Apples

I got ambiguous feelings after movie. One side of my mind tried to tell me this movie speaks quite of nothing, but other side quite loved it. Because the story is so realistic, and it's very easy to imagine oneself in the main character situaction.

So the verdict would be - worth your time!

A dash of Philip K. Dick & Julio Cortazar (Disturbed Memory Department of the Neurological Hospital) and lots of Greek Weird Wave clichés - deadpan humor, doom and gloom, alienation, grief, identity-crisis, ennui etc. Alas, Apples lacks the haunting sadism of Lanthimos and Makridis' films which could make it more palatable to a wider audience. Nikou's suggestion - amnesia is not a disease, but a cure - is intriguing.

"You could make a new beginning now."

Apples is a Greek movie that I fortunately got a ticket to during AFI. This must be the year for perfectly timed movie releases. Like our world today, the movie takes place during a worldwide pandemic. In this case, the unknown illness causes sudden amnesia. Middle-aged Aris finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities. I probably should've paid attention more in the beginning (I was finishing up some school work) because I had no idea what was actually going on the first 20 minutes. Once I figured everything out, I could actually start enjoying this movie. What I've found is Greek films have a certain style. All the ones I have seen have a quirky style, are drama-comedies, and have a deeper meaning to them. Apples follows this same setup the whole way through. I liked this style for the movie, but I found a major issue with pacing. The beginning starts off very slow and leaves many questions for the viewer. Right away there isn't much of an interest other than the acting and direction. Aris Servetalis plays Aris (I don't think the naming is coincidental) well. We're with him the whole time. He starts out having contracted this amnesia illness so we're blind with him. The comedy comes mainly from him. It's not the sort of laugh out loud comedy but it's more wholesome and situational. But the main source of interest comes from director Christos Nikou. He could be a new Yorgos Lanthimos. Their styles from the pale cinematography to the deadpan acting are very similar in the way of execution. I liked where he was coming from and this is a personal story to him as said in a Q&A with him, but this isn't as fleshed out as I would like it to be. Maybe a rewatch would help gain a better experience, but for now there's a bit of a disconnect. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a contender for international feature this awards season as it showcases good filmmaking.

A film quite good in terms of plot, composition of the story and its evolution as well as with a great cinematic and directorial image, sound and shooting for the Greek data, the only thing that spoils it is the typical Greek "daydreaming" and the non-liveliness of the actors, except for the excellent Servetalis once again. The story had some holes in some parts of the film with a more characteristic ending as I think the director should have given more basis to the ending of the film and find out all the reason that ended up and the main character to choose this "new identity". ... maybe it was appropriate that I could not enter the director's mind except to make guesses and reflections ... generally a well-crafted plot which was not at all often boring and similar to others.

A parallel universe of loneliness. An isolated man without memories. A new beginning. Brilliant Smart Inspiring