Le chignon d'Olga

This is a remarkably fresh, charming, and genuine work by a director, Jerome Bonnell, who was only 23 at the time. Whatever mastery of cinema craft he may have lacked then, he more than made up for in his ability to wring the most amazing performances from extremely young actors and actresses. The most staggeringly brilliant performance in the film is by Nathalie Boutefeu, as the character Alice. Boutefeu passes through a bewildering range of shifting emotions and moods with the scintillation of sunbeams on water. It is one of the most remarkable performances of someone of that age which I have ever seen. There seems to have been a deep resonance between her and the director to give her the confidence to expose herself so completely to the camera, holding back nothing. Not surprisingly, Bonnell has gone on to make two further films with her. Who wouldn't? Another amazing performance is that given by Florence Loiret as Emma, whose moods shift almost as violently, as she grieves for her deceased mother, wants to leave her father but cannot, almost has an affair with her lesbian friend but cannot, almost cries but laughs, almost laughs but cries, and so on. None of this is in the slightest bit contrived, because this is how people of that age mostly are, and who better to direct them in a film than someone of the same age who may even be that way himself, for all we know? All of the performances are excellent. One especially charming and delightful minor performance is that delivered by the little boy, Antoine Goldet. It is a pity he has not appeared in another film. He was inspired casting. This is a film which is languid and lingering, dwelling on the faces of the characters without concern for the need to rush off and look at another character. The emotional tangles and knots, the 'presence of the absence' of the dead mother which is palpable and felt at all times in her household, the quarreling and the disputes, the making-up, the alienation, and the coming-together, the love both spoken and unspoken, the heartbreak, all of these are magnificently conveyed in this artless and natural movie, which gives the impression of having been thrown over someone's shoulder like a girl's handbag, so effortless does it all seem. It's easy for some!

I almost gave up on Le Chignon d'Olga. It was late and i was tired. The film started with an endless array of characters all being introduced within a short space of time. Quite frankly, i was lost and couldn't figure out who was who.

Glad i stuck with it tho cos, once i got a handle on the characters, i found the film thoroughly enjoyable.

I can see why director Jérôme Bonnell is compared to Eric Rohmer. They seemingly both like to concentrate on the small nuances of peoples everyday lives, and as another reviewer mentioned, these type of films never get made in Hollywood. I, for one, hope the French never stop making these small intriguing films (this one was shot for under 1,000,000).

I will be watching for further offerings from Jérôme Bonnell. French cinema seems to be in safe hands.

Recommended.

zzzz..

'Le Chignon d'Olga' is a film about the lives and loves of an affluent, liberal family. As with many French films, the characters exude a natural sexiness (in a way that is not seen in most Hollywood movies), and the acting, and the detail of the script, are both good. But the film made me feel a little old - viewed from a certain perspective, there's an inconsequentiality about these teenage affairs and while the plot operates in the context of a deeper story (the recent death of the children's mother) the treatment of this is muted. But if it's a slight tale, it also feels true, and lead actress Nathalie Boutefeu has a lovely, interesting face that director James Bonnell makes good use of.

This is a typically French film - inconsequential, gloomy, and yet somehow beautiful. It is a tale of lost people coping with loss and searching for love in the South French countryside. The characters are just ordinary people: smoking, working, and wondering what to do with their lives.

If you are looking for a riveting storyline with a beginning, a middle, and an end; or if you want to be thrilled by action, or floored by humour, do not watch this film. But if you want to see a lucid and touching account of ordinary lives, and the questions we all ask of ourselves, you won't regret seeking it here.

Like a previous commenter, I, too didn't know where the film was going,but was glad I stuck with it. I found Bonnell's story deceptively simple. It basically tells of Julien's obsession with Olga, a beautiful clerk at a bookstore whom he fantasizes about seducing. Once he realizes that she is a wife and mother, his obsession is exorcized and that Alice, a very close friend, is, in fact, the perfect woman for him. But the story is much more complex than that. Every character has some personal demon that their fighting with, but at the same time have people around them who care. and in the end, problems are not really solved, no dreams are fulfilled, the characters just continue to live with their pain but are able to deal with it because they have people around who love them.

I like the ending, as in the beginning, where we hear julien's piano playing. It signifies to the audience that life, as Bonnell sees it, is not a continuous flow, it's a series of stop.. starts... Emotions are fickle.. People do and say stupid things, fantasies fester and become paralyzing, the pot is stirred, and basically all you can do is wait it out until the pot boils over, than you can continue on with life.