Olivier, Olivier

Olivier, Olivier is a very unique movie about a family who is held together by a delicate balance of familial roles. When one member, Olivier, suddenly disappears one day, the balance is thrown, the family falls apart, only to years later to be reunited with a teenage Olivier. The acting in this movie is interstellar, and the characters are almost instantly real and alive right down to the surprise climax. Viewers use discretion however, as there are intense sexual scenes- not so graphic, but dealing with incest, pedophilia and an ailing marriage. This movie in some way goes beyond the more acclaimed film by the same director, Europa,Europa, in it's intensity. As a similar film dealing with family in a similar vein I would highly recommend The Cement Garden.

Now this is a truly wonderful film. It's simple enough: one day, a young boy goes missing from his family. Several years later, he returns - or does he?

This movie is a flawless dissection of a frighteningly twisted family, with extremely vivid characters. Agnieszka Holland has succeeded at that difficult task: create realistic characters in a believable situation, yet present them with shockingly eerie dilemma. Strongly recommended.

Side note: the only flaw in this movie was the rather ridiculous invocation of the supernatural. Fortunately, it's part of an almost completely irrelevant subplot, and can be safely ignored.

"... Holland is 'one of the great film makers in telling a story, unlike so many Europeans who emphasize character. The American public takes to a film where a story is told well'" (Film Quarterly: Vol.52, No.2, Winter 1998-9, pg3).

This comment, made by Orion's Michael Barker, is not far off the mark--at least with respect to Holland's film: "Olivier, Olivier" (1992). Despite the plot's non-fictional premise--the idea for the film, in fact, is based on a French newspaper item from the early 1980s--Agniezca Holland's ability in fully capturing the truly bizarre nature of this story leaves viewers wondering if she, in making the film, could actually have been working from real-life experiences. Holland lays the storyline out in a traditional, chronological manner but makes sure to jump ahead several years at a time, where necessary, to retain her audience's attention. I am American and I did 'take to' this film. In this sense, Michael Barker is absolutely correct. However, I imagine anyone would enjoy a story as well told as Holland tells this one.

Highly recommended.

what can i say, i like foreign movies, and i liked this one. Its just a simply, little story and its worth a watch. I liked the lead actor and felt sorry for him, i just wish the movie was longer or had a second part or something. Have a look at it and rest easy.

By the end of the movie, you stop questioning what is real and what is dream. You forget that everything up to the truth has been gentle. Even the disappearance and the conflict with the neighbors take a back seat to the overall gentle telling of the story. When the audience is then faced with what may be true to the people in the movie, it all ends and the movie becomes reality. Even the last shot of the movie questions who is living in the gentle fiction that makes up their lives. Having to face the truth by the end of the movie, the family chooses to live the gentle lie that has brought them all together. The sexual tension between husband and wife / sister and brother explodes before your eyes. Not out of lust but out of love. Very few movies have captures this, Olivier Olivier has.