La guerre des pommes

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.

I saw Apple War, or Appelkriget, in the early 70's when it was showing at a university area theater. I probably went 4 times, and every time I saw the same thing: every single attendee left with a huge smile on his or her face. I've never experienced a movie that has had that affect on the entire audience. I just wish I could find a copy of this gem to see again. I can't believe that it would have lost its charm or glamour, and my life, and those of my friends, could use a little unadulterated joy.

I too saw this film in the 1970s at the Venice Fox, which was then an art house and which has now been re-purposed for auctions or something. They screened it for a week; it was some sort of benefit, and I remember going a second time and dragging a few friends with me. It remains one of my all-time favorite films. My Swedish friend, Lennart, says that it is fairly well-known in Sweden and remains popular--it's a lot of fun but it's also a piece of devastatingly targeted agit-prop. I've been searching for it, on and off, since I saw it, in the face of blank stares from the vast majority of Americans, who have never heard of it, and even from clerks in independent video stores, who think I'm nuts. If only someone would make a DVD with English-language subtitles!

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, 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.