Oct 23

Oct 23 AFI FEST film review: 'Apples'

How much of a person is defined by the specifics of their lives and how much of their character is defined by something more fundamental is explored in the Greek dramatic comedy 'Apples' (screening during AFI FEST 2020).

In short: Amidst a worldwide pandemic that causes sudden amnesia, middle-aged Aris (Aris Servetalis) finds himself enrolled in a recovery program designed to help unclaimed patients build new identities.

Rather than get hung up on all the sci-fi, high concept particulars of a memory destroying pandemic, this film lives entirely in one man's experience living in a post-memory life. At one point, it quite literally tests the theory that one never forgets how to ride a bike. But perhaps this film a bit too introspective, opting to exist solely with his head - forgoing opportunities to explore broader, more universal themes. 'Apples' merely touches the notions that amnesia could be an escape from pain or a reset of sorts, the film neglects these ideas and doesn't explore them to any depth.

It's interesting to note the how similar in disposition Aris is before his memory loss and immediately after his prognosis. What little is revealed of Aris in his life before losing his memory is that of a withdrawn, intense, quiet man of very few words and a half-mast gaze. The audience gets to see this similarity - but his doctors and Aris himself have no clue how similar in temperament the new Aris is to the old Aris.

The fun of 'Apples' is trying to figure just what Aris remembers and what he can't remember. It's honestly pretty vague how much of his total memory loss is, in fact, "total." While he forgets most basic facts about his life, he shows glimpses of very specific, very detailed memories - akin to someone hearing "Macarena," then almost instinctively performing every step and movement of the unique dance.

'Apples' does fall into the subcategory of dialogue-lite, nearly soundtrack-free films filled with long silences. It's a filmmaking approach that doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone, therefore, makes it difficult to urge everyone to see this odd film. Perhaps if this ambitious film touched upon some of the more eccentric aspects of what memory loss, on a societal scale, would mean, then the film might have played with ideas to justify its methodical pacing and silence-filled moments. But for a film that's barely 90 minutes (including credits) this odd movie is yet another in a long line of movies that could have either been a more compact short film or explored more ideas with its feature-length runtime.

Final verdict: Writer-director Christos Nikou's directorial debut is an intriguing and novel film that plays like a low-key Yorgos Lanthimos comedy, only lacking definitive and assured commentary.