Moi, Olga

Very good psychological drama held in Czekoslovachia. Despite show, it has a quite good pace. Direction, black and white cinematography, acting (particularly cute Michalina Olszanska)... everything is good.

Nowadays, the tactic the terrorists using is to ram a truck into the crowds. Since the automobile revolution, such incidents have been called accidents. But there were some intentional incidents and this is was one of those. If I'm not wrong, this could be the first such event that recorded as early as in the 1973. Olga Hepnarova in her 20s has not had a pleasant life so far. Victim of bullying, family trouble, she left alone to be a loner most of her life. Her sexual life was another obstacle to get along with the society, but she had a decent paying job. And then suddenly, unexpectedly, she unleashes her inner devil.

Like I said, what this film based on was simply another crime. But what's happening right now made it to get into the spotlight. Otherwise, I don't think they would have made this film. Yes for nationally, but Internationally, there would have been less interested in it. Now this story is definitely an international level. Everyone would know about Olga. The actress who played that role was good too.

The film was black and white. Gives a perfect 70s look. Though a little boring film. The screenplay was not engaging enough. There were too many plain scenes like what we see the art films. They should have highlighted more on the bully and other Olga's struggling life, I mean physically. What I saw was leaning towards the side of the story result. The film is not for everyone, particularly being dull presentation makes people turn it down. Otherwise, it's not bad to ignore.

5/10

To fully appreciate this film one probably should have a minimum knowledge about psychiatry and of schizophrenia in general.

The main character in this film, Olga Hepnarova, is IMO one of the best depictions of a schizophrenic person I've ever seen in a movie. In this regard, the movie makers did an extraordinary good job. The atmosphere of the film is dark, yet the individual scenes are often banal and the dialogues short and often flat and trivial. This however is not of disadvantage to the movie as one would expect. It actually helps to unfold to the viewer the deep, but chaotic and hate-focused thoughts that go inside the mind of Hepnarova. The scenes where she contemplates the traumatizing experiences of her life are deep and sad, showing that she is a very complex and deeply thinking person, but at the same time they succeed to NOT depict her as a martyr, which she clearly fails to be. She despises society and is fond to do it a favor (by killing herself) only in her best life-time when she's deeply in love (with her lesbian lover). Hepnarova is evil, but in the movie it looks more like real-world-evil with its full complexity and context, not the common flat movie-evil known from pop-culture. This also adds to the uniqueness of the movie and probably makes many viewers to sympathize with her. Not to mention the great acting by Michalina Olszanska.

I would appreciate more family scenes in the film. I think it would be beneficial for a better understanding of Hepnarova's mind. In particular the roots of her hatred towards her family. But in conclusion I have to take my hat off to the movie makers, they exactly knew what they wanted to deliver and they delivered it. A sad depiction of a sick mind driven to the edge (partially by the society and partially by herself) until the bitter end.

Greetings again from the darkness. Most youngsters have executed a perfect eye roll on at least one occasion after receiving a dose of parental advice that seemed irrelevant to them at the time. An early scene in this biopic finds teenage Olga listening as her mother says, "To commit suicide you need a strong will, my child. Something you certainly don't have. Accept it." This is a warning shot fired at the audience to be cautious when judging the actions of the last woman executed in Czechoslovakia.

Co-directors Petr Kazda and Tomas Weinred seem to believe that most viewers will be familiar with Olga's story, and presume the film's austere look, lack of flow, and structure of seemingly unrelated scenes will provide a sense of the choppiness and isolation that might explain her otherwise inexplicable actions. Based on Olga's true story and the book from Roman Cilek, the film will have you questioning whether her behavior was the result of horrible parenting, or more closely related to her psychological issues – perhaps even schizophrenia.

Michalina Olszamska (The Lure) delivers a committed performance as Olga, the 22 year old woman who in 1972 drove a truck into a group of people in Prague, killing 8 (all between the ages of 60 and 79). A year later she was hanged, becoming the last woman executed in Czechoslovachia.

The movie focuses on the various elements and key moments of her life – father's abuse, mother's iciness, attempted suicide, treatment in asylum, rejection by a lover – that led to her isolation and feelings of alienation. We sense her internal rage building over time, and her inability to cope or even connect with others; though at times we question whether her troubles are by choice or a result of her treatment … it's kind of a twist on the nature vs. nurture debate.

There have been other fine movies that have dealt with a similar theme: There's Something About Kevin, The Omen, The Bad Seed. Each of these deal with the whole good vs evil idea … are some kids born "bad" or are they pushed that way? Either way, it's a parent's worst nightmare. This black and white presentation allows us to keep our emotional distance from Olga, and the no frills approach provides a quite chilling reenactment of how Olga ended up sending a letter to the local newspaper announcing her intention to seek "revenge" for the hatred that society had heaped upon her for years.

Olga Hepnarova was the last woman to be executed in the Czech Republic and for mass murder, no less so don't expect a barrel of laughs. Shot in chilly black and white, (more a wintry gray, in fact), Petr Kazda and Tomas Weinreb's film is a depressing study of a psychotic personality. In the title role Michalina Olszanska doesn't so much act as exists and barely at that. Although she never off the screen it's as if she's been vaporized, living in a shadow where the real person should be. I suppose in some respects the film falls into much the same category as "The Honeymoon Killers" or "Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer" but they were lively, jolly affairs compared to this. With its strong lesbian element perhaps a more fitting comparison would be with "Monster" in which Charlize Theron played Aileen Wuornos. Worth seeing but grim.