Billy Wilder
L'appartamento

Today I'm feeling terrible, I've got a massive cold, as if I'd spent the whole night outside. I look in the mirror and I see myself as Bud Baxter, you know him right? Of course, Bud Buxter also known as "cici bello"! Basically, this Baxter (who works in a large insurance company) would lend his apartment to his superiors when they wanted to have a fling with some girl. Once, he even had to spend the night out because one of his superiors needed his apartment in the middle of the night. And in exchange for these favors, our Baxter slowly starts moving up the ranks. So far so good, you might say, there's nothing wrong with doing all this in a cutthroat and capitalist society. Everything changes when the girl of his dreams gets involved, who happened to be having an affair with none other than the head of the insurance company where Baxter works and who asks our friend for the keys to the now-famous apartment.

From here, a series of unforeseen events and even misunderstandings arise (for example, the neighbor couple, seeing all the women coming and going, think that Baxter is a playboy, whereas the reality is quite the opposite).
And while our Baxter even manages to become vice-president of the insurance company, he increasingly realizes he's trapped: on one side, the job (where he is more and more successful, regardless of whether it's deserved), and on the other side, his romantic problems (which are certainly not secondary issues, at least not for our protagonist).

The turning point will finally come when our protagonist realizes that he just needs to break free from these chains to be a free man, a man who takes his life (and his apartment) and manages it as he sees fit, even if it means being alone.

However, with the story of the apartment, Billy Wilder wants to dig deep: his film is a sharp critique against the American society of the 60s, a society where to be someone, you have to give everything you have, at the times and in the ways determined by someone high up the ladder.
"The Apartment" is Billy Wilder's most biting film, no doubt about it. Setting aside family, this tale by Wilder focuses on American society and the condition of man (forced to be a workaholic, because the apartment he needs to return to is still occupied, so it's better to stay at work) surrounded, as mentioned, by hypocritical and cutthroat individuals. The man here is alone, without family, wives, lovers (even if others think you're a playboy). And this man, all by himself, manages to get back on his feet emotionally, despite this recovery leading to a "professional" downfall (his dismissal).   

The protagonist, Bud Buxter, is played by a Jack Lemmon in a state of grace, almost confirming that the Wilder-Lemmon duo works miracles. Jack Lemmon here makes you laugh, smile, move, reflect, a splendid puppet with heart and soul.
The leading lady is the always beautiful Shirley MacLaine, whose character will even brush with tragedy in this impeccably toned comedy: it's impossible not to fall in love with her, the true "girl next door".
The whole story is narrated by the ever-phenomenal Billy Wilder, there isn't a flaw in this film: from the script to the photography to the cast, everything is perfect and timed like a ticking bomb.

Be careful, though, not to label this Wilder film as just another comedy; digging deeper, one can find a profound and attentive critique of our society (whether 50 years ago or today, it's the same, hypocrites and opportunists have always existed and always will). In short, Wilder's genius once again sinks its teeth into the society where he lives, studying it and tormenting it with class and style worthy of one of the greatest directors of the 20th century.