Film Review: The Apple (1980)

(source: tmdb.org)

Israeli producer Menahem Golan is best known as the co-founder of Cannon Films, film studio whose low budget action films reigned over the shelves of 1980s video stores. Golan also had a long directing career with rather diverse set of films, which weren’t particularly impactful or memorable, with two possible exceptions. One was 1986 action hit The Delta Force, and the other was The Apple, 1980 futuristic disco musical which is often put on the list of the worst films ever made.

The film was originally conceived as epic stage musical by Israeli rock music producer Coby Recht, inspired by his bad experiences with music industry and with the text that included both biblical and Orwellian overtones. The plot is set in 1994, in a world dominated by entertainment industry and increasingly powerful corporations like Boogalow International Music (BIM), led by Satan-like Mr. Boogalow (played by Vladek Sheybal). BIM is just about to win next Worldvision Song Contest with a next disco hit sung by duo Pandi and Nandi (played by Grace Kennedy and Alan Love), when they get upstaged by newcomers, Canadian duo Alphie and Bibi (played by Gary Gilmour and Catherine Mary Stuart) whose simple folk song wins audience and forces Boogalow’s minions to rig the contest. Boogalow nevertheless notices their talent and wants them to sign contract with his company. Alphie refuses and wants to keep his artistic integrity, while Bibi gets seduced by promise of fame and good life. Bibi becomes great star, while Alphie lives as a struggling artist in increasingly authoritarian society where everyone is forced to wear BIM stickers on face and dance to BIM songs once every day. Alphie nevertheless didn’t forget Bibi and wants to win her back.

Golan was known for trying to exploit popular film trends and in late 1970s those trends supposed to be related to musicals and disco. A relatively high budget was invested in The Apple, but the result was complete financial failure and critical reception so hostile that Golan even contemplated taking his own life in despair. This hostility can be understood with poor quality of his product. For musical to work, music must be good; in The Apple it is extremely bad, with hardly any song remaining in memory. The cast is also bad, at least the leads including utterly bland Gary Gilmour. Actors in side roles fare slightly better, most notably Vladek Sheybal (sinister chessmaster Kronsteen from From Russia with Love) relishing in the role of Satan, while Joss Ackland, veteran character actor specialised for playing Nazis and similar villains, here obviously enjoys playing kind-hearted hippie leader and God-like Mr. Topps. The script is abysmal, with hardly any proper characterisation and plenty of plot holes, probably made due to Golan’s excessive cutting.

What makes this film watchable, at least to a certain degree, is its campiness that takes quality of its own, resulting in some scenes and certain details that get near “it’s so bad that it’s good” level. One such aspect is costume design, made under presumption that 1970s cultural trends would continue and that disco would never die, which results in character being dressed in outrageous costumes and wearing outrageous make-up. And even the somewhat baffling end scene, which provides most literal appliance of deus ex machina, can be interpreted as some sort of a homage to similar finale of Vittorio De Sica’s classic 1951 film Miracle of Milan. The audience who might appreciate such details is, however, very limited, so The Apple can be recommended only to those viewers who are fans of bad films or those that like to be under influence of mild-altering substances while watching.

RATING: 3/10 (+)