The Apples of Our Eyes: Cinematic Moments Involving Apples

In memory of Steve Jobs, who sadly passed away last week, the Third Row Centre team have decided to compile a list of our favourite moments in cinema featuring apples of the edible variety. And yes, we are aware this is rather tangential.

Adam:

“How d’ya like them apples” – Good Will Hunting [Gus Van Sant, 1997]

Alright, so there are no actual apples present in this scene, but this is surely one of the most memorable and assured put-downs in American cinema.  Matt Damon’s cocksure yet brilliant Will Hunting revels in his own intellectual arrogance as he steps in to defend best bud Chuckie (Ben Affleck) from the pretentious Harvard undergrad Clark (Scott William Winters), while also impressing the iridescent Skylar (Minnie Driver).  “Do you like apples,” he asks Clark later, rudely banging on the window of the restaurant in which he is sitting.  Will nonchalantly takes out a scrap of paper and bangs it against the glass for all to see.  “Well I got her number.  How d’ya like them apples,” Damon drawls in his native Boston accent before coolly strutting off, cueing a collective swoon/fist pump from the audience.

In speaking this line, Damon harks back to the classic Howard Hawks films The Big Sky and Rio Bravo in which the phrase is delivered with characteristic rustic flair, as well its utterance by J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown.  Kevin Smith also gets brownie points for his imagining of the sequel – Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season – in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, in which the bar scene is played out again with the addition of the not-so-good Will Hunting pulling out a shotgun, firing it to launch Clark against the barroom wall.  “Apple sauce, bitch,” is Affleck’s (golden) delicious punch line.

Greg:

Ronald Reagan eating an apple in Kings Row [Sam Wood, 1942]

The first reason this cinematic apple consumption is wonderful is because it is done by future President of the United States Ronald Reagan. The second is that the experience looks wholly unpleasant and, because I think Reagan should take a significant proportion of the blame for our current social and economic woes, it’s nice to see him struggle through what is obviously an inedible apple.

The moment has no narrative or thematic importance whatsoever in this melodrama – Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan) sit under a tree, pouring over the various familial scandals that have beset their small town. While offering Parris some advice regarding his pursuit of the local doctor’s reclusive and mentally disturbed daughter, Drake tucks into the red delicious. However, each bite is accompanied by a grimace at the apple’s sour taste. But Parris is so self-absorbed he does not notice Drake’s pained expressions, nor does Drake himself comment upon the inadequacy of the apple. Furthermore, rather than abandon the entire enterprise, Drake persists despite finding each bite more and more disagreeable. I wish there were moments like this in Reagan’s career – I’d love to see him suffer through a repulsive grapefruit.

Hannah:

Apple trick from Aladdin [Ron Clements, John Musker, 1992]

Another feature, another daft childhood story.

In Disney’s Aladdin, there’s more than one good apple bit (Abu nicking one, thus sparking off the song ‘One Jump’, anyone?).  The best one is a very cool trick that Aladdin does by rolling an apple down his arm, from the shoulder to the hand.

In the scene where Aladdin is trying to woo Jasmine (pretending to be Prince Ali) he charms her with the apple trick. Perfect seduction method, you’d think.  Unfortunately, she’s already seen him do this when she met him in the market place, as Aladdin.  The game is up, and Jasmine is furious.

The reason I like this so much, apart from the whole ridiculous idea that only a turban previously prevented Jasmine from recognising him (a la Clark Kent’s glasses shielding him from being recognised as Superman), is that it sparked a childhood game of trying to copy the trick.  I never once did it right, and a lot of bruised apples resulted…

In order to set the past to rights, the Third Row Centre team decided to try out this trick and upload the video onto the internet. How you like these apples?

Hayley:

Apple munch from The Neverending Story [Wolfgang Petersen, 1984]

I’m going to keep this short and sweet, just like my favourite apple moment.  The best cinematic apple of all time has to be the one eaten by the kid reading The Neverending Story.  Firstly, the noise is appletastic (best munch EVER), and secondly, who eats the core?! People reading fantasy novels in the 80s, evidently…

Lauren:

Apple love in Eagle vs. Shark [Taika Waititi, 2007]

At the centre of Taika Waititi’s Wellington based quirky comedy Eagle vs. Shark lies a love story as heart-warming and moving as anything you’ll ever see on the big screen. But I’m not talking about the relationship between awkward but cute ex-fast-food-worker Lily (Loren Horsley) and Jermaine Clement’s grumpy geek Jarrod. Oh, no. I’m talking about the story of two half-eaten apples.

Shot in stop-motion and interspersed throughout the film’s narrative, this little vignette tells the story of a lonely core and his journey to The One. It looks incredible – beautiful yet odd, and it manages to achieve so much with so little. It is a truly cinematic story. And it involves an apple core sailing on a flip-flop. What’s not to love?

Helpfully, some good soul has put the story together here, though be warned that it has much more impact in context:

Owen:

The return of Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest [Gore Verbinski, 2006]

I really love Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. I think it’s a barmy cacophony of a film with imagination to spare, and there’s a real sense of joy to it. I’ve pontificated about it before, and I’ll pontificate about it again, but for the moment I’m going to concentrate on the film’s remarkable use of an apple. Here be spoilers, mind – it comes right at the end of the film. After Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has died at the hands (or, rather, tentacles) of the kraken, the crew of the Black Pearl decide to travel to voodoo witch Tia Dalma (Naomi Harris) in the hope of resurrecting him. She tells them that if they are to navigate the waters at world’s end, they will need the assistance of somebody who “knows those waters.” On cue, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) – who died in the first instalment of the franchise, and had been sorely missed – walks down from upstairs, Jack the monkey on his shoulder. He basically looks at the camera, and asks, “Now, what’s become of my ship?” For emphasis, he bites rapaciously into an apple, viscous juice poring down his hirsute chin. This moment is brilliant because it shows that Barbossa will back for the third movie, he’s got a monkey, and he still clearly likes apples.

Rick:

Failed apple crop in The Wicker Man [Robin Hardy, 1973]

My pick isn’t so much a specific apple, but rather a whole harvest of apples, or rather a missing harvest of apples. That Summerisle is famous for its apples initially seems like a minor detail, providing additional colour to the locale of The Wicker Man. As the narrative unfolds, however, it slowly becomes clear that the apples themselves are at the centre of the story, setting the narrative on its course and integral to its devastating conclusion. The deeper Sergeat Howie (Edward Woodward) delves into the mystery of a missing local girl, the more significant the apples seem to become. The moment when Howie stumbles across a photograph of Summerisle’s previous harvest, the missing girl surrounded by empty crates where there should be a fine harvest of apples is chilling, and suggests that the inhabitants of Summerisle take their Pagan beliefs far more seriously than Howie has so far dared to believe.

How do you like those apples? If we’ve missed your favourite apple moment, your apple harvest has mysteriously gone missing, or you fancy having a stab at the Aladdin trick, we’d love to hear from you! Comment away, or give us a tweet @thirdrowcentre.

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