Apples
Apples starts as it means to go on with close-ups of a bland house interiors to the beat of a drum. Christos Nikou’s film delivers deadpan humour but is weirdly moving on our relationship between memory, identity and grief. Nikou, is often attached to Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite) as a leading light of the ‘Greek Weird Wave’. Apples is a beautiful, small delight that delivers a texture and voice all of its own.
Aris plays the tasks as if he were in a silent movie. He rides a bike, goes fishing and ‘enjoys’ a lap dance. Things get more difficult when he meets Anna – a fellow patient. Anna battles to abide by the rules of this strange therapy. The film is set in a 4:3 ratio world where everyone still uses Polaroid cameras – a sly commentary on social media as capturing the moment becomes more important than actually experiencing it.
Apples ends up being strangely moving and manages to light up the screen through its perfectly observed strangeness. Franz Kafka meets Charlie Kaufman.
The film is available to stream on MUBI now – and will be available soon on DVD/Blu ray.
