#Ali Abbas

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Cineuropa

Cannes 2024 Competition

Review: The Apprentice

by Marta Bałaga

21/05/2024 - CANNES 2024: Ali Abbasi’s satire about baby Trump is shallow and pointless, a real misstep for the versatile director.

How Ali Abbasi managed to follow Border [+] (sexed-up trolls!) and Holy Spider [+] (a women-hating killer!) with a satire about baby Trump, finding his footing thanks to mentor Roy Cohn, is a mystery. But it’s also a misstep for the versatile director, who seems so intrigued by 1970s New York and bouncy period songs that he forgets he had a story to tell.

The Apprentice, screened in the Cannes Film Festival competition, says precisely nothing. No, that’s not fair – it says that Donald Trump was created by Roy Cohn, a powerhouse lawyer and a proud bully. The clueless met the all-knowing in a members-only joint, learnt fast and kicked the king of New York off his throne. A tale as old as time, with some waterfall walls, hair transplants and Jeremy Strong really committing to intense stares and push-ups.

It’s interesting at the beginning, when Trump (Sebastian Stan, pouting away) is still that awkward kid at the party, begging to be noticed by the big shots he so admires. He gets his wish – Cohn (Succession’s Strong) invites him over for a drink. Trump doesn’t drink, but he has big plans, and a friendship is forged. What does Trump get out of it? Everything, including three rules of success, which he will monetise later. What does Cohn get out of it? An admirer, eager and pretty “like Robert Redford”, some journalist claims in a profile. He might be attracted to him, this tall “thoroughbred”, but not necessarily; it’s just nice when people look up to you. But if you have fun creating a monster, don’t be surprised when it bites your hand off and swallows it whole.

That’s where this film fails – Trump’s transformation feels rushed, as if Abbasi realised that he was making this blond kid a little too nice. It’s clear he is more into power than sex, for example, and that’s intriguing – ignoring a gorgeous companion but noticing every rich guy in the room – but soon he goes, for example, from fearing his cruel father to smiling happily when he finally proudly calls him “a killer”, from buying future wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) crazy amounts of flowers to raping her. Which, it has to be said, is an unpleasant, unnecessary scene, once again proving that all too often, directors use female suffering and sexual violence to say something about a man. As for Ivana, she is quickly discarded. She gets to talk about some fake Tiffany cufflinks, however. Hooray.

Abbasi goes broad from the start: there’s Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech; there’s a meeting with Andy Warhol, who gets Trump right away, because Andy also does whatever is currently selling. There was some hope that a non-US director would notice something new in this mess, that he would manage to demystify a figure that refuses to go away. But showing Trump in his shy days, pining for attention and throwing up when finally forced to drink something other than water, doesn’t achieve that.

This promised to be a controversial, important film – it’s not. It also feels like a TV movie, made quickly and with a ready-made period soundtrack. Maybe it’s just too early to fully grasp Trump, already such a cartoonish figure that on the screen he doesn’t feel real. Or maybe it’s time to stop fixating on the hair (which Stan touches, brushes and hairsprays here every other minute) and ask why his antics and his “art of the deal” are so appealing to people. Nobody knows Trump, and nobody understands what he is after these days – that’s scary. And nobody will, at least not now, because The Apprentice lets him off the hook once again, with Stan’s version continuing to “admit nothing, deny everything”.

The Apprentice was produced by Profile Pictures (Denmark), Scythia Films (Canada), Tailored Films (Ireland), and the USA’s Gidden Media and Kinematics. Its international sales are managed by Rocket Science.

[akultalkies]

Randeep Hooda, Suniel Shetty, Rohini Hattangadi, Rukhsar Rehman, Nitu Chandra, Zakir Hussain, Alfredo Tavares, Siddarth Jadhav, Kiran Rathore, Kuldeep Kumar, Puneet Singh Ratn, Sankeetaan Raravir, Rohit Pathak, Satyajeet Rajput, Ali

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[maihonhassan]

Who is Hazrat Ali ع;

The quencher of Kawthar, no one but Ali ع !

The conquerer of Khayber, no one but Ali ع !

The lion of God, no one but Ali ع !

The hope of Orphans, no one but Ali ع !

The confidant of Allah's secrets, no one but Ali ع !

The gateway to the knowledge of Muhammad ص is, no one but Ali ع !

[thedepartmentofdiscoveries]

Tiled Stairs In Ali-Qapu Palace In Isfahan - Iran Built By The Safavid King Shah Abbas I At The End Of The 16th Century (1597).

[kaipanzero]

Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (2024)

[jiastills]

o' rungreza

[likewaterfallz]

Maqtal says that when Imam Hussain (as) reached Abbas (as) on Euphrates, his head was split open because they hit him with buldgeon. One of his eyes had blood settled in it due to head injury however the head injury was also accompanied by an arrow pierced in his left eye which was weighing his head down. His rib was crushed. His chest was bruised with Mashq sown on his chest with the arrow piercing his chest. His spine was broken due to buldgeon attack with spikes.

When Hazrat Abbas (as) fell from the horse… He had no hands to support, he fell face first chest first so the spears and arrows went from chest to back, his head hit the ground first due to weight of the arrow in his left eye… They didn't just attack Abbas (as) the yazidis attacked the reflection of Ali (as) so they broke him into pieces…. Further they feared him so much that whilst beheading him they struck his body with more swords making sure he would rise although he was martyred already….

Maqtal writes that when imam Hussain (as) tried to lift his body to put his head in his lap he was taking last breaths and his body was shattered that when he placed his hand on his back to lift him the body further sank like pieces falling apart …

Ya Abbas (as) Salutations on you!

[everythingsouthasian]

KUCH ANKAHI (2023) dir. Nadeem Baig ✦ Episode 5

[garadinervi]

Naji al-Ali (ناجي سليم العلي‎) (1936 – August 29, 1987)

(image: Naji al-Ali, foto by Saleh Abbas, 1969; in Filastin. L'arte di resistenza del vignettista palestinese Naji al-Ali, Foreword by Vauro Senesi, Translations by Fay R. Ledvinka, Graphic design by Gabriele Munafò and Sonny Partipilo, «Kina», Eris Edizioni, Torino, 2013)

[chashmenaaz]

کوئی چاند رکھ میری شام پر

میرا دل جلے تیرے نام پر

Place a moon in my evening

My heart burns in your name

[steelbluehome]

The Irish Times

Cannes 2024: The Apprentice review – Long shadow of Succession hangs over controversial Donald Trump biopic (click for article)

Ali Abbasi film starring Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong zones in on a twisted early Trump mentor

Tara Brady

Tue May 21 2024 - 08:55

The Apprentice

Director: Ali Abbasi

Cert: None

Genre: DramaStarring: Starring Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Joe Pingue

Running Time: 2 hrs mins

The Apprentice, which lists Ireland’s Tailored Films among its producers and is showing in competition at the Cannes film festival, zooms in on Cohn’s twisted mentorship of a young Donald Trump. The shadow of Succession casts long over Ali Abbasi’s controversial biopic, not least in the casting of Jeremy Strong as the vulpine Cohn.

Sebastian Stan, who does fine work incorporating Trump’s mannerisms without slipping into parody, can only bumble in Cohn’s presence when they first meet at members’ club in New York. Trump, a rent collector for his father’s property portfolio in a dilapidated city, wants to build a luxury hotel near Grand Central Station. Cohn has the nefarious legal skills to help.

A ruthless mentor, he teaches Trump three essential rules: “Attack. Attack. Attack; Admit nothing. Deny everything; Always claim victory and never admit defeat.” In common with many comic books, the dark master, soon enough, is mastered. Trump grows brasher and stronger as Cohn, enfeebled by AIDS and federal investigations, visibly weakens. The commanding Cohn’s decline dovetails with a dip in the film’s dramatic impact.

Watching how The Apprentice plays in America’s polarised political landscape will be intriguing. The younger Trump recalls nothing if not the ditsy heroines of YA franchises, a harmless haplessness that will not play well with the Blue States. The third-act inclusion of a marital rape scene inspired by Ivana Trump’s divorce deposition – a claim she later retracted – will likely outrage Republicans (and possibly lawyers).

Working in Academy ratio with archival inserts, cinematographer Kasper Tuxen and editor Olivier Bugge Coutté recreate the late 1970s and 1980s to a series of loudly banging tunes selected by David Holmes.

The economical script by Gabriel Sherman, an award-winning biographer and journalist, often strays into a revision of the established story: “You have a face like an orange”, yells Ivana (Maria Bakalova, with a fun performance that lacks the statuesque presence of the first Mrs Trump), during a bust-up.

Director Abbasi has a strong Cannes game. He won the Un Certain Regard award with the disturbing troll picture Border in 2018. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, the star of the Danish-Iranian filmmaker’s impactful serial killer drama Holy Spider, was named best actress on the Croisette in 2022. The Apprentice lacks the gravitas or impact of these earlier films, but it’s a pleasing enough doodle thanks to Stan, Strong, and a lot of period wigs.

[untolddreamx]

[coffeewanderer]

Appreciating Kuch Ankahi

Currently watching Kuch Ankahi. Initially started watching the drama for Sajjal Aly and Bilaal Abbas Khan but the drama is too good.

Pros:

Firstly, great story and an equally appreciable performances by the cast.

I've watched too many dramas: Pakistani, Korean, Chinese and Indian but this drama has one of the best character development.

A good mix of comedy and drama with strong female characters.

The highlight though, there are many life lessons the drama has, but it isn't preachy.

You see imperfect people and its fine.

Cons:

Initially, it feels slow. People lacking cultural context, may not understand the dialogues and some scenes to full extent. Some may appear brainless too.

This is a slowburn kind of romance, and is subtle.

Finally, you should try this drama for its story. Its rare to have a sitcom that treats each character as an individual rather than as a support to the main leads. For those who want to watch this- its available on Youtube.

[dreamingyarah]

finished my rewatch of kuch ankahi today. i loved it even more this time through. it just seemed a lot more cohesive, and some of the other story lines made more sense to me.

now i want my own salman. i guess while i'm waiting, i'll do my best to be aaliyah.