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Olivier Olivier (1991)

Director: Agnieszka Holland

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From Time Out Film Guide

Olivier, the coddled nine-year-old son of a provincial French family, disappears; and despite the promises of a well-meaning police inspector (Stévenin), fails to reappear. The loss breaks up his already tension-torn family - older sister Nadine, vet father (Cluzet) and over-protective mother (Roüan) - and in a storm of recriminations, Papa hightails it to Africa. Then, six years later, the unthinkable happens... Based, unimaginably, on a true story, the film begins with a picture of rural bliss, but then turns the conventions upside down. Six years on, the drama focuses on the older Nadine (a sensitive, fiery performance by Golovine) and the young seed of discord who enters the family nest, played with disarming charisma by Colin. Cluzet, Roüan and Stévenin are excellent too. Part intimate melodrama, part mystery story, the film delves with confidence into some dark areas, and takes the scalpel to the nuclear family as pitilessly as anything since Bergman's heyday.

Author: JRo

Time Out Film Guide


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