Apples

I don't often like cinematic riddles, but this one deserves putting the effort to try and solve it. Especially since the movie itself gives us all the necessary clues for the solution.

The more I thought about this film the better I realized it was. It asks two basic questions what's our memories made of? And, how do we build new ones if we lost all those we had?

Yes, it's funny at moments, but I don't think it's a comedy and I said more than once on this pages "comedy drama" or "tragic comedy" are non terms as far as I'm concerned. Life have their funny moments, and showing these funny moments doesn't mean we're telling a funny story. In fact most of the laughs in this movie come from the artificial attempt to create new memories for these people who lost their old memories so they can build a new personality. It's like constructing a personality in a laboratory - that's not the way to do it. Personality is what carries us through real life and that's the only place where personalities can be built.

The film says this very loudly with a story that allows us very limited information about its protagonist. Aris, the protagonist seems to suffer from the amnesia sickness that the story tells us, is taking place all over the world. But we'll soon realize Aris does remember certain things, but doesn't like remembering. We'll have to reach the very end of the movie to solve its riddle and pay close attention to the clues provided through the story to find why Aris stopped fearing apples which are - as the film says - "good for the memory"

I won't be saying anything more, as this would mean adding a spoiler - I don't do these.

"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.

In this film Aris appears to have suffered from a major case of amnesia, along with many of his fellow citizens. As a result he is put into a rehabilitation program, to try to help him rebuild his identity. The central character plays the scenes with a deadpan air, allowing us to view the unfolding events with him. He meets a fellow amnesiac, and they appear to be building a relationship, but he becomes disillusioned when he realises that her advances towards him are just the result of suggestions by the doctors who are controlling the program. It is an interesting study about the search for identity, and a meaning to life, and perhaps too the controlling impact of institutions on our lives, as the demands of the doctors become increasingly bizarre and inappropriate. Ultimately the film seems to question whether the character really has lost his memory, or whether this is a voluntary choice, as he searches for a new identity.

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.

A very interesting take on a different type of pandemics, I felt I could see more of that movie, maybe more complications and more lines to the story to give it the depth that could made that a movie one of the best movies in 2021 without a doubt.

Beside my wishes, an authentic experience that you witness rarely.