L'olivier

Emotional and effective story of an ancient olive tree, the family that sold it, the grandfather who mourned its loss and the granddaughter who fought for its return. That's it really but this is beautifully told with some great footage of some magnificent trees. Newcomer Anna Castillo is perfect in the role as supporter of her grandfather and one who remembers a childhood in his arms and in those olive tree branches. A little too much time perhaps spent on the road but nothing can detract from the evident mixed emotions on display as a family fractures and then perhaps comes back together. All because of a tree, albeit a wonderful looking one. And perhaps 2,000 years old.

The film opens with a telephone prank, reminding me as an American that it's to the Spanish we largely owe the art of pulling someone's leg and of amusing exaggeration. But the prank introduces an important theme, also Spanish, of who's getting the upper hand at whose expense. And the additional theme of how hard it is to retain a traditional sense of honor under 21st-century economic pressures. The plot is of the very simplest-- save the ancient olive tree!-- but the characters have side concerns of their own which, while not indispensable to plot, serve to humanize the movie and inspire empathy. The man beside me in the theater remarked two or three times, "Excellent acting." Nice music, too, and flashes of humor. My wife, who knows a little Spanish, let me know how colorless the English subtitles (here in Israel, anyway) were in comparison.

We messure the age of the world through our 10 ephimeral fingers. But there are 2000-years-olive-trees that can remind us that maybe, this time, we can try it again and "count" the value of life much better.

The picture is set in El Maestrazgo, province of Castellón, in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, there a young girl Alma (Ana Castillo) decides to put away their differences to other family members and undergo a hard mission . When a tree was cut , the grandfather suffered deeply in his soul . Each day Alma's grandfather leaves a little stone in the place where olive tree was planted . Meanwhile, her grandfather is in failing health , his grandfather gets seriously sick, he has emphysema and depression from the ancient tree was cut . Although Alma's grandfather never is referred by his birth name. This tree was bought by a powerful company , this enterprise that acquired the olive three is identified as RRR Energy International . Alma hires the help her uncle nicknamed Alcachofa (Javier Gutiérrez) and a friend called Rafa (Pep Ambròs ) to transport an ancient olive from Dusseldorf ( distance between Dusseldorf and the town where they live are about 1,650 kilometers (1,030 miles,) Germania , to Spain . Alma wants to get the huge Olive before it's too late, which means traveling from his home in the rural Comunidad Valenciana to Germany .But she just hopes that she can finish the trip the way he started it . On that trip, she affects and is affected by her partners and those she encounters . As with other issues in his life, she needs to make the trip on his own terms, which means on her own , her uncle and a friend . The only thing that matters to her is to get the main objective , to bring the valuable and enormeous tree to Spain . She will stop at nothing to get it .

This is an interesting and thought-provoking film dealing with adventures and misfortunes carried out by a trio of obstinate people who start an emotional travel to recover a family tree . A brooding and attractive road movie full of drama , suspense , agreeable relationships among protagonists , and brief touches of humor . Enjoyable as well as provoking screenplay by Paul Laverty , reportedly based on a real story Top-notch main cast such as Anna Castillo as a good , idealist girl , a youngster who needs to do things on his own terms , undertaking a his strange journey to mend an unfair situation . Very good acting by Javier Gutiérrez as uncle Alcahofa whose birth name of the character never is revealed, he is an unfortunate man who explains a debtor debts him about 90,000 Euros , but finally helps her niece . And Pep Ambròs as Rafa a good friend who falls for her .

Adequate and colorful cinematography by Sergi Gallardo . Emotive and sensitive musical score by Pascal Gaigne .The motion picture was originally directed by Iciar Bollain . She has worked as a leading actress in selected films like The South (1983) by 'Victor Erice', Malaventura (1988) by 'Manuel Gutiérrez Aragon , Land and Freedom (1995) by Ken Loach, it became an acclaimed audience's and critics' choice ; Leo (2000) by 'Jose Luis Borau' that won the Best Actress nomination Goya Spanish Academy Awards and Nos Miran (2002) . She is a prestigious producer , writing and directing since then both documentaries and fiction films. In 1995, she wrote and directed her feature film debut, ¨Hola, ¿estás Sola?¨ (1995), awarded with Best New Director in Valladolid Festival and was nominated for Best Directorial Debut by the Spanish Film Academy. The film became one of Spain's 1996 box office hits. Flowers from another world(1999), was her second feature film and was awarded at Cannes Film Festival 1999, Best Film in the International Critics' Week ; ¨Take my eyes, 2003¨, was her following film as writer and director, winner of 7 Goyas Spanish Academy Awards, including Best Film, among many other international awards. Her next feature film is ¨Mataharis (2007)¨ , ¨Katmandu¨ and this ´El Olive¨ at her best .

Alma is a teenager who benefited from the pure love that a grandparent can give to a favoured grandchild. As such she loves her grandfather, but her own father and uncle are not so sweetly disposed to their old man. He, meanwhile, has started to slip from the World. His decline goes back to when his sons sold his beloved olive tree that was two thousand years old to fund a restaurant business before the banking crisis.

We get to a point where Alma realises he will die if he is not reunited with the tree and so sets out on a mission to find it and bring it home. Only problem is she hasn't got a clue or any money and no way of achieving her aims but she decides not to let the glaringly obvious stop her.

Now this is a lovingly written story by the brilliant Paul Laverty ('I Daniel Blake' etc) and is acted by players who all inhabit their perspective roles with a simple believability. It can be funny and it can be painful but at its heart it is just a very touching and human story and shows how a thing can be as important to a person and another person – we can not help what we love in life. It is in Spanish with a bit of German and some English – well translated in the sub titles. If you like Ken Loach film you will want to see this - completely recommended.