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The Apprentice

THE APPRENTICE is about the rise of Donald Trump in the 1970s and 1980s, when he meets the seasoned lawyer Roy Cohn, who becomes a diabolical father figure to him.

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Ali Abbasi chooses to begin his film with Richard Nixon’s infamous “I am not a crook“ speech. It goes downhill from there. THE APPRENTICE is about Donald Trump’s “apprenticeship years“ with Roy Cohn, who was one of the prosecutors in the 1951 trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and boasted about having arranged for the execution of the defendants. Cohn became the right hand mand of communist hunter Joseph McCarthy after and in the 70s he was the lawyer and political “fixer“ for mafia bosses like Tony Salerno and Carmine Galante.

Cohn (Jeremy Strong, most known for his role as Kendall Roy in “Succession“) takes young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) under his wings. He teaches him three rules: 1. Attack, attack, attack. 2. Never admit anything. 3. Always claim victory, even when you are down. Cohn’s most important methods are blackmailing and espionage. He records all of his conversations with ex-clients and doesn’t hesitate to use their disclosures against them. In this way, he succeeds in both overturning the discrimination lawsuit against Frederick Trump Senior and obtaining a tax exemption worth millions for Donald. Trump learns his lessons better than Cohn could’ve wished for.

The first part of the film is about Trump’s rise as a New York celebrity, shows the emancipation from his overpowering father, the first real estate projects, the building of the Hyatt Grand Central and “Trump Tower,“ and the encounter and marriage to Czech model Ivana Zelníčková. The second part begins with a cab ride through a demonstration in the 80s. “Oh, it’s about that gay cancer,“ Trump says. The perspective shifts and shows Trump’s complete hardening and deadening. Trump doesn’t drink or smoke, but he takes amphetamines, and the camera switches between Trump's speed-fueled perception of the world as his oyster and another view that reveals the dull depression masked by the amphetamines.

The hyper-staging of the couple Donald and Ivana, the elaborate and stylish hairstyles, the terrible, expensive and hideous interiors that Ivana designs for Trump's projects - everything reflects the emptiness and soullessness that are less the price of the rush for money and power than its actual content. Ali Abbasi already succeeded in imbuing every image with the oppressive atmosphere in Iran in HOLY SPIDER, here, every shot suggests that a song is being sung by dead souls. As Abbasi tells of Trump's handling of the fall and illness of his mentor Roy Cohn, of the end of his relationship with Ivana, of carrying on, always carrying on, and always claiming victory: there is nothing left but the complete death of the soul, which will spur him on to take up the most powerful political position in the world once again next month.

Tom Dorow

Translation: Elinor Lewy

Credits

Original title: The Apprentice
Kanada/USA/Dänemark/Irland 2024, 120 min
Genre: Drama, Biography, Historical Film
Director: Ali Abbasi
Author: Gabe Sherman
DOP: Kasper Tuxen
Distributor: DCM Film
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan
Release: 17.10.2024

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Screenings

  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles
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  • OV Original version
  • OmU Original with German subtitles
  • OmeU Original with English subtitles
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