REMEMBER ME

APPLES Christos Nikou’s amnesia drama is one you won’t forget…

I Greek first-time writer-director Christos Nikou arrives with a disclaimer about his new movie Apples. The story of an amnesia pandemic, he finished it before Covid-19 began sweeping the world. “It’s totally coincidental!” he cries. Nevertheless, for all its differences, there are some similarities, he concedes. “For example, in Apples, we are dealing with terms like isolation, loneliness, identity, identity loss, and the uncertainty about the future.” Sound familiar?

A fan of films like Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and Holy Motors – “movies that change a little bit the rules of our society, that are a little bit surreal” – Nikou’s script for the moody, melancholic Apples also grew out of trying to cope with the death of his father several years ago. “I was trying to forget it, but I couldn’t,” he sighs. “I’m trying to understand how people forget so easily, and how selective our memory is.”

The film follows the memory-addled Aris (Aris Servetalis), admitted into a recovery programme to help him build a new identity and documenting his tasks with Polaroids (recalling Christopher Nolan’s memory masterpiece Memento). The ‘apples’ motif – eating the fruit is said to be good for your memory, we are told – also comes partly inspired by his father. “My father used to eat around seven to eight apples per day. It was his favourite hobby! And he had a very strong memory!”

A former assistant director on Dogtooth, the international breakthrough of The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos’, Nikou adds that the film’s collective amnesia isn’t so far-fetched. “Our memory is affected a lot by technology [which] has made our brains lazier. There is no need to save something in your mind any more. We have stored our data in devices – most of the time from the company, Apple!” He chuckles at the thought. “Now that’s an irony.” JM

ETA | 19 MARCH / APPLES OPENS NEXT MONTH.