Customer Reviews

Olivier Olivier [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the best French films I've seen, if not one of the best overall. I first saw it several years ago, like 5 yrears ago, and reviewed it again for this review. I remembered the plot twist, so that kinda spoiled it this time. But the first time around it was great and very convincing (and great a second time too.) I remember thinking, is this all really true?--did it happen this way? The older Olivier is very convincing and how did he do it? The film doesn't really offer any explanation. He was also a very adorable character and seductive. The movie also evokes many different emotions based on the situations that happen (I don't want to give away too much info for those reading this review who haven't seen it--don't want to ruin the experience.) Or emotions are evoked from what you also perceive to be happening at the time, from joy, humor, repulsion, outrage, etc. I mean the subject manner covers a lot of territory, though subtely, all relating to the main character, Olivier. Like for instance the relationship between Olivier and his sister....I mean you think what's he doing, but you kinda know otherwise...It is a very touching film that will make you think and feel for the character and the real life one. And since this film was "inspired by real events" as sited in the opening screens, I was left wondering what happened after the ending with the teenaged "Olivier" and his family. Watch it, it's worth your time.

i don't believe that bad french films exist, and this is the best example. the movie plays on our fear of abandonment and the need for closure in our lives. the pastoral setting of the film barely veils the disfunctions that exist with the main characters. without even the mystery of whether or not the street urchin is the missing link to this family that fell apart after little Olivier disappeared nine years ago, the story is both beautiful and haunting to watch. the characters in an of themselves could have been enough to keep the story moving: the neurotic and obsessive mother, the father who leaves when things get too hard and the daughter who is caught in the middle as she is always idly pushed aside. The ending has a great twist and the first time i saw it i screamed. definately worth catching.

Saw this film a few years ago. Haunting, moving, unforgettable. Achieves a perfect modulation of complex emotions and motivations among the characters. Though it's not a plot-driven film in the conventional sense, I will not reveal too much of it, except to say that the film plays ingeniously on our fascination with the idea of the doppelganger. For me, this film shares with Memento, the Christopher Nolan film, a deep interest in the ways in which we will persuade ourselves to believe in something that will enable us to go on in the face of an unbearable loss.

All about a French family's loss of their son, as he takes his sick grandmother something to eat , then disappears.
Suddenly, years later the detective in charge of the case meets a young man in Paris, who seems to earn his living as a male prostitute, wearing the same red cap that Olivier was wearing the day he disappeared.
When questioned the boy seems to know a lot. The family's last name his sisters name....Is it Olivier?
From the director of "Europa,Europa" and "The Secret Garden"
ignore all bad ratings, it's a good film.

Ih my gosh! I have never experienced something as amazing as this. No, not one single movie has been as amazing as this one. It has everything you look for in a movie. I love this movie. It's a piece of art. I will never get over this movie. I know that whenever they ask me what my favorite movie is all I have to say is "Olivier Olivier".

the VHS tame was super timely shipped but i had to watch it at friend's because i do not have a VCR. it had not been rewound which i noticed and was midway in the film.....

i put it in my friend's VCR and that was the end. the tape was gone.

i do not know whether the tape was defective or whether my friend's VCR was defective. we have not had time to check it. but you Amazon are bugging me for a review, so i want this off of my plate.

i will say 50-50 at this point?

Interesting and slightly odd film about a son who disappears from his French family. He has a somewhat Oedipal relationship with his mother, and the family is very dysfunctional. Years later, he returns, but questions are raised if he is the real young man. The family drama is good and well-acted, but contains some truly bizarre subplots, such as the daughter's ability to levitate objects. The film also leaves some major perplexing questions regarding the boy, which I will not reveal. Nevertheless, an interesting and different film.

Have you ever felt yourself fully emerged in emotion over someone who doesn't exist? Few people do this. If you watch this movie I swear you will find yourself mourning. Mourning for Olivier, his family, and perhaps even yourself. Anybody who loves children will feel like broken glass and rusty razors have been taken to his soul. You'll never be the same.

fab. too good watch the film too

Not in the same class as her excellent "Angry Harvest" and "Europa, Europa". (It would seem she likes double titles.) Her last three films including "The Secret Garden", have been about children and their secrets, and this one is no exception. It is a very odd film about a very dysfunctional family, on a sexual level. There is incest on the mother's part.