Blog Assignment #3

The screenplay of The Apartment, smoothly written in a captivating manner, functioned on many levels. Unfamiliar with the film, the time era was a bit difficult to decipher at first. From a narrative standpoint, the story seems timeless. Between the choices of vocabulary, certain set pieces, and apparel clues one could detect that the story was not set anytime in the recent past. This made the story even more intriguing. For the 1960’s, The Apartment seemed to be an original idea.
Definitely an outstanding component in the script is the characterization. Each agent holds his or her own intriguing and believable persona. Betwixt these personas stems relationships all encompassed by Bud’s apartment. The complexity of the characters relationships and the connection with the insurance office occupations is quite admirable. Another working aspect is the minute comedic element presented by Bud’s neighbors misinterpreting his lifestyle.
The only part of the script that did not work was the spontaneous, but tardy decision made by Fran to leave Sheldrake. Most probably an aesthetic move by the writers, but from an audience’s perspective, the ending just does not fully satisfy. However, on screen the openness of the conclusion might suffice.

Discussion Questions
1. Regarding The Apartment, could Bud’s character introduction incorporate more or less detail? Why?

2. What kind of non-verbal behavior would Bud’s character need to utilize to attain a naturalistic style?

Brendon Kingsbury