HONG KONG — Controversial Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice began showing in Hong Kong cinemas on Thursday - despite an official release date of Nov 28 - but the film had not escaped local censors beforehand.
Directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider), The Apprentice stars Sebastian Stan as Trump and chronicles his rise to power as a property tycoon in New York during the 1970s and '80s, up until the publication of his ghostwritten book The Art of the Deal in 1987.
United States President-elect Trump's fraught relationships with his father (played by Martin Donovan), older brother Fred Jnr (Charlie Carrick) and first wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) are featured in some detail, but the primary focus of the narrative is his mentorship by the contentious prosecutor Roy Cohn, played on-screen by Succession star Jeremy Strong.
It was Cohn who schooled Trump in his bullish negotiation tactics: to always attack opponents, never admit to being wrong and to always claim victory.
Beyond Trump's questionable business practices, The Apprentice does not shy away from his personal misgivings either, openly detailing his infidelities, impotence and racial prejudices, as well as his liposuction and scalp-reduction surgeries, the latter of which led to his infamously bizarre hairstyle.
The film even features a scene in which Trump rapes his then-wife Ivana, an attack that was previously documented in the couple's divorce proceedings, but which Ivana later played down.
Ivana Trump arrives at amfAR's Cinema Against AIDS 2006 event in France, on May 25, 2006. (Photo: Reuters)
Trump, who was re-elected to the US presidency earlier this month, has expressed outrage over the film, labelling it "a cheap, defamatory and politically disgusting hatchet job", while calling all those responsible for the film "human scum".
In May, it was reported that Trump's lawyers had sent the filmmakers a cease-and-desist letter. In response, Abbasi offered to arrange a private screening of the film for Trump.
Just this past week, Stan, best known for his appearances as the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealed that he had been invited by Variety to participate in its high-profile "Actors on Actors" series, but had to withdraw when a willing partner could not be found.
Director Ali Abbasi holds a camera during a photocall for the film "The Apprentice" in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 21, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
The series, which is seen as a valuable publicity vehicle for the film awards season, pairs actors in films that are likely to be nominated, who then have one-on-one conversations about their roles and processes. Stan conceded, and Variety confirmed, that nobody was willing to appear with him to discuss Trump on camera.
"I couldn't find another actor to do it with me because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie," Stan revealed during a post-screening question and answer (Q&A) session; on Nov 19.
Bizarrely, it was none of these elements of The Apprentice that ran afoul of Hong Kong's censorship board, but rather a brief shot of male nudity that appears in the film.
Cohn, who was a homosexual who led a hedonistic lifestyle, is seen very briefly in bed with another man.
The sequence occurs during a wild party at Cohn's house. Trump, looking decidedly uncomfortable in this unfamiliar environment, goes searching for Cohn, and stumbles into the man's bedroom, unaware of what is transpiring within.
President-elect Donald Trump attends a campaign event, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the United States, on Oct 29, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
In the original cut of the film, Trump sees three naked young men sitting in a chair pleasuring each other, before the camera pans across the room to the bed, where Cohn and his athletic young lover are enthusiastically enjoying one another's company. Trump appears shocked and disgusted by what he sees and hurriedly retreats.
Almost the entirety of this sequence has been snipped from copies of the film currently screening in Hong Kong cinemas, which has a IIB rating (not suitable for young persons and children).
The decision to cut this brief sequence may come as a surprise to some viewers, considering that male nudity has not been an immediate red flag in the past.
Earlier this year, the erotic Taiwanese drama The Chronicles of Libidoists featured shots of Wu Kang-ren's genitals, while Palme d'Or winner Anora also featured multiple sequences of explicit sexual activity. In 2023, awards hopeful May December similarly included a brief glimpse of actor Charles Melton's penis.
In all of those instances, the films received a Category III rating (for adults only), after which they were permitted to screen uncut.
The Hong Kong censors, of course, provided no public information about the edits made to The Apprentice, nor their motivations for doing so. Understandably, the film's distributor in Hong Kong, Golden Scene, has made no comment on the situation, either.
The omitted footage is admittedly very brief, and its absence is likely to have little to no impact on the overall viewing experience of The Apprentice, except perhaps no longer fully portraying Trump's revulsion to witnessing vigorous homosexual activity in the flesh.
Hong Kong audiences venturing out to watch this admittedly excellent takedown of one of the 21st-century's most polarising figures will not be able to witness a similar spectacle.
