The Apartment

Jack Lemmon – whose centenary it is on 8 February – plays lonely office clerk CC Baxter, who lends his apartment to his bosses for their extramarital affairs. That is, until he realises Fran Kubelik, who operates the lift in his company’s building and with whom CC has fallen in love, is involved in the arrangement. Partially inspired by Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter, Wilder’s film is equally a moving tale about solitude and a sparkling, perfectly delightful comedy.

BFI Film Academy Recommends

BFI Film Academy Recommends highlights films and events for young people aged 16 to 25, picked by the BFI Film Academy Young Programmers.

The healing nature of a feel-good film lies in its ability to leave the viewer feeling elated and optimistic by the time the credits begin to roll. The Apartment easily achieves this, sustaining a high quota of laughs while also exploring the themes of loneliness and our need for connection. They’re borne out through the film’s razor-sharp dialogue, which has the rhythm of a musical number, replete with the kind of one-liners that came to define a Billy Wilder film. If only life sounded this good.

Young Programmer, Beatrice Benn