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Adam's Apples

Original title: Adams æbler
  • 20052005
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
50K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim, Mads Mikkelsen, Paprika Steen, and Ulrich Thomsen in Adams æbler (2005)
Trailer for Adam's Apples
Play trailer2:12
1 Video
26 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Crime
  • Drama

A neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devoted minister.A neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devoted minister.A neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devoted minister.

IMDb RATING
7.7/10
50K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Anders Thomas Jensen
  • Writer
    • Anders Thomas Jensen
  • Stars
    • Ulrich Thomsen
    • Mads Mikkelsen
    • Nicolas Bro
Top credits
  • Director
    • Anders Thomas Jensen
  • Writer
    • Anders Thomas Jensen
  • Stars
    • Ulrich Thomsen
    • Mads Mikkelsen
    • Nicolas Bro
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 75User reviews
    • 92Critic reviews
    • 51Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 20 wins & 13 nominations

    Videos1

    Adam's Apples
    Trailer 2:12
    Adam's Apples

    Photos26

    Adams æbler (2005)
    Adams æbler (2005)
    Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Mads Mikkelsen, Paprika Steen, Ole Thestrup, and Ulrich Thomsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen, Ulrich Thomsen, and Emil Kevin Olsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Adams æbler (2005)
    Mads Mikkelsen and Ulrich Thomsen in Adams æbler (2005)
    Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim, and Mads Mikkelsen in Adams æbler (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Ulrich Thomsen
    Ulrich Thomsen
    • Adam Pedersenas Adam Pedersen
    Mads Mikkelsen
    Mads Mikkelsen
    • Ivanas Ivan
    Nicolas Bro
    Nicolas Bro
    • Gunnaras Gunnar
    Paprika Steen
    Paprika Steen
    • Sarah Svendsenas Sarah Svendsen
    Ali Kazim
    Ali Kazim
    • Khalidas Khalid
    Ole Thestrup
    • Dr. Kolbergas Dr. Kolberg
    Nikolaj Lie Kaas
    Nikolaj Lie Kaas
    • Holgeras Holger
    Gyrd Løfquist
    • Poul Nordkapas Poul Nordkap
    Lars Ranthe
    • Esbenas Esben
    Peter Reichhardt
    • Nalleas Nalle
    Tomas Villum Jensen
    • Arneas Arne
    Peter Lambert
    • Jørgenas Jørgen
    Solvej K. Christensen
    • Pige på tankstationas Pige på tankstation
    Rasmus Rise
    • Ung fyr på tankstation #1as Ung fyr på tankstation #1
    • (as Rasmus Rise Michaelsen)
    Jacob-Ole Remming
    • Ung fyr på tankstation #2as Ung fyr på tankstation #2
    • (as Jacob Ole Remming)
    Emil Kevin Olsen
    • Christofferas Christoffer
    Per Holm Henriksen
    • Patientas Patient
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Anders Thomas Jensen
    • Writer
      • Anders Thomas Jensen
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Ivan is a priest in a rural church known for the apples that grow on a large tree in front. He's odd: seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, in denial about personal facts, and convinced he's at war with Satan. The rectory is a halfway house for recently-paroled convicts. Adam arrives for 12 weeks, a large, tough neo-Nazi, first baffled by Ivan's thick-headed optimism, then angry. He vows to break Ivan's faith. Meanwhile, in exasperation at Ivan's insistence, Adam sets a personal goal: to bake an apple pie. All goes awry for the tree: crows, worms, lightning. The Book of Job gives Adam perverse insight, and his hooligan mates provide the resolution. —<jhailey@hotmail.com>
    • priest
    • neo nazi
    • church
    • rectory
    • faith
    • 193 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Én ulykke kommer sjældent alene [Scandinavian saying equivalent of: When it rains, it pours]
    • Genres
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Drama
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language and violence
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to the making of-featurette on the DVD, the scene with the crows eating apples was planned to be computer-generated, until a few Czechs showed up with four boxes of real trained crows, and everything worked out fine for a minimum cost.
    • Goofs
      Ivan's metal nose cap disappears when he confronts Adam in the church, to reappear in the following scenes.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Kolberg: Adam, this makes no sense at all. I am a man of science, I believe in numbers and charts. Goddamnit, I wanna go someplace, where people die when they are sick, and don't sit in the yard eating cowboy toast when they have been shot through the head.

    • Connections
      Featured in Dansk films bedste: På grænsen, Fester og Tro (2022)
    • Soundtracks
      How Deep Is Your Love
      Written by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb (as Gibb/Gibb/Gibb)

      Performed by Take That

      © BMG Music Publishing / Warner/Chappell Music Scand. AB

    User reviews75

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    "I think it's going to be a good day."
    Anders Thomas Jensen has with his earlier films, "De grønne slagtere" and "Blinkende lygter", convinced the audience of his scriptwriting talents, especially his distinct sense of dark humour. "Adams æbler", clearly a more ambitious project, is now gaining him recognition as a director with a vision. Apart from merely being amusing and intriguing as a comedy, the film succeeds in communicating a meaningful message to the audience, while being deep and sufficiently complex in its values. Indeed, the film's central theme questions our central notion of good and evil without giving definite conclusions: whether there really exist absolute values is eventually left unanswered. Which is better of the two: the blindly devoted and fanatically optimistic priest Ivan or the nihilistic neo-Nazi Adam? Jensen attempts to twist the basic setting by making Ivan appear rather unsympathetic: while he helps people as a priest, he doesn't seem to do it because of them but rather because of his faith alone. It is often Adam, who notices this, not failing to observe (almost objecting to) the weaknesses of Ivan's behaviour, and yes, it is the cold-hearted, evil Adam who seems to care more and more as the story goes on.

    It is difficult to sum up the whole film with only a couple of words. Mixing biblical allegories, especially the story of Job (the Fall being also an essential part of the film, yet not actually in the plot itself), with modern drama and dark comedy, Adams æbler does not fit into traditional categories. As a comedy, it doesn't straightforwardly tell what to laugh at, but the humorous is intertwined with absolutely serious elements. Thus the movie examines the outskirts of comedy and humour: it encourages the viewer to ponder whether the events are humorous or not. Even the music doesn't correspond with the comedy genre at all, but is constantly foreboding and solemn. It is a versatile film, but despite the exceptional blend, it succeeds in keeping the story together. And it's a good story.

    Characters are well built and well played. Ulrich Thomsen gives perhaps his best performance to date as Adam (challenged only by his role in Festen), and so does Mads Mikkelsen as Ivan. Nicolas Bro, Ali Kazim and Paprika Steen must also be commended for their roles. Bro is a kleptomaniac and a drunkard, Kazim plays an immigrant Robin Hood gone bad, and Paprika Steen delivers a steady performance as an unbalanced future mother considering abortion. Special mention goes to Ole Thestrup as the devilishly comical (almost malicious, though we are not quite sure) Dr. Kolberg, who, while joking with his patients misfortunes in lovable dialect and showing virtually no respect to any taboos, fails to demonstrate signs of empathy or other proper human feelings. "He's done for. You could use him as a crapper. Have you had coffee?" As to its thematics, the film is utterly uncompromising: in its treatment of today's starkest evils, it never offers an apology or a clear moral; the final return towards the acceptable, so frequent in the comedy genre, doesn't quite occur. Instead, none of the problems are resolved or even discussed properly – rather, they are laughed at. As in his earlier films and as many of his Danish colleagues have been doing, Jensen is examining the limits of comedy – how far can one go in making fun of sensitive matters such as abuse, rape, violence, racism, disability and so on. Jensen is a provocateur: he discusses ugly subjects with little discretion, avoiding compromises. Like Dr. Kolberg, he wants to talk about things with their real names and discuss them as they are. But in addition, the comedy genre allows him to treat these issues openly.

    It's about the battle between good and evil: Ivan sees only the good, Adam only the evil. Ivan tries to make Adam see the good, Adam attempts to force Ivan into seeing the evil around him. Ivan preaches about the distinction between good and evil, pointing out how much the modern world is in confusion with these terms and how much our common conceptions have changed with time. This is ironical, because the movie questions the whole distinction: in other words, it questions the consequences of the fall (not uncommon in Danish lay theology). While not making an actual statement, it points out that good and evil are, at least to a great extent, constructs of society and dependant on the point of view. On the other hand, by making Ivan absolutely blind to misfortunes in his life, it illustrates how it is possible to see good in everything, and close ones eyes from everything bad.

    Adams æbler is a very interesting movie. It entertains, shocks, provokes, and finally, redeems. Whether this redemption is favourable as such, is left to the viewer to judge. All in all, it's an absolutely surprising masterwork, one of the rare gems. 8/10.
    helpful•117
    11
    • cimmeon
    • Mar 11, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 15, 2005 (Denmark)
    • Countries of origin
      • Denmark
      • Germany
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Language
      • Danish
    • Also known as
      • Адамові яблука
    • Filming locations
      • Fåborg, Fyn, Denmark
    • Production companies
      • M&M Productions
      • August Film & TV GmbH
      • Danmarks Radio (DR)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,305
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $1,305
      • Mar 18, 2007
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,421,577
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby SR
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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