what are you talking about
A true dive into the secrets of American empire, The Apprentice follows a young Donald Trump’s rise to power thanks to a Faustian pact with conservative lawyer and political matchmaker Roy Cohn.
A success story
In 2022, Ali Abbasi caused a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival with the investigation Les Nuits de Mashhad, inspired by a series of feminicides in Iran in the early 2000s, and the prize for female actor (for Zar Amir Ebrahim). Later, the director returned to the Croisette with another true story: the rise of Donald Trump with his mentor, attorney Roy Cohn.
A story with a vintage touch and the look of Succession (perhaps because Jeremy Strong, one of the stars of the HBO series, plays Roy Cohn), where the figure of the 45th president of the United States as we know it today. By having a famous slogan “Make America Great Again”Or a lawyer’s advice to a businessman (always attack, deny the facts of which he may be accused, refuse to be defeated), which the latter did with his guidelines.
Always balancing between Saturday Night Live -style caricature and hagiographic portraiture that over-sympathizes with its subject, The Apprentice pokes fun at the American dream and stands out in the director’s filmography. Even, as in Mashhad Nights, it reflects the product of society. “I do not consider the film to be a continuation of the topics I have already addressed”answers Ali Abbas when we ask him about his interest in this biography.
Donald Trump is the Forrest Gump of American politics
“But I like the idea of seeing the world from someone else’s point of view. Here’s Donald Trump. I think he’s a very fascinating character, and there’s two categories between them: one, on the other hand, someone like Napoleon – because we’re in France – who created a movement, an era that created a certain What established Forrest Gump.”
“For me, Donald Trump is the Forrest Gump of American politics. He is there when things happen. And whatever you think of him, there’s something very modern about him: he’s a post-truth, broken-truth president. I don’t think he would have reached this position before social media became so important, he was a president at a complete change, and I’m not saying that in a positive or negative way.
“And I don’t think of The Apprentice as a biopic about Donald Trump. The film allows us to follow his evolution through the mentorship of Roy Cohn and, through that relationship, get to know the American electoral system and how it works: how it works, what’s on the surface and what’s underneath. . That’s the most exciting part.”
Lacking going out?
Left out of competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, despite its obvious qualities (notably Sebastian Stan’s performance as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn), The Apprentice is not the biopic its director intended it to be. or But the argument clearly did not carry much weight in the camp of the candidate in the next American presidential election. And the favorable reviews, the day after its presentation on the Croisette, were accompanied by threats of legal action.
“This film is pure fiction, presenting false facts that have long been established”said Diversity Donald Trump’s spokesperson undoubtedly referred to the scene of the rape of his wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova). “I was not surprised because everyone was talking about it for a long time and we had problems with our own investors.Ali Abbasi replied a few months later.
Maria Bakalova, Ali Abbas and Sebastian Stan
“After that, a lot of things piled up, a lot of legal issues that worried the distributors. Everyone was, but I thought it was funny that it happened. Especially since they hadn’t seen the film and couldn’t understand it. The fictional side of it, in addition to making it very difficult to distribute and The structural way of financing put us in a difficult position and led us to the possibility of not showing the film worldwide.
“We came up with a solution at the last minute, but it was really difficult. Most of the US distributors were really concerned about the impact it could have and how a potential lawsuit from the Trump team would affect us, but maybe that was part of it as well. Intimidation is their strategy so that they don’t release it, we’re also at a time where it’s becoming very difficult to completely censor things and we can’t prevent a movie from showing I don’t want to give us theaters to do that.
Censorship vs. crowdfunding
So what was the solution? Cut scenes compared to the version shown in Cannes? “I was asked. Several times, but I refused. I’m from Iran, you know. And there you either find a way to deal with censorship or you don’t. So I can’t work in that direction. I think I’m a free speech fundamentalist, it Probably the most important feature for me.
To pave the way to cinemas, The Apprentice took crowdfunding to pave the way: “To help him get out and because we have a lot of legal fees and he’s still working. We’ve already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this now, and if we have a lawsuit against us, we will. Starting another campaign (laughs)”
The worst thing that can happen to us is that we haven’t seen the movie
“The funny thing is that a lot of the media see it as a marketing ploy. A communication operation. But they don’t understand the situation because it’s absolutely not marketing. Four weeks ago, I literally didn’t sleep because I didn’t sleep. I don’t know what would happen with the film , I think the worst that can happen to me. Gabriel Sherman Or people who have been involved in the project for so many years is that it is not visible. I’d rather it was him and everyone hated him, which isn’t such a big deal.”
We don’t know how well the movie will be liked yet, but The Apprentice is indeed coming to theaters. This Wednesday, October 9 in France and two days later in the United States, one month before the American presidential election. We can also wonder if the evolution of the campaign, the replacement of Joe Biden by Kamala Harris, and how he was able to gain an advantage over Donald Trump in their first debate, affected distributors. Cool.
“Prove to people that producing risky content can also be profitable”
“I think we’re lucky that somebody decided to jump in. I don’t usually worry about how much money my movies make or how much box office they get, but I hope that the people who invested in The Apprentice get their money back and they make money because I’m sick of this industry where there are small movies that are good but don’t work and crappy and ineffective sequels that make all the money I want to prove to people that producing risky content can also be profitable and that you won’t be punished for it “.
And what about society? What effect will Ali Abbas have with this portrait that clearly fails to get people talking? “This is a humanist project, it should not be liberal or conservative, democratic or republican, because it is not interesting to discuss this axis, to talk about what is progressive or conservative. And it would be interesting to lead the debate in this way.”
That’s why Ali Abbas’s fight is far from over. Who knows if The Apprentice will play a role in the race for the White House, which is about to enter its prime stretch.
Commentaries collected by Maximilien Pierret in Paris on September 17, 2024
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
