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| ▲ This photo provided by Christos Nikou shows the director himself holding a camera. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Mocushura Pictures shows a scene of the main character, Aris riding a bike in the film, "Apples." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Mocushura Pictures shows a scene from the movie "Apples." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Mocushura Pictures shows director Christos Nikou and actress Cate Blanchett. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo provided by Mocushura Pictures shows the movie poster for "Apples." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- Our memories and identity exist together in correlation to shape who we are. But when all of our memories are lost, it makes us wonder whether we can perceive ourselves with the same identy. Film director Christos Nikou provides us an answer to this question in his new film, "Apples."
"Apples" depict a story of Aris, a man who can't remember his name or home address, coaxed into a "New Identity" program during a pandemic that causes sudden amnesia.
Aris is told to wait for his family or friends to arrive and claim him, but even after a few days no one comes for him. The neurological hospital proposes a program for Aris, who has become an unclaimed patient, to help him create a new identity through new experiences.
From riding a bike to having sexual relationships with strangers, Aris receives a mission to photograph every daily experience he has through a Polaroid camera. Aris, who carries out his mission blandly, comes across Anna, a fellow amnesiac taking the same program as him.
"Apples," which started with the ingenious yet bizarre notion of making amnesia the new epidemic in the world, is directed by Christos Nikou, one of the next-generation Greek star directors.
Asked about the relationship between memory and identity through a written interview, Director Nikou said, "I do believe that we are in a way our memories."
"Without our memories, we are losing our identities as well. The only way to keep our identity and move on is to learn from the past," explained Nikou, who also revealed that "Apple" was a very personal story as he had the idea for the film whilst dealing with the loss of his father.
The movie unfolds without any particular narrative, however it does a good job in observing emotions of humans in depth. The world where amnesia is accepted as an ordinary virus like the flu, is imaginative, but the confusion and frustration felt by Aris is realistic.
"I always love to watch movies that create their own worlds and change the rules of our society. In an allegorical way of course, as I prefer when conceptual stories stay more to the ground and are not futuristic. So that's the approach we went with in 'Apples'."
Aris, who lost his memory of the past, seems numb to his new daily experiences, however emotions such as loss, loneliness, and sadness can be seen wandering by his side.
Regarding the message of the film, Director Nikou stated, "To make the audience go through the same emotions Aris deals with in the movie was the most important goal I had when directing," adding, "If we were to say we're made up of our memories, the main message of the movie would be asking the audience the question: how can we accept even the saddest memories and move forward in life?"
Anna, who has a unique character in the movie, helps Aris to not only realize his lost emotions and memories but also makes him aware of human relationships. The two quickly become close through their similarities and depend on each other, however later stops to question the sincerity of relationships.
"The two characters get along as they are involved in the same program. Yet, Anna is more advanced in the program than Aris and at point, Aris realizes that she is somehow using him to accomplish her missions. In the beginning, Aris sees Anna as his new future, but later on he begins to understand what he is missing in his life," Director Nikou said.
The film, which deals with human memory, identiy, emotions, and relationships as a whole, took eight years to complete. Director Nikou pointed out the difficulties in financing a film with absurdist scripts that talks about a new world where amnesia spreads like a virus.
"Apples" received more attention as Cate Blanchett, the Hollywood actress and founder of the production company, Dirty Films, participated as a producer. "Cate Blanchett was in the 77th Venice Film Festival as the President of the Jury. She is a great cinephile and went to see 'Apples' on the first day, immediately felt a lot for the film and proposed me a meeting at her hotel."
"We both realized we shared so much passion about films we liked and she offered to help with 'Apples' and came up with different ideas to produce my second film, which will be in English," added Director Nikou.
Cate Blanchett has decided to work with Christos Nikou for his next film, "FINGER NAILS." Nikou explained "FINGER NAILS" as a movie very similar to "Apples." "It's a film about love and it takes place in a world where people are struggling to fall in love, which raises the question of 'what is love?'"
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