I am happy to report\u00a0that Billy Wilder\u2019s The Apartment<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is a masterpiece. \u2026you know, just in case y\u2019all were wondering.<\/p>\n I am also happy to\u00a0report that each successive viewing<\/a>\u00a0(of which there have been many) has further solidified its place in my affections. It\u2019s wonderfully, amazingly written \u2014 somehow, that\u2019s still an understatement \u2014 thoughtfully and subtly shot, superbly acted, and its unique mixture of humor and earnestness (combined with Wilder\u2019s amazing gentleness in recounting the tribulations of his flawed creations) is extraordinary.<\/p>\n So, yes. The film\u2019s a masterpiece. But\u00a0if you haven\u2019t seen it yet, leave now. The most productive use of your time at this moment is NOT to journey through my feeble, tortured attempts at analyzing Wilder\u2019s legendary\u00a0tour de force<\/em>. It is to go in haste and find a copy of The Apartment<\/em>. And to watch it. Right. NOW. Seriously. It\u2019s easy. Netflix can hook you up<\/a>. And so can Amazon Instant<\/a> The first is the superb way in which Billy Wilder<\/a> \u2014 and co-writer I.A.L. Diamond<\/a>, lest we forget \u2014 makes use of the discrepancy between knowledge held by his audience and that held by his protagonists. Some of the most emotional, suspenseful sequences in the entire film are those during which we viewers are forced to \u201cwait for the other shoe to drop,\u201d knowing all too well the damaging ties that bind our unsuspecting heroes together.<\/p>\n Watching as the goofy-but-lovable C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon<\/a>) permits his sleazy supervisor\u00a0Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray<\/a>) to borrow his apartment for an adulterous fling with elevator girl Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine<\/a>) at the very same moment that Baxter \u2014 all unknowing \u2014 is so eagerly anticipating Fran\u2019s arrival at a Broadway show? Brutal. Seeing Fran succumb to Sheldrake\u2019s suave but empty assurances is even more agonizing because we know how\u00a0blissfully\u00a0happy (and unaware) Baxter is of her attachments, and of the role he is playing in his own disillusionment\u00a0(as well as hers).<\/p>\n Despite this serious of devastating reveals, their knowledge is fundamentally\u00a0disparate as the scene closes. He knows she\u2019s Sheldrake\u2019s dame; she knows Sheldrake\u2019s a liar and a cad. But the wonderful confluence that knowledge could bring is known only to we unhappy viewers, and the chance that these dear, damaged ships may pass one another in the loveless night is rendered all the more bitter by the fact that we have so clearly seen their nearness. In our minds, floodlights are sweeping; sirens, blaring. But for them, it\u2019s nothing but darkness. And Wilder\u2019s use of that frustrating divide drives much of the film\u2019s tension-filled and lengthy setup. (A notable exception to the \u201cWe Know But They Don\u2019t\u201d rule? The fantastic Wash Room Key moment \u2014 a moment rendered all the more gratifying because it\u2019s the first time Wilder\u2019s kept something significant from us, and the trust he\u2019s built up over the film makes the twist unexpected and wonderfully satisfying. Well worth the wait.)<\/p>\n But they are, and deeply. You don\u2019t see much of the injured in the film, since its focus is far more on the dalliances than on their consequences. Sheldrake\u2019s secretary (and former lover) makes a significant appearance, and we see a single shot of Sheldrake\u2019s wife, if I remember correctly. We also hear a few passing references to \u201cthe little lady\u201d or the conscience-soothing \u201cwe\u2019ve drifted apart.\u201d But on the whole, the wronged or damaged parties are kept largely out of the picture.<\/p>\n Except for Fran. And she makes all the difference.<\/p>\n As he learns her story, Baxter\u2019s indifference is shattered. She is one of the dalliancees, and a miserable, broken women because of it; a willing-ish participant, but one whose\u00a0relationship with Sheldrake refutes Baxter\u2019s helpfully-inaccurate categorizations. She\u2019s not careless, carefree, and unharmed; she\u2019s deeply wounded by her actions, and despairing enough to consider taking her own life. \u201cMakes me look the way I feel,\u201d remember? After that, there\u2019s no way Baxter can hide behind his comfortable \u201cfriendly apartment provider\u201d facade any longer. \u00a0It\u2019s not simply that he\u2019s attracted to her and it stings to see her in the company of another, though that definitely colors his reactions. It\u2019s that he sees and understands her pain, realizes the causes for that pain and that he is partially to blame, and refuses to take part in her (or anyone else\u2019s) destruction any longer.<\/p>\n So, in that wonderful Wash Room Key moment, when he finally takes the step we\u2019ve been begging him to take all along \u2014 refusing to allow Sheldrake the use of his apartment \u2014 he is rejecting his previous failure, and doing it because of what he now knows because of his relationship with Fran. He isn\u2019t expecting a reward, as his departure and packing make abundantly clear. He\u2019s doing it because it\u2019s the right thing, goodness-wise. In that moment, he refuses the chance to become\u00a0just another Sheldrake: a man unconcerned by the damaging\u00a0consequences of his actions and one who cares not for the broken human beings he leaves in his wake. Baxter has a new and transformational knowledge now: self-knowledge. Because of the time he has spent with Fran, his ability to abstractly tolerate (and even, in a way, to condone and support) his friends\u2019 failings is no longer sustainable. He\u2019s seen the consequences of their (and his own) sin, and rejects them. The apartment key\u2019s been handed out for the last time.<\/p>\n For Wilder the writer, knowledge is power, and the way he wields it is wonderful to behold. For Baxter, though, it\u2019s much more than power. For him, it\u2019s salvation.<\/p>\n For Wilder the writer, knowledge is power, and the way he wields it is wonderful to behold. For Baxter, though, it\u2019s much more than power. For him, it\u2019s salvation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1286,"featured_media":2547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-through-a-lens-darkly"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/109\/2013\/04\/ApartmentIV.jpg\" "\\"ApartmentIV\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis most recent time around, in addition to a deepening appreciation for its brisk pacing, its inimitable tone, and its perfectly-realized, complex characters, I was particularly struck\u00a0by a pair of thoughts \u2014 one technical, and one thematic.<\/p>\n<\/a>During the office Christmas party \u2014 my favorite scene in the entire film<\/a> \u2014 Fran\u2019s preoccupied response to Baxter\u2019s bowler questions go largely unnoticed \u2026by him. But we\u2019re on tender-hooks, knowing that her disinterest was brought on by the bombshell dropped only moments before by Sheldrake\u2019s secretary. Will he recognize her pain and reach out to comfort her, or will he continue his\u00a0champagne-addled attempts to win approbation for his headgear? Moments later, we hold our breath as we wait for him to recognize Fran\u2019s broken compact. When recognition comes, the moment is rendered all the more powerful (and painful) because we can scream at the screen: \u201cWe\u2019ve known it all along, darn you!\u201d<\/a> The meaning of her poignant defense of its\u00a0brokenness\u00a0\u2014 \u201cI like it that way.\u00a0Makes me look the way I feel.\u201d \u2014 is lost on him, all absorbed in the shock of discovering her Sheldraked attachment. But for the audience, it stings not only because we recognize its painful symbolism, but because we know how quickly and completely he could ease her (and our) suffering.<\/p>\n<\/a>The second, more thematic idea that caught me by the ear this time around is similar, come to think of it. Knowledge is the key here, as well, though it\u2019s not a technical, writerly use (or concealment) of knowledge so much as an increased understanding of the facts of the story. The film captures the key moment in Lemmon\u2019s life \u2014 that moment when his flippant, somewhat-uncomfortable goofiness and his willing participation in the vices of his co-workers \u2014 a glancing participation, to be sure, but a real one none the less \u2014 is transformed by a deeper, more personal knowledge of the damage being done by the many liaisons and dalliances his apartment conceals. In the past, he has turned a blind (or worse, a self-deluding) eye to their dangers \u2014 not because he thinks adultery is fine, morality-wise, but because he never looks (or wants to look) beyond his role as helpful, likable \u201ctaken-er.\u201d After all, nothing\u2019s quite like\u00a0clawing one\u2019s way up to middle management<\/a>, is it? Besides, \u201cboys will be boys,\u201d right? And no one\u2019s really getting hurt, are they?<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAttribution(s):<\/strong> All posters, publicity images, and stills are the property of United Artists\/MGM<\/a> and other respective production studios and distributors<\/a>, and are intended for editorial use only.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"