The Apartment (1960)
The key to your promotion is a really nice apartment!
Presentation:
When one thinks of classic cinema, how can anyone think of a director other than Billy Wilder? The Apartment is a stylish, classy and witty romantic dark satire that makes every other romcom after it look pointless by comparison. The concept of a man lending his apartment to his superiors for promotional gain is a relatable sentiment that I don’t think will ever go away. The cinematography is excellent, dialogue is smart and the themes are timeless. The jokes are playful but not silly enough to feel outdated like other classics. The two leads are colorful and perhaps a little oversimplified but with a script as sharp as this you shouldn’t even notice. Most of the film takes place in two locations, the office workplace and the apartment. It all comes down to the performances and although I was skeptical at first, both of them won me over by the end.
Conclusion:
If you thought romantic comedies were all meaningless dribble and vacation cinema, think again. This is as close to a romcom masterpiece as they come. The themes are so well executed that it overcomes any potential clichés that other romcoms would naturally fall to. You know a romcom succeeds when you want a sequel to see more and this film gives you the perfect amount of satisfaction to end on. Everyone should be able to relate to the two, or at least the office politics. And if somehow it doesn’t, there are enough iconic lines that’ll make you look the way you feel.
Recommendations
Ordinary family, timeless story.