexual.

[–] mrgogonyc 14 years ago

This is more than deep friendship. Adrian is OBSESSED with Jack. Before meeting him, he'd only lived thru his mother and films. Jack's influence gives him an opening into a life... not a perfect life by any means.. but a life nonetheless.

"If it is not in the frame, it does not exist!"

[–] BoSoxRule 17 years ago

I'm happiest...in the saddle.

[–] LaaLaa5143 17 years ago

I inferred that there was something sexual between Adrian and his mother. The first time we see them together he is practically pawing at her and it seemed to me that he was acting very lustfully towards her; I mean at the end of the scene it looks like he is trying to kiss her on her mouth. Creepy...

[–] maty6_dam 15 years ago

Didn't get that at all. I thought he has no sexual identity. He's a ZERO.

[–] littlemartinarocena 11 years ago

Yes, zero is the operative word. Colin Firth is amazing!

[–] Vidfan 10 years ago

I think that both Adrian and Jack are, in a very real sense, complete zeros.

Adrian, because he's repressed sexually. He is portrayed as completely asexual in a life that's an emotional void. He shuns contact with others and his only real contact is his mother. Because of her madness, she's a stranger to him, one to whom he can freely "confess" his feelings. His life is a void, a zero

Jack is also a zero, but almost the complete inverse of Adrian. He's free with his sex, going both ways (male and female). He feeds on the emotions of others, but stuffs his own deep inside where it simmers until it eventually explodes (as evidenced by the one scene where it erupts with tears). Jack invites anyone into his life, relying on his good looks and sympathetic mien to make friends, about whom he seems to care very little anyway. Except for Adrian, his relationships are all shallow and meaningless. And with no meaning in it, his life is a void, a zero.

[–] harrypaulson-111 10 years ago

Wow! You made me want to see it, once more. I will.

[–] BlackLodgeNightmare 9 years ago

I agree, and i see Adrian is portrayed asexual but he could be homosexual too, even if it was in a non sexual way he was clearly attracted to Jack and they had an strong connection. The attraction came from the fact that Jack was like a James Dean for him, Adrian had a thing for those handsome actors and then this man appears in his life, i think he was pretty much drooling over him when he met him, just like the other characters.

[–] BlackLodgeNightmare 9 years ago

After reading your comment, it made me think about Norman Bates and his mother...
But there was nothing sexual there, with Adrian.

[–] Maxvayne 9 years ago

I don't see much homosexual overtone in this story.

I just finished watching this and I'm surprised most people in this thread can't see it here. Maybe they watched a different cut of the film? I watched the 2 hour and 4 minute version and there's numerous lingering shots of Adrian and Jack staring intently into each others eyes, not to mention all the pawing Adrian does at Jack 'telling him to stay' and saying how much he 'needs' him. Keep in mind Adrian mostly keeps to himself, away from the neighbors who have lived in his apartment for years, he suddenly meets Jack and now he wants to do his laundry right after meeting him?

Adrian is repressed on a few levels and Jack is heavily implied to go both ways. Aside from his long staring(and soft speaking) at Adrian he goes back to the cross-dressers room where both are sitting on the couch, when it looks like they're about to kiss each other it fades to black. The same thing happens with Laura except Jack is shown kissing her before the fade. Spoiler: Also after Jacks passport is denied we find the man he's going to impersonate naked in bed dead, no it doesn't mean a final answer, but does imply that the two may have had sex.