Film about Donald Trump ‘The Apprentice’ has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 20th May. The film received eight minutes long standing ovation. The movie that shows his early life in New York city has gained overall good reviews and a received a legal threat from the former US president.
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On Monday, May 20, ‘The Apprentice’, a biopic of 45th U.S president Donald Trump shows his early years of life as a real estate developer based in 1970s and 80s New York city. The movie earned an eight minutes long ovation after its premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. However, the movie was not well received by the former President himself calling it ‘garbage’.
Trump’s spokesperson describes the film as ‘garbage’, ‘pure fiction’ and ‘election interference by Hollywood elites’. The movie features scenes where Trump is seen raping his first wife Ivana, getting liposuction and dealing with underworld during his real estate business.
What is ‘The Apprentice’?
The title ‘The Apprentice’ is reference to a series that Donal Trump fronted in early 2000s till 2017, that is for more than a decade from 2004.
However, the film is set several years earlier, when Trump was making his name as a real estate developer. The movie starts off with a disclaimer, that many of its event are fictionalized.
The film directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman stars Sebastian Stan (known for his roles as Winter Soldier in The Avenger franchise, Pam and Tommy and Dumb Money) as Donald Trump, who is seeking to establish himself as a successful real estate developer in the U.S market web. He finds in mentor in lawyer Roy Cohn (played by Succession actor Jeremy Strong).
The movie shows how Trump has adopted to mentor Cohn’s lessons of ‘admit nothing, deny everything’ and ‘attack, attack, attack’ as his mottos in later life.
The News Agency AFP said, the film “paints an unflinching but nuanced portrait of the former US president”.
However the movie charts and shows Trump as a ‘striver’ it is said to have a lot of images that supposedly upset his supporter. The movie is said to feature “rape, erectile dysfunction, baldness and betrayal”.
The movie begins with sympathetic portrayal of Trump as headstrong but naive social climber. As the movie proceeds, it can be seen decency being eroded as Trump learns dark art of deal making and tastes power.
At one point in the movie Trump is shown raping his first wife Ivana behind the doors in her apartment at Trump Tower. During the real-life Divorce proceeding, Ivana had accused Trump of raping him, although allegations were retracted after. She died in 2022.
In the rape scene, that has stirred up the controversy, Ivana played by (Bakalova) is shown presenting Trump with a book about female anatomy. Suddenly the discussion turns dark and Stan (Trump) said her that he no longer loves her. He then tossed her to the ground and rapes her.
In the movie, Trump is also shown abusing amphetamines in order to loose weight and liposuction to lose his love handles.
How has Trump Reacted?
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communication director said, legal action shall be taken to blatantly address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers”. He calls it ‘garbage’, ‘a pure fiction’ and ‘election interference by Hollywood elite’ as they already know that President Trump will retake the White House and beat their candidate of choice.
Dan Snyder, a billionaire who supports Donald Trump, is likewise furious over the film. Snyder gave $100,000 to Trump’s 2020 campaign and $1.1 million to his 2016 campaign. Additionally, he invested heavily in The Apprentice through production company Kinematics, believing the film would present his friend well.
How has Abbasi defended his work?
Director Ali Abbasi in a press conference of the film, said that the movie will surprise Trump rather than him liking it or not liking it. He hoped that the film would hit the theatres in the mid-September ahead of U.S November presidential elections.
In an interview with the Washington Post Abbasi said that anyone who thinks Trump as a stupid or superficial is totally mistaken. Abbasi describes Trump as a complex person, very intuitive, he clearly understands the masses. The Donald Trump I the movie is a his persona he says.
How was the movie received?
The audience praise Sebastian San as an actor for his portrayal of Trump in the movie.
‘This is not a hit job on Trump’ says Deadlines Pete Hammond. According to him the movie portrays Trump as a driven but awkward character, seeking for approval and unsure but determined to succeed.
