Olga

Olga

Director – Elie Grappe

Writers – Raphaëlle Desplechin, Elie Grappe

2021, France-Switzerland-Ukraine

Stars – Anastasiia Budiashkina, Sabrina Rubtsova, Caterina Barloggio

 

From the Glasgow Film Festival.

Fifteen-year-old Olga has promising potential as a star athlete, so when she is exiled to Switzerland because of the volatile political situation in Ukraine – the Euromaidan revolt is brewing – she trains there for the National Sports Centre.

A girl dislocated from homelife and homeland, torn between identities, languages and loyalties, Olga is prime material for coming-of-age drama. Anastasiia Budiashkina’s performance is both solid, a little defiant and battle-worn, vulnerabilities mostly buried behind a stolid veneer. Her teenage conflicts and empathy play out in the focus on being an athlete with her peers whilst the conflicts with Ukraine and her mother are mostly news reports and fuzzy screens. There is plenty to be moved by, but the political and personal sides never quite reconcile, which is perhaps apt for this character.

Arguably, the feats of athleticism are a little compromised by being shot a little too close up and broken up with multiple edits (like most action sequences, mid-shot longer-takes seem best to me for really showing what the artist is doing). But this is a coming-of-drama that runs on understatement and low-wattage and is all more affecting and sharper for that.