The apple

Samira Makhmalbaf caused a sensation when her first film, which she directed at the age of 17, was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. 'The Apple' is the true story of two daughters who were confined to their homes for 12 years by their parents. Samira Makhmalbaf follows them after they have been handed over to social services. However, the documentary aspect is counterbalanced by the fact that both the daughters and the parents here revisit their previous lives together. In doing so, both victims and abusers are given a voice (incidentally, the same method used by Abbas Kiarostami in 'Close-Up', which has Samira Makhmalbaf's famous father Mohsen as one of the protagonists).

The first image of the film shows a hand trying with great difficulty to water a potted plant. The woman with the jug is blind, and her husband does not want to let the couple's two daughters out into the surrounding world. He refers to the fact that his daughters are like flowers that must not be exposed to sunlight. Then they will fade. A film full of silent poetry and cruelty, reality and sensuous staging, darkness and light.

Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
Starring: Ghorban Ali Naderi, Azizeh Mohamadi, Massoumeh Naderi
Country/year: Iran, France, 1998
Running time: 85 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15
Original title: Sib

Part of the series: Classics
From Orson Welles and F.W. Murnau to Samira Makhmalbaf, Andrzej Zulawski and Guillermo del Toro: Cinemateket presents a handful of film classics that deserve the big screen.