Olivier (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Olivier |
| Original title | Olivier, Olivier |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1992 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Agnieszka Holland |
| script | Agnieszka Holland |
| production | Marie-Laure Reyre |
| music | Zbigniew Preisner |
| camera | Bernard Zitzermann |
| cut | Isabelle Lorente |
| occupation | |
| |
Olivier ( Olivier, Olivier ) is a French film drama of the Polish director Agnieszka Holland from the year 1992 . A nine-year-old boy disappears in a rural area. After a few years, a youth appears who claims to be this boy. However, the family is unsure whether he is actually their missing son.
action
The veterinarian Serge Duval lives with his wife Elisabeth and their two children Olivier, nine years old, and Nadine, two years older, in an idyllic farm in the French countryside not far from Paris . While the son is pampered by the mother, the daughter receives only superficial affection.
One day the son disappears on a bike tour to his grandmother in the forest and is no longer found even after an intensive search. This event brings the family apart: Serge takes a job in Chad , but the desperate mother and Nadine stay behind in France.
Six years later, a youth is questioned in a Paris police station, a boiled-down but likeable male hustler. Inspector Druot, who is in charge of the interrogation, is also the one who investigated the disappearance of little Olivier. He becomes convinced that the prostitute must be the missing boy. The mother who is brought in is also convinced of this and takes him with her. He says that he ran away then. Serge, who is returning from Chad that day, and Nadine, however, doubt that he is really Olivier.
Now a back and forth about Olivier's identity follows: he doesn't recognize an old friend from the village, but he has a scar like the nine-year-old. Still, Nadine does not believe that the young person is Olivier and falls in love with him. This love is reciprocated.
The terrible secret is only revealed towards the end of the film: little Olivier had an adult friend, Marcel. The elder Olivier happened to observe this Marcel and witnessed him raping a little boy. Olivier saves him and takes the child with him to Paris, to Inspector Druot. Now a new investigation is initiated, in the course of which Marcel shows the inspector Olivier's grave in his cellar. But he insists that his death was an accident. Elisabeth, the mother, falls into a mental derangement.
background
- In 1984 the director read a similar incident in a French newspaper and then wrote her first screenplay, but was prevented from completing it by other film projects. It was not until six years later that she resumed the film project on Olivier, Olivier.
- The motif of the returned son has been dealt with several times in European literature, for example in the figure of Telegonos in the vicinity of the Odysseus myth , in the Greek saga of King Oedipus or in the medieval epic Biterolf and Dietleib .
- The film The Return of Martin Guerre has a similar theme , as a remake under the name Sommersby .
Reviews
The film received mostly positive reviews. The total of 14 reviews that Rotten Tomatoes collected resulted in a positive rating of 86%, while 88% were positive reviews for the audience.
“Holland triggers tiny, confused explosions in a sensational drama: incest, oedipal rivalry, telekinesis as a sensational subplot. In their everyday behavior, the experience of this family is so exaggerated and limited that in the end the viewer is excluded from it. "
“Half fairy tale, half psychodrama, 'Olivier, Olivier' is strong and disturbing material. Holland is a filmmaker who looks deep into the twisted heart of love and doesn't offer easy answers. "
Awards
- Nominated for the Golden Lion at the 49th Venice International Film Festival .
- Best Actress Award for Brigitte Roüan at the 1992 Valladolid International Film Festival .
- Award for the best young actor for Grégoire Colin at the César of 1993 .
- Best Music Award for Zbigniew Preisner at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 1993.
Web links
- Olivier in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Remarks
- ^ Review of the New York Times, Sept. 25, 1992 . Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- ↑ Olivier at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- ↑ Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, April 2, 1993, https://ew.com/article/1993/04/02/olivier-olivier , accessed Dec. 14, 2018
- ↑ David Ansen, The Heart Has Its Reasons, Newsweek, March 14, 1993, https://www.newsweek.com/heart-has-its-reasons-191138 , accessed Dec. 14, 2018
- ↑ https://www.americancinemapapers.com/files/VENICE_1992.htm
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102583/awards