''Apartment Zero'', also known as ''Conviviendo con la muerte'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: Living with Death),''Conviviendo con la muerte'' (Apartment Zero)

Cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and World Wide Web, web-based database about Cinema of Argentina, Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, tel ...

is a 1989 British-Argentine

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...

political thriller film A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle, high stakes and suspense is the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. The ...

co-written and directed by Argentine-born screenwriter

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (199 ...

and starring

Hart Bochner Hart Matthew Bochner (born October 3, 1956) is a Canadian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer. He has appeared in films such as ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Terror Train'' (1980), '' Rich and Famous'' (1981), '' The Wild Life'' (1984) ...

and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

. It was produced in 1988 and premiered at film festivals throughout the next year. The story is set in a rundown area of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

at the dawn of the 1980s, where Adrian LeDuc becomes friends with Jack Carney, an American

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

who rents a room from him. Gradually, Adrian begins to suspect that the outwardly likeable Jack is responsible for a series of political assassinations that are rocking the city. Famously suffused with

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

overtones and moments of

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

,'Apartment Zero' (R), by Rita Kempley
11 April 1989, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' it received mixed-to-positive reviews at the time of its release, and currently has a

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

' score of 74% positive reactions from both critics and viewers.

Plot

Adrian LeDuc (Firth) is the British owner of a

revival house A revival house or repertory cinema is a cinema that specializes in showing classic or notable older films (as opposed to first run films). Such venues may include standard repertory cinemas, multi-function theatres that alternate between old movie ...

. Apart from his mother, the core of his emotional life is movies, specifically classic American movies and stars. The story begins with Adrian in his theater, watching the final scene of ''

Touch of Evil ''Touch of Evil'' is a 1958 American film noir written and directed by Orson Welles, who also stars in the film. The screenplay was loosely based on the contemporary Whit Masterson novel ''Badge of Evil'' (1956). The cast included Charlton Hes ...

''. As his theater loses more and more money, Adrian advertises for a roommate to share his apartment rent. After several unsatisfactory applicants, he meets American Jack Carney (Bochner), who agrees to take the room. The shy, repressed Adrian is both intimidated by and attracted to Jack, who exudes confidence and strength, and attempts to win Jack's trust and companionship. Jack seems to suspect this and doesn't mind, and he takes a liking to his new landlord. Jack befriends some of the neighbors. Adrian complains to Jack, telling him that the neighbors aren't to be trusted. Despite Adrian's jealousy, Jack continues to socialize with several of them, becoming sexually involved with Laura, whose husband is frequently away. Claudia, the ticket seller at Adrian's cinema, is involved with a political committee investigating a series of murders that bear a striking resemblance to those committed by members of

death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings or forced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in which they are ...

s that operated in Argentina during its last civil-military dictatorship (1976–1983). Adrian learns that Jack has been lying about his employment and becomes paranoid that Jack is spying on him. He searches Jack's room and finds a number of photographs of Jack in paramilitary garb. Jack returns and calms a highly agitated Adrian, but his own suspicions are aroused when he realizes that Adrian has been in his room. Though he's personally apolitical, Adrian allows Claudia's committee to use his theatre to view footage of death squad members. Adrian 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 A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

and prepares to leave Argentina. Unfortunately, the passport is expired and he can't leave. Jack picks up a young

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

man and murders him for his passport—but then makes a hash of trying to paste his own photos into the dead man's passport. 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 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 returns and tends to the badly injured Adrian. As Adrian attends his mother's funeral, Claudia comes to the apartment and recognizes Jack from the death squad photos. Adrian returns to find Claudia dead at Jack's hands. A clearly unhinged Adrian, who is as terrified of losing Jack as he is horrified by Claudia's murder, helps Jack dispose of the body. On the way out they run into Laura and her husband. Looking for an alibi, Jack says he's leaving for

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in the morning. After they dump the body in a garbage landfill outside the city, Adrian suggests they really go to California together and Jack agrees. Back at the apartment Adrian changes his mind and goes for Jack's gun in the living room. Jack realizes what's happening and begins strangling Adrian, but eventually lets him up. Adrian again goes for the gun and he and Jack struggle. 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 Laura 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 a large crowd outside Adrian's cinema, which is now a porn theater. Adrian, who has never gone out in public without a suit and tie, stands in the building's doorway wearing a T-shirt and Jack's black

leather jacket A leather jacket is a jacket-length coat that is usually worn on top of other apparel or item of clothing, and made from the tanned hide of various animals. The leather material is typically dyed black, or various shades of brown, but a wide ra ...

, while smoking a cigarette—all just as Jack used to do.

Cast

– Jack Carney *

– Adrian LeDuc *

Dora Bryan Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Liz Smith – Mary Louise McKinney *

Fabrizio Bentivoglio Fabrizio Bentivoglio (born 4 January 1957) is an Italian cinema and theatre actor and screenwriter. Biography Fabrizio Bentivoglio was born in Milan (his father is Venetian). After only one season in the juvenile team of Inter, he left his spor ...

– Carlos Sanchez-Verne *

James Telfer James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

– Vanessa *

Mirella D'Angelo Mirella D'Angelo (born 16 August 1956) is an Italian actress. Career Mirella D'Angelo has appeared in more than twenty films since 1974 and acted in television and theatre. She has appeared in a number of notable films including Le Guignolo wit ...

– Laura Werpachowsky *

Juan Vitali ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

– Alberto Werpachowsky *

Cipe Lincovsky Cecilia "Cipe" Lincovsky (21 September 1929 – 31 August 2015) was an Argentine actress. She made her stage debut in 1953, and joined the Berliner Ensemble in 1960. Lincovsky spent much of her career overseas, including in Venezuela and France, ...

– Mrs. Treniev *

Francesca d'Aloja Francesca D'Aloja (born 21 April 1963) is an Italian film, television and stage actress. Life and career Born in Rome, D'Aloja started her career as a theater actress. In cinema, after several secondary roles, she made her debut as main actres ...

– Claudia * Miguel Ligero – Mr. Palma *

Elvia Andreoli Elvia Andreoli (4 January 1950 or 2 January 1951 – 28 March 2020) was an Argentina, Argentine film actress of Sicily, Sicilian, Jewish and Spanish people, Spanish descent. She appeared in over 30 films between 1965 and 1998. She starred in fil ...

– Adrian's Mother * Marikena Monti – Tango Singer * Luis Romero – Projectionist * Max Berliner – Prospective Tenant * Debora Bianco – Girl in Cafe *

Federico D'Elía Federico D'Elía is an Argentine actor. He is a Golden Martín Fierro award Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Squa ...

– Boy in Cafe * Raúl Florido – Jack's Argentine Contact * Claudio Ciacci – Young Man in Cinema * Gabriel Posniak – Dead Man * Darwin Sanchez – Police Inspector *

Daniel Queirolo Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

– Young Cop * Miguel Ángel Porro – Taxi Driver * Ezequiel Donovan – Foreign Element * Eduardo Peralta Ramos – Foreign Element * John Kamps – Foreign Element * Göran Johansson – Foreign Element * Lisanne Cole – Political Group in Cinema *

Germán Palacios Germán () is a male given name in Spanish speaking countries. It is a cognate to French Germain, and is a variant of Latin Germanus. Surname * Domingo Germán (born 1992), baseball player * Esteban Germán (born 1978), Dominican professiona ...

– Member of Political Group in Cinema * Horacio Erman – Political Group in Cinema * Inés Estévez – Political Group in Cinema

Themes

The

doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

or double is a recurring motif of ''Apartment Zero''. Adrian and Jack bear some physical resemblance (which Jack planned to exploit to escape the country). A character comments that Jack is a double of someone from his past. Jack and "Michael Weller" are a doubled pair, as are Jack and the murdered gay man. By film's end, instead of Jack becoming Adrian, Adrian instead has become Jack. Another motif is classic films, especially films which have some connection to

gay culture Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including '' ...

. Adrian runs a revival house. He and Jack play a movie trivia game together frequently. Adrian's apartment is decorated with framed portraits of movie stars, including a number who were, or are perceived as being,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

(including

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

and

Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered ...

). Adrian's choice of films also reflects a gay interest, including a Dean film festival and ''

Compulsion Compulsion may refer to: * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...

'', based on the

Leopold and Loeb Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two wealthy students at the University of Chicago ...

murder case.

Historical and political context

The setting of the film ties its characters to the political situation in Argentina in the early 1980s. The main events transpire shortly after the end of Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship (1976-1983); the regime (self-titled as ''National Reorganization Process'') imposed a political climate of

state-sponsored terrorism State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terrorist ...

, and the period was marred by widespread

human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

. The state-sponsored terrorism of the military ''Junta'' created a climate of violence whose victims were in the thousands and included left-wing activists and militants, intellectuals and artists, trade unionists, High School and College/University students and journalists, as well as

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

Peronist Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of Ar ...

guerrillas or alleged sympathizers of both. Although in the period there was leftist violence involved, mostly by the

Montoneros Montoneros ( es, link=no, Movimiento Peronista Montonero-MPM) was an Argentine left-wing Peronist guerrilla organization, active throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The name is an allusion to the 19th-century cavalry militias called Montoner ...

guerrilla, most of the victims were unarmed non-combatants, and the guerrillas were exterminated by 1979, while the dictatorship carried out its crimes until the exit from power. After the defeat in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, the Junta called for elections in 1983. The

National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons (Spanish: ', CONADEP) was an Argentine organization created by President Raúl Alfonsín on 15 December 1983, shortly after his inauguration, to investigate the fate of the ''desaparecidos'' (vi ...

originally estimated that around 13,000 individuals were ''disappeared''.Una duda histórica: no se sabe cuántos son los desaparecidos. Clarin.com. 06/10/2003.
/ref> Present estimates for the number of people who were killed or

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

range from 9,089 to over 30,000;Obituary
''The Guardian'', Thursday 2 April 2009 The military themselves reported killing 22,000 people in a 1978 communication to Chilean Intelligence, and the

Mothers ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

and

Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo ( es, italic=no, Asociación Civil Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo) is a human rights organization with the goal of finding the children stolen and illegally adopted during the 1976–1983 Argentine military dicta ...

, which are the most important Human-Rights Organisations in Argentina, have always jointly maintained that the number of disappeared is unequivocally 30,000. Since 1983 Argentina has maintained democracy as its ruling system.

Reception

Reviews

''Apartment Zero'' received a 74% rating on

from a sample of 31 reviews. Critics were sharply divided on the film. Most of the reviews were negative, although the performances of Bochner and particularly Firth were widely praised. Vincent Canby of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called the film "hilariously awful", and stated, "A good deal of money has been spent on this nonsense, which was shot in

in English. It pretends to be a psychological-political melodrama but plays like the work of a dilettante; that is, the work of someone who wants to make movies, has the means to make them, but doesn't, as yet, know what he wants to make them about." Writing for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', Dave Kehr called the film "A definite oddity, though not an entirely compelling one ... turns what might have been a modestly successful psychological thriller into a messily failed art film." Kevin Thomas's review in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' lead with "''Zero'' Doesn't Add Up as a Thriller", adding "Nothing, however, makes much sense right from the start. Unfortunately, the long-winded ''Apartment Zero'' is awkward to the point of ludicrousness."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

called the film "lurid and overwrought, almost a self-parody".

Awards and nominations

Cognac Festival du Film Policier The Festival du Film policier de Cognac ( en, Cognac Crime Film Festival) was an annual film festival that took place in Cognac, France from 1982 to 2007 (with no festival being held in 1991).Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film (1989) *

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) nomination (1989)

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, apartmentzero
Desplegado: An Apartment Zero Resource
1989 films 1989 LGBT-related films 1980s psychological thriller films Dirty War films Films produced by David Koepp Films scored by Elia Cmíral Films set in apartment buildings Films set in Argentina Films set in a movie theatre Films shot in Buenos Aires British political thriller films Films with screenplays by David Koepp 1980s Spanish-language films British neo-noir films Bisexuality-related films Films directed by Martin Donovan (screenwriter) 1980s English-language films English-language Argentine films 1989 multilingual films British multilingual films 1980s British films