- Author, Steven McIntosh
- Role, Entertainment journalist
A new film about Donald Trump had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, drawing mostly good reviews but a legal threat from the former president.
Titled The Apprentice, the biopic traces Mr Trump’s story as an ambitious young real estate developer in the 1970s and 1980s in New York.
His spokesperson called the film, which features a scene where he is seen raping his first wife Ivana, “trash”, “pure fiction” and “election interference by Hollywood elites”.
The film begins with a disclaimer that many of its events are fictional.
It debuted as Mr Trump’s secret trial continues in New York, as he prepares for another presidential election in November.
What is The Apprentice?
Image source, Custom films
The title refers in part to the television series Mr. Trump hosted for more than a decade starting in 2004.
However, the film takes place several decades earlier, when Mr. Trump is making a name for himself as a real estate developer.
Sebastian Stan, who appeared in Pam & Tommy, Dumb Money and several MCU films as Winter Soldier, plays the former president.
Succession star Jeremy Strong plays his mentor and ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn.
According to the AFP news agency, the film “paints an unflinching but nuanced portrait of the former American president.”
The film, said to feature “rape, erectile dysfunction, baldness and betrayal”, begins with a sympathetic portrait of a stubborn but naive careerist.
However, as it progresses, the film shows that “Mr. Trump’s decency erodes as he learns the dark arts of negotiation and tastes power.”
Its director, Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, imagines several brutal events taking place behind closed doors. In one harrowing scene, Mr. Trump is seen raping Ivana.
During their actual divorce proceedings, Ivana accused Mr Trump of raping her, although she later retracted the allegation. She died in 2022.
Speaking to Vanity Fair ahead of the premiere, Abbasi said the goal was to “do a punk rock version of a historical film…(not) get too anal about the details and what’s good and what is wrong”.
The film received an eight-minute standing ovation after its screening at Cannes, a festival where such audience reactions are common.
What did Donald Trump say?
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said legal action would be taken “to address the blatantly false claims made by these fake filmmakers.”
“This bullshit is pure fiction that sensationalizes long-debunked lies,” he added in a statement.
“This is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will take back the White House and beat the candidate of his choice because nothing they did worked.”
The premiere of The Apprentice at the French film festival took place on Monday while Mr. Trump is on trial in Manhattan. He denies falsifying business records to conceal payment to porn star Stormy Daniels and any sexual relationship.
“It’s not a successful job.”
Critics wrote largely positive reviews of the film after its premiere.
“This is not a blow to Trump,” he said. “It presents a somewhat driven but awkward person, a man struggling for the approval of a tough-as-nails father, insecure but determined to succeed and even strangely charming at times.”
Strong’s performance is “superb”, according to Robbie Collin of the Telegraph, “but Stan’s approach seems too sensitive – given Trump’s complete lack of backwoods, the role probably required a cartoonish touch.”
Owen Gleiberman of Variety, however, praised the lead actor. “Stan’s performance is a marvel,” he wrote. “He understands Trump’s heavy, geeky body language, the imposing gait with his hands outstretched at his sides, and just as much he understands the facial language.”
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was less enthusiastic, rating the film two stars and commenting: “The Apprentice takes us worryingly back to old Donald, the Donald joke… the joke that is now more than funny. It seems obtuse and out of character. about. “
Anticipating public backlash, the Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney said, “Liberals will see it as a monstrous account, while MAGA faithful might perhaps misinterpret it as an endorsement of their man, who makes the killer instinct his mark.
Gn entert
News Source : www.bbc.com
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