Reseñas de la crítica

[The Apple] is a potent mixture of documentary and drama, taking a fascinating but grim situation and crafting an absorbing mix of reality and storytelling that is sad yet uplifting... [It is] a striking debut of a talented filmmaker who handles the material, and the participants, with style and grace.

The film mixes fiction and documentary to create something that is so truthful, tender and compelling. It is political in the best sense – telling a deeply personal and particular story that makes us reflect on oppression and much more.

The cinematic vision of Samira Makhmalbaf is well realized here, and the film does well on all levels – its aesthetics and social commentary. The film’s lyricism is not at all compromised by its realism, and the apple... functions both as a character in the film and a metaphor for a number of things.

Richly allusive and beautifully photographed... [The Apple] has a dense layer of symbolism that resonates on many levels, most notably as a cry against oppression. It is a deeply moving film about the human spirit and the inevitable thirst for knowledge and freedom.

It's a witty, gentle but often surprisingly acerbic little movie, slowly working its way towards a quite devastating final shot which underlines the need for an open heart and mind.

[Makhmalbaf] takes this raw material and spins a fascinating drama out of the experiences of the girls... [The Apple] celebrates freedom and presents a severe critique of the continued shabby treatment of women in societies where patriarchal authoritarianism still holds sway.

Working from a screenplay by her father and using the actual family involved in this case, Ms. Makhmalbaf elicits remarkably unaffected performances. If there is a certain repetitiousness in the early part of this account, there is also much natural humor and keen observation of the behavior of children once the girls begin to venture into the world.

Experimental docudrama, open-ended essay, The Apple is a remarkable movie. Still, the question remains: Is Samira Makhmalbaf the real flower of the Islamic revolution or a hothouse orchid? Have Massoumeh and Zahra truly been set free? Or will they be shut in again two years hence?