I write this review on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
For those wanting some background information about Ukraine the following films are recommended:
"The Kyiv files" (2023, Walter Stokman) about the Soviet era
"Olga" (2021, Elie Grappe) about the 2014 Revolution of Dignity or Maidan revolution
"Donbass" (2018, Sergey Loznitsa) about the occupation of the Donbass by Russian backed separatists before the invasion.
"Olga" is about a mother - daughter relationship. The daughter is a gymnast on a training camp in Switzerland (the country of her deceased father). The mother is a journalist in Ukraine reporting on the revolution on the Maidan square.
The relationship between mother and daughter is sometimes a little tense. The daughter blames her mother for a lack of support now that she is training for such important competitions. The mother blames her daughter for too much focus on gymnastics. There are other important things now that her homecountry stands at a crossroad in history.
Despite these tensions the love between mother and daughter is never subject to any doubt. Besides the accusation that the daughter is only thinking about gymanastics is simply not true. Yes she is very determined to make a good performance at the upcoming events, but at the same time you can see the pressure she is under and the way she is torned between two loyalties (her sport and her home country) when she is training in solitude.
The movie uses different camera perspectives for the scenes of Olga training on her own (close up) and Olga training with the other girls (overview shots). Apart from the relationship with her mother the relationship with the other girls is a second theme in "Olga". Also this relatoinship has two faces, as the girls are both colleagues and competitors.
The movie has a strong documentary flavor. This applies to both the Ukraine and Swiss scenes. The Ukraine scenes contain archive material from the Maidan square revolution. The Swiss scenes are dominated by non professional actresses as few professional actresses have the required gymnastic skills.
