Taking place in a dystopian future (1994), The Apple shows us a world where society lives under the totalitarian rule of the music industry. All citizens across the world must sport a "bim mark" at all times as well as break into dance for an hour every single day. The head of this industry is Mr. Boogalow, a Satan-type character who controls everything. Enter Bibi and Alphie, a naive couple from Canada who fall head first into the grasps of Mr. Boogalow's record label. While Alphie is suspicious of Mr. Boogalow's contract terms and overall intentions, Bibi leaps at the chance to become a pop star. Menahem Golan's The Apple is a film which certainly fits in the 'so bad it's good' category, but that doesn't mean the film doesn't have moments of artistic intention from its director. Being made in the late 70s, during the fall of the disco phenomenon and rise of pop music, The Apple takes this assertion to the extreme. The narrative tropes are all incredibly exaggerated from the nativity of Bibi being over-the-top to Mr. Boogalow's almost devil like appearance. The way the production design futurized the movie is quite hysterical too. Basically they took everything they had, added shiny bright lights, glitter, and 70's fashion that has been pushed to the extreme. It's incredibly tacky but gloriously fun to examine. Out of everything, Vladek Sheybal's portrayal of Mr. Boogalow was the highlight of the film for me, clearly having a lot of fun delivering a hammy, over-the-top performance. This is an insane film that is hard to describe, even venturing into spiritual themes to make its statement. Menahem Golan's The Apple is silly, stupid, and charming, easily being one of the oddest musicals cinema has ever produced. 7/10
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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