re:mote voices

Title: Le Chignon d'Olga
Cast: Hubert Benhamdine, Nathalie Boutefeu, Serge Riaboukine, Florence Loiret, Antoine Goldet, Delphine Rollin, Bernard Blancan, Valérie Stroh, Marc Citti, Clotilde Hesme
Director: Jérôme Bonnell

the strength of Le Chignon d'Olga for me is what is not said, the looks characters give, the sensations those create, the spaces opened between words that allow for suggestion. the film starts with an introduction to julien as he yearns for a young woman called olga, who works in a book shop. the scene is filled with the slow motions of a woman, the emphasis of her body and it's effects, mixed with the hungry eyes of julien, the burgeoning desire he feels.

as we go from that scene though we get a greater sense of julien and his family. his father, his sister, and the space in their lives which they are all revolving around. though it is never really said it is clear that the mother had died, recently. from the tentative approach to clearing out her clothes. the lingering shot of the father alone in the bed. the crying that is triggered by the daughter finding pictures of her mother and herself where they look so alike.

each of them struggles with ideas of fulfilment, the things which may or may not get them through this difficult time. julien has his desire for olga, but has to deal with the ups and downs of his best friend alice's disastrous love live. his sister emma struggles with her sexual identity, while desperately wanting to leave town. while their father finds that the writing of children's books is no longer as easy, or fulfilling as it once was.

unlike the charlie chaplin film that is featured a couple of times through the film this is not a silent movie. but the words are secondary, links that bring scenes together. the lingering looks and expressions of emotion are what really bring this film to life, and it is those that the viewer savours in the viewing.