Ali Abbasi
The Apprentice

Recently, on Debaser, someone was complaining that at the start of this cinema season there are works circulating that can be classified as both artistic and commercial flops. But suppose this definition is formulated by someone who feels implicated precisely because the film deals with certain episodes and aspects of their not-so-commendable life? And if that someone was none other than a certain Donald Trump, what would you think and eventually do? I don't know about you, but as soon as I found out that "The Apprentice" dedicated to the aforementioned tycoon and politician, unfortunately former president of the USA from 2017 to 2020, was released in theaters, I had no doubts and told myself that it was finally possible to see a film that could annoy the bastard Donald (and I apologize to bastards). I considered it a good and right thing to see the work created by Ali Abbasi, an Iranian director naturalized Danish. And even if someone sighs at the idea of talking about Trump again, I warmly recommend forming a more detailed opinion on who is competing to return to the White House. Let's not delude ourselves into thinking that these are exclusively Yankee problems.

The crucial point of the entire film is not so much the success of the then real estate developer Trump (following in the footsteps of an avaricious and disdainful father towards his children), but rather the professional relationship that tied him, between 1973 and 1985, to lawyer Roy Cohn, Donald's true advisor and mentor. If the name of lawyer Cohn means little or nothing to you, suffice it to know that he fraudulently advanced his career in the 1950s following Senator McCarthy in prosecuting many people who at the time were conducting anti-American activities (the so-called witch hunt). Among these, notable victims were the Rosenberg couple, accused of passing military secrets to Soviet authorities. Even today, doubts persist about the Rosenbergs' true guilt, but Cohn was relentless in demanding the court sentence the two to death. Indeed, the electric chair was activated.

From then on Cohn continued his career, until he met Donald Trump in 1973, a young ambitious man eager to enrich himself in the business world of turbulent New York City. And Roy Cohn made no secret of the unwritten rules for emerging: always attack, never give up, always support your version of the facts or truth, even if it contradicts what many others claim. Above all, do not adhere to the sports rule that there is opposition only for ball possession, rather always target the opponent, the person to hurt them as much as possible.

Needless to say, these suggestions were taken to heart by Donald, who managed to erect luxurious and kitsch buildings in New York (not just the Trump Tower), eventually being defined as the richest man in the city. And all this during the 80s of rampant Reagan-era America, characterized by numerous tax benefits for unscrupulous entrepreneurs and reductions in public spending on welfare assistance.

In this raw biopic by Ali Abbasi, many details reveal Trump's true nature. Initially, when he meets Cohn, he is just a decidedly uncouth rich kid, as seen when at one of the lawyer's notoriously homosexual wild parties, he encounters none other than Andy Warhol among the guests and doesn't recognize him, even asking him what he does for a living. Incredible, because in New York of those years the artist in question was very famous and thus the up-and-coming real estate developer was incredibly ignorant. Just as he appears rude and ignorant for delivering a bouquet of roses to the courted Ivanka (his future first wife), forgetting to remove the price tag from the package. Sure, she could have sent him packing, but the lure of money was too strong, only to later regret it when the husband, tired of the marriage, would think of assaulting her.

Added to this, the bastard Donald is so vain that he beams when, on the front page of a newspaper, someone dares to describe him not only as a rich Croesus but also as a man as handsome as actor Robert Redford (perhaps the aforementioned journalist hadn't yet gone to the optician..). But above all, what the film highlights is the non-existent empathy of the dishonest fraudster Donald, expressed on several occasions both towards his socially, and economically, not successful brother, and towards lawyer Cohn himself who died in 1986 of suspected AIDS and was abandoned by the ambitious bastard real estate developer a few months before dying. In the end, this is the consequent application of the precepts expressed by the dishonest and corrupt Cohn, but in such a ruthless business world, there can't be room for an ounce of Christian pity.

Divinely acted by Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump (even resulting more attractive than the American billionaire) and Jeremy Strong in the role of the Mephistophelian lawyer Roy Cohn, the film reminds us that behind an overwhelming and sensational success story there can be murky misdeeds (at least). If we then add that the staff supporting Trump as a presidential candidate has warned any major film companies from distributing the film in the USA as false and tendentious, well then going to see the film also represents a politically justified act.

The date of the American presidential elections is almost upon us, and even if someone considers them of little interest, I would like to quote what Roy Cohn said shortly before dying, in response to Trump's cold behavior towards him: "I really don't know why he's acting like this towards me. He seems like a man who pisses ice water." And with that said, everything is said.