You’ll believe it if you want, but Donald Trump was not always the arrogant and unscrupulous businessman seeking another term as President of the United States. The Apprentice by Ali Abbasi describes how this clumsy and ambitious young man transformed into an unscrupulous person between the 1970s and 1980s.
We can already imagine a Cannes male acting prize for Sebastian Stan (ex Winter Soldier at Marvel) and Jeremy Strong (seen in the series Succession). They are both fabulous: the first in the role of the future president, the second in that of Roy Cohn, his mentor and lawyer. Ali Abbasi, noted in particular with The Nights of Mashhad, knows how to choose his actors. The main actress of this previous film, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, was rewarded at Cannes in 2022.
The life of Donald Trump
The director achieves the feat of making people feel empathy for Donald Trump. Clumsy, humiliated by a brutal father, the latter will have a lot to learn to become a “killer”. He is so bad about himself that it becomes touching before a devious and reactionary lawman takes him in hand to make him worse than he is. Their exchanges on the manipulations necessary to succeed in business are as lunar as they are chilling. We very often laugh in the face of such dishonesty elevated to philosophy.
Our texts on Cannes are here
Hungry for profit, devoid of the slightest empathy, incapable of feelings even for his wife, the rough kid becomes a narcissistic adult who we don’t want to see in his living room and even less at the head of the biggest power of the world. The Donald Trump he introduces is already dreaming of this role, imagining receiving a few treats in Air Force One, the presidential plane.
Donald Trump’s opinion
“Films need to become political again,” declared the director at the end of the Cannes screening. He dreams of seeing the film released in the United States before the elections. The Trump clan obviously sees things differently and threatens to sue him for defamation by claiming that the film is a bunch of lies. A scene where Donald Trump rapes his wife Ivana poses a particular problem for them.
“I’m not really worried,” says the filmmaker. Their pursuits are bluster, designed to intimidate. They rarely succeed. » A panel at the start of the credits announces that the facts are fictionalized, which should nip the conflict in the bud. “I tell myself that Trump might like my film,” insists the filmmaker. I think he would be surprised if he saw it. As for me, I would be happy to meet him to discuss it with him. » It is doubtful that this meeting will take place. Otherwise, we would see a The Apprentice 2 to share it with us.