By José Alberto Hermosillo
COLCOA REVIEW: “Olga” is a realistic and captivating dramatization of a Ukrainian gymnast who struggles to achieve her dreams in and outside her country.
The Swiss/French co-production is a fascinating and honest portrait of the world of gymnastics and what athletes must do to participate in international competitions. Young female athletes undergo intense “military” training conjoined with a tumultuous external political environment, which affects their mental health and well-being.
Olga, a 15-year-old Ukrainian gymnast who was exiled to Switzerland, works tirelessly to secure a place at the country’s National Sports Center and compete at the European championships.
The story progresses from her specific physical training to the external political conflict afflicting her homeland, which touches Olga’s psychological stability.
Her mom is a notorious journalist who worked to uncover corruption cases and to expose President Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the free trade agreement with the European Union. During Ukraine’s Euromaidan of 2013, Olga’s mother became a victim of political persecution, repression, and brutality.
Witnessing the riots in Switzerland, Olga suffers anxiety and excessive psychological damage that affects her performance. Far from her Ukrainian teammates, she can still connect with them through a smartphone, where she catches a glimpse of what is happening with her mom.
The film simultaneously depicts the girl’s experience of the political crisis in her native land, her adolescent crisis, and the immigrant challenges in her social world.
Actress Anastasia Budiashkina delivers Olga’s astonishing, raw, and faithful incarnation. Her strong body denotes solid gymnastic skills, conveyed by her expressive blue eyes, which flawlessly exhibit her character’s vulnerability.
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| Elie Grappe, “Olga” director at COLCOA. Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo. Festival in LA ©2021 |
First-time French director Elie Grappe pulls off a compelling work. Fortunately for the director, project, and viewers, she is both a professional actor and athlete accustomed to competing in large-scale arenas.
In a related real-life story, the turmoil that affected the US gymnastics team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was psychological pressure, mental stress, and other external factors that physically undermined the athletes’ performances. As news of the American team’s challenges spread worldwide, the timing of “Olga’s” release could not be better, serving as an inspirational beacon for thousands of young athletes who dream of competing in the Olympics and can relate to Olga’s experience.
Elie Grappe gave the young actresses enough space to display their emotions, as he wanted to show their passion, desires, and true nature right from the beginning. The story focuses on a young girl with a strong body and an athletic complexion, ready for an international championship.
Elie Grappe tells the story authentically through
functional, spacious settings, clearly intended to lend his first feature film a “documentary look” while creating dramatic moments in intimate settings.
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| Elie Grappe, “Olga” director at COLCOA. Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo. Festival in LA ©2021 |
The director made the good work an essential part of the film to heighten the intensity of every scene, focusing on the athlete’s stress, training, failures, and accomplishments. He wanted to convey the main character’s anger and confrontation with the rest of the world through sound, acoustics, and vital musical tones. He thus bolsters the whole atmosphere by recording the participants’ training with dynamic microphones.
French director Elie Grappe emigrated to Switzerland at 17, and it took him 10 years to make “Olga.”
The COVID-19 crisis, too, severely
impacted the crew during the lockdown. When one of the members
died, filming was suspended. After a year, they faced another challenge and returned to complete the movie. Evidently, the young actors had grown relatively quickly and no longer looked the same as before the pandemic.
The editing slows down the action, and Olga’s failures are repetitive, leaving the audience wondering if she will succeed.
Selected as the Swiss entry for the Best International Feature Award at the 94th Academy Awards, “Olga” is the winner of the SACD Award at the Critics’ Week in Cannes 2021. It also won Best Picture at the Brussels International Film Festival and Best Feature at the Hamburg International Film Festival.
“Olga” is about the struggles and choices a gymnast has to make to become somebody, whether she wants to be a Swiss champion or a Ukrainian patriot.
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| Elie Grappe, “Olga” director at COLCOA, and film critic José Alberto Hermosillo. Festival in LA ©2021 |
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