The Apartment (1960) - Old is Gold Mondays
When it comes to Christmas movies, there is one little film called Die Hard that gets into the category by simply involving a Christmas party. Yeah, yeah come at me everyone.... Now that I have finally watched The Apartment, I think it can and should benefit from the same treatment. Christmas is generally considered to be a time of joy but some people often end being alone on that day. One of these people is C. C. Baxter who has no family or girlfriend to share the fun of Christmas but this year, he is about to have one crazy holiday.
Baxter is an insurance employee who works in a huge company with the usual goals of career growth, and in his case he got one advantage, or at least he thinks he does. Four top executives in the company like to use Baxter's apartment to meet their mistresses in return for putting a good word with the director. One day, his director calls him into the office and says that he would like to utilize his apartment to meet up with Fran, a girl who Baxter likes. Conflicted between love and desire for promotion, Baxter finds himself in a most peculiar situation full of drama, comedy and excitement.
While the premise sounds like pure comedy, this film is a lot bigger than that as despite having a ton of genuinely funny moments, it carries a lot of food for thought. Both Baxter and Fran are at their individual crossroads where they aren't sure what's best for them and the film's script tackles that topic in an intelligent and soulful way. The Apartment has many good natured moments but despite being from the 60s, it doesn't have this blind idealism like many old movies. It combines the personal drama, pleasant humor, great dialogue, impressive cinematography and the spirit of Christmas into something truly special. This is my second Billy Wilder film after Sunset Blvd and I can't wait to check out more of his work.
.
When it comes to Christmas movies, there is one little film called Die Hard that gets into the category by simply involving a Christmas party. Yeah, yeah come at me everyone.... Now that I have finally watched The Apartment, I think it can and should benefit from the same treatment. Christmas is generally considered to be a time of joy but some people often end being alone on that day. One of these people is C. C. Baxter who has no family or girlfriend to share the fun of Christmas but this year, he is about to have one crazy holiday.
Baxter is an insurance employee who works in a huge company with the usual goals of career growth, and in his case he got one advantage, or at least he thinks he does. Four top executives in the company like to use Baxter's apartment to meet their mistresses in return for putting a good word with the director. One day, his director calls him into the office and says that he would like to utilize his apartment to meet up with Fran, a girl who Baxter likes. Conflicted between love and desire for promotion, Baxter finds himself in a most peculiar situation full of drama, comedy and excitement.
While the premise sounds like pure comedy, this film is a lot bigger than that as despite having a ton of genuinely funny moments, it carries a lot of food for thought. Both Baxter and Fran are at their individual crossroads where they aren't sure what's best for them and the film's script tackles that topic in an intelligent and soulful way. The Apartment has many good natured moments but despite being from the 60s, it doesn't have this blind idealism like many old movies. It combines the personal drama, pleasant humor, great dialogue, impressive cinematography and the spirit of Christmas into something truly special. This is my second Billy Wilder film after Sunset Blvd and I can't wait to check out more of his work.
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