‎The Apple (1998) directed by Samira Makhmalbaf • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

The Apple

1998 ‘Sib’ Directed by Samira Makhmalbaf

After twelve years of imprisonment by their own parents, two sisters are finally released by social workers to face the outside world for the first time.

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86 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sally Jane Black

Not long ago, I read this interview, which basically spells out the ideas in The Apple directly from the young director's mouth. It's a great interview, but having read it, it would be redundant of me to speak directly of the themes of the movie. In it, Makhmalbaf specifically cites the story of Adam and Eve as a direct parallel to her work here, however, and that stood out--I think also to the interviewer--in that she seems to directly call Satan's role in that story good.

I must admit, I have never given too much thought to the story of Adam and Eve. Had I been taught the story in my adult life, I can't say that I would not…
Review by Natasha C. ★★★½

This was kind of hard to watch, it really touched me.
To me, ignorance is one of the worst's evils of life, it's sad and tough to see.
What conforts me is that that the world still have people caring for each other and taking care of each other =).
Review by Sara Gomes ★★★★

Berken's May 30 Days, 30 Countries Challenge Film nº 15 - Iran

Sib is a dramatized documentary about two girls who were locked up since birth and are "rescued" by the social services after a complaint filed by their neighbours.

With the principal characters played by themselves and some actual real footage, this film feels very real. The girls, the parents even the neighbours feel very alive.

The innocence of the girls making friends and wandering about for the first time really lights the mood for an actually very dramatic story about a really poor family, struck by misfortune and religion fundamentalism, with almost no education.

What's more interesting about this film is the showing of a story without judging anyone. The girls were locked up by their parents but specially the father is never shown like a real villain.

Sib is a really wonderful movie really worth watching.
Review by Rod Sedgwick ★★★★

''A girl is like a flower, if the sun shines on her,
she will fade. A man's gaze is like the sun and a girl is like a flower.''

18 year old filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf said of Massoumeh and Zahra Naderi, who were the focus of her debut film The Apple: ''We shot this in 11 days, and during this 11 days, they changed more than during those 11 years, just because of having contact with us.''(the film crew), and it's easy to see the evidence of this blossoming throughout a film in which all the real people involved in this remarkable true story are cast to replay both real and fictional events to tell the story of two semi-retarded…
Review by Rembrandt Q Pumpernickel ★★★ 4

There's something about the sound of this film, the simplicity of almost everyone's words and actions, repetitive, like the banging of spoons, that achieves a musical and rhythmic quality. I like films that have that element to them, that are a bit hypnotizing in the way they sound.

Maybe the best film directed by an 18 year old (although she had her dad's help), but more metaphorical than aesthetically inventive. Rides the line between exposing the fictive elements of documentary, the documentary realities of narrative, and straight up exploitation pretty hard.

Getting harder to write reviews of everything. Not sure how Sally does it.
Review by Owen ★★★★

52 films by women – ultimate challenge 2017
Week 11: 13-19 March
From the Middle East

March around the world #15/30 Iran

Two of the best films I watched last year were Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'Moment of Innocence' and Marzieh Makhmalbaf's 'The Day I became a Woman'. This film by their daughter Samira is almost as good and seems to have a lot in common with her parents work. It shares with Moment of Innocence quite a playful collision of documentary and fiction, or rather of the obvious staging of supposed documentary for the directors own ends. It shares with her mother's film, and indeed a lot of the Iranian cinema I have seen, a sense of deep injustices largely being…

Recent reviews

Review by gerbear93 ★★★★

Bad ass
Review by Charlotte Zhang

SAMIRA MAKHMALBAF MADE THIS WHEN SHE WAS 17 YEARS OLD
Review by Michael Stuhlman ★★★½

The kind of film I wished I liked a bit more than I did. It's not that it's bad or anything, but I think the immense hype combined with my mood sort of stifled a greater enjoyment. High on my revisit list.
Review by Sofia ★★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

A magical and special jewel. Crisp and sweet.
There's something about the innocent, inimitable youthfulness of the children, the simple but profound, poetic nature of the words spoken, transmitted through the minimalist power of the photography. The women of the story are the movers, the drivers, the carriers of that ancient, beautiful, and universal burden of their gender. With the blind, croaking and whispering mother, an eerie creature is born. As she grasps the apple in the final shot, is it hope I feel? Or a tinge of sadness? Who was she? She fell through the cracks with her disability but her daughters were given the chance to grow out of their own.
Review by Owen ★★★★

52 films by women – ultimate challenge 2017
Week 11: 13-19 March
From the Middle East

March around the world #15/30 Iran

Two of the best films I watched last year were Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'Moment of Innocence' and Marzieh Makhmalbaf's 'The Day I became a Woman'. This film by their daughter Samira is almost as good and seems to have a lot in common with her parents work. It shares with Moment of Innocence quite a playful collision of documentary and fiction, or rather of the obvious staging of supposed documentary for the directors own ends. It shares with her mother's film, and indeed a lot of the Iranian cinema I have seen, a sense of deep injustices largely being…
Review by Peter Cox ★★★★★

Do you ever get the rare sensation, on watching a film for the first time, that you'll look back on it as key in your own personal journey through cinema?

The Apple feels like such a film for me. And that hopscotch scene is pure joy.
Review by robert de niro ★★★★

samira makhmalbaf's, daughter of mohsen makhmalbaf, debut, at the surprising age of 17! probably one of the youngest directors on record.

even at that age, she shows a deep sense of humanity and maturity, telling the tragic story of two young sisters that were kept locked up by their parents for twelve years. its style is extremely realistic, making me question if it was merging real footage with the fictional, at times. the 'plot', even though it has a few flaws, most likely ignored by possible revisions of the script for bigger reasons, is really beautiful and contains a big thematic about the several different prisons of our lives.
Review by blakeg ★★★

I like the message and the compassion within this film, but I think that the line between fact and fiction is not handled well. Far too often I get the sense that "blurring the line between fact and fiction" automatically makes a film seem smart. But there are fundamental differences between these modes, which if not considered can make for a confusing emotional experience. Sometimes this confusion is the point, but I don't think it serves this particular film. Throughout most of the film I was trying to make sense of this uncertainty. I wasn't sure what people were instructed to do or say and what was spontaneous on their part. I wanted to believe that much was spontaneous, but…
Review by chryzsh ★★★½

Shot almost documentary style, Samira Makhmalbaf captures a certain vivididness in every single scene. Like many Iranian films before this story is humane to its core and is never afraid to spend a few moments out of its predicted path, much like real life.