What is it about New York City that makes people share their personal stories with complete strangers on the street? Whereas in other cities a passer-by might comment on the weather, or sports, or some other triviality, a New Yorker will spill their guts about life, love, and whatever is giving them agita at the moment to whomever is within earshot, regardless of whether the hapless recipient is interested or not. Everyone’s life is an open book, and every street corner, subway car, and coffee shop counter is just another place to hold a reading.
Which brings me to filmmaker Josh Freed, and his short documentary “The Apartment.” Ostensibly a film about Josh’s friend Yossi, his girlfriend, and his Harlem two bedroom, “The Apartment” is actually a microcosm of New York city itself – a magical place where a nebbishy Jew can bemoan his lot in life to straphangers, check-cashers, and cab drivers alike.
I won’t ruin the ending, but anyone who’s hunted both apartments and girlfriends (or boyfriends, I suppose) in New York’s urban jungle should recognize a little of themselves in Yossi and his story.
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