I've just completed viewing The Apartment (L'Appartement) and Wicker Park back-to-back on the same day and conclude that the original film is almost two times better. I rated The Apartment a nine, while Wicker Park earned a 5 in my ratings.
I watch a lot of films, but don't consider myself a film snob. I don't believe that all film must be high art or CINEMA--plain old movies suit me just fine. I will watch foreign films but don't think that they are the be-all and end-all of movies. Some I find to be very boring and pretentious but will watch them nonetheless, hopeful of finding something special and unique. This is how I blundered into The Apartment, based upon the recommendation of another.
I like many different genres of film, including what some men disparagingly refer to as chick flicks. I am a sucker for a good love story and have been since boyhood. Like most Americans raised on our Hollywood traditions, I like a happy ending (especially in a love story!). The Apartment does not fully embrace this tradition (Of course real life does. Right?) and there were things about the ending that I would have changed if I could. Soooo...when I learned that Wicker Park was a remake of L'Apppartement I rushed out to get a copy in order that I could compare and contrast the two.
What I decided, script concerns aside, this film was miscast. In particular this film's Alex and Matthew are not up to the standards set in the original film. In L'Appartement the two characters (Alice and Max) had great chemistry together (horrors!), almost an equal to the chemistry that existed between the Max character and Lisa. This made for a much more complicated and intense relationship between all of the main characters. I don't get the same sense of obsession and desperation that is a palpable characteristic of the earlier film. I miss it because this provides the level of truth that anyone who has ever been in love is well aware of; Love is hard, crazy and complicated. I find it interesting that in both films the relationship that makes the most sense and is the most logical fares the poorest in the viewer's analysis. Max/Matthew's fiancée should be the clear winner among our choices but garners the least rooting interest. Perhaps we prefer our love wild, crazy and dangerous. Just an observation.
This is not a bad film. I enjoyed watching it. However, if you get a chance, rent the L'Appartement and do your own comparison test. I purchased copies of both today, but I know which one I will be viewing most often.
I watch a lot of films, but don't consider myself a film snob. I don't believe that all film must be high art or CINEMA--plain old movies suit me just fine. I will watch foreign films but don't think that they are the be-all and end-all of movies. Some I find to be very boring and pretentious but will watch them nonetheless, hopeful of finding something special and unique. This is how I blundered into The Apartment, based upon the recommendation of another.
I like many different genres of film, including what some men disparagingly refer to as chick flicks. I am a sucker for a good love story and have been since boyhood. Like most Americans raised on our Hollywood traditions, I like a happy ending (especially in a love story!). The Apartment does not fully embrace this tradition (Of course real life does. Right?) and there were things about the ending that I would have changed if I could. Soooo...when I learned that Wicker Park was a remake of L'Apppartement I rushed out to get a copy in order that I could compare and contrast the two.
What I decided, script concerns aside, this film was miscast. In particular this film's Alex and Matthew are not up to the standards set in the original film. In L'Appartement the two characters (Alice and Max) had great chemistry together (horrors!), almost an equal to the chemistry that existed between the Max character and Lisa. This made for a much more complicated and intense relationship between all of the main characters. I don't get the same sense of obsession and desperation that is a palpable characteristic of the earlier film. I miss it because this provides the level of truth that anyone who has ever been in love is well aware of; Love is hard, crazy and complicated. I find it interesting that in both films the relationship that makes the most sense and is the most logical fares the poorest in the viewer's analysis. Max/Matthew's fiancée should be the clear winner among our choices but garners the least rooting interest. Perhaps we prefer our love wild, crazy and dangerous. Just an observation.
This is not a bad film. I enjoyed watching it. However, if you get a chance, rent the L'Appartement and do your own comparison test. I purchased copies of both today, but I know which one I will be viewing most often.