Äppelkriget

I, like everyone who has ever seen this movie in an art house in the U.S. has fond memories of this film. And yes, it is not available in this country either in English or subtitled in English.

BUT, for die-hards, there is a small sliver of hope. The film (and 3 others are available from a Scandinavian import house. Sorry, only in Swedish or Norwegian. If interested, go to www.skandimport.com. You can order this film and 3 others for the sum of $21.00. Very reasonable.

Unfortunately, I have no idea whether or not the other three films are at the level of the Apple Wars, but if you speak Swedish or Norwegian you may be in for a treat.

Remembering my viewing in Seattle of this film and watching Appelkriget on DVD, it was still a very pleasurable afternoon.

It has been many years since I've seen "The Apple War," but it still sticks in my mind as one of the cleverest, sweetest films I've ever seen.

If I remember correctly, the sequence with Mr. Von Sydow dancing to the beat of his drum was truly something to behold (and certainly very well done).

I'm really sorry that it doesn't seem to be available on tape or DVD.

This film is perhaps the most charming soap bubble I've ever encountered. I saw theaters full of disenchanted college students leave with the broadest of smiles on their faces and a sense that cynicism might not be the eternal verite after all. Add to that the most delightful images imaginable and you have a film not to be missed by any but the most hardened of hearts.

If a movie can be a national anthem, this movie is it - for Swedes and Sweden. Comics Tage and Hasse hit every note right in this remarkable and "lucky" movie. When "Äppelkriget" is shown in Svenska Ord festivals - the whole country turns out. Maybe you have to be Swedish to fully appreciate this wonderful flick - but with music by national bard Evert Taube and a magnificent cast, this movie simply cannot fail!

I loved this film when I first saw it in Seattle at the Egyptian Moore Theater in 1972. The Moore used to run this film regularly, and there was as much a cult following for this film as for Rocky Horror.

Great fun, with giants and other magical bits and pieces conspiring to rid their town of a corporative nightmare, "Deutschneyland, a gigantic amusement park for German tourists." Gentle fun and a lot of laughs.

Although not available on DVD (though I once found a bootleg copy dubbed in German on VHS!), The Apple War would be welcomed by a lot of folks, as would other films of this era, such as "Cat and Mouse" by Claude LeLouch, "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin," "No, Actually," and many, many others. There were a lot of terrific films and television series made in the 1970s, just prior to video becoming a household commodity, and I feel sure there is a ready market on couches around the world just waiting for their release.