MUBI

18 year old Samira Makhmalbaf did a remarkable job directing this film, although I believe her father Mohsen Makhmalbaf was the real auteur of “The Apple” (he wrote it and edited it). The film centers on the world of two little girls. They are locked away Castle of Purity style, and finally after 11 years, the neighbors complain, so a social worker gives the father an ultimatum. He has to let the girls outside to play with the other children. But the blind mother wants the little girls to be locked away with her for their whole lives. She’s afraid of losing them, and of what might happen to them.

The girls finally get to explore, and the father is given a choice. He can either lose his two girls, or saw through the locks to save them. During the girls exploration, they discover a young boy who ties an apple to a string and teases them with it from a second story window. They befriend the boy, and their father gives them money to get apples.

“The Apple” is a very symbolic movie. In a way, the girls are eating from the fruit of life. Their father is sawing away the gate to their own freedom.
It’s a well-made, very good enjoyable flick.

- 3 stars