• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Film

The Olive Tree: Film Review

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel Some narratives are so obviously constructed to hit a series of emotional highs; the power begins to ebb away. The Olive Tree is like that, marching along a transparently pre-ordained path. And yet it remains a mostly charming experience through the sheer weight of emotion brought to bear by director Iciar […]

Kit Power by Kit Power
2017-03-14 11:14
in Film, New Movies
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel

Some narratives are so obviously constructed to hit a series of emotional highs; the power begins to ebb away. The Olive Tree is like that, marching along a transparently pre-ordained path. And yet it remains a mostly charming experience through the sheer weight of emotion brought to bear by director Iciar Bollain and writer Paul Laverty.

The tree of the title plays a vital role in bringing a number of moving parts together, though the crux of the film is Alma’s (Anna Castillo) relationship with her increasingly ill grandfather (Manuel Cucala). Suffering from ever-worsening health, she reaches the decision to retrieve his beloved olive tree, sold out from under him by his son years back. Now it adorns the lobby of an energy company in Dusseldorf.

A madcap road trip in a borrowed lorry takes place, punctuated by diversions into the lives of Alma and those around her. Whimsical music plays out over a number of overhead shots of Alma, her uncle Arti (Javier Gutierrez) and Rafa (Pep Ambros), her wannabe lover, making their way from Spain to Germany. Along the way they have a few forced adventures including the theft of a model Statue of Liberty. It’s all rather fun in a low-key way.

Striving for more finds The Olive Tree thrashing about in deeper water, uncomfortably out of its depth. A number of problems are littered across the running time, from Alma’s fraught relationship with her father Luis (Miguel Angel Aladren) to his relationship with his father, and the wayward Arti stuck under a mountain of debt and an inability to speak frankly with his partner.

Alma isn’t any better, having neglected to tell her companions the tree is with an energy company (they think the owner is a Protestant Minister), and that she doesn’t have permission to take it. Innocence and stubborn earnestness drive Castillo’s performance as she holds the course during weaker spots. Particularly in Germany efforts to contrive drama attempt to burst through. Conversations with contacts in the country are littered with overly descriptive dialogue laying out the choices ahead rather than simply showing them. The same goes for many of the family squabbles that never really add up to much.

Yet despite this tendency to force every moment, there’s something charming about The Olive Tree. Some of it is Castillo’s performance, some of it is the light tread that only occasionally gets tangled up in a convoluted web of family discord. Whatever the mix, it just about works.

The Olive Tree is on general release from Friday 17th March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKgRUqINlPE

RelatedPosts

Give Them Wings Premiers in Darlington

Final Thoughts on Cannes 2022

Cannes 2022 Review: Tori and Lokita

Cannes 2022 Review: Pacifiction

 

Tags: Film ReviewsIciar BollainMiguel Angel AladrenSpanish Cinema

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

10 reactions as Lancashire to enforce Covid restrictions but party town of Blackpool avoids measures

MP Fiona Onasanya failed to overturn her conviction

‘Yemen still urgently needs help:’ UN seeks £3.3 billion in appeal for war-ravaged country

Foreign aid in Africa: Help or exploitation?

How To Make: Budgie Montoya’s Filipino Banana Ketchup

Back to normal by summer? It’s possible, SAGE expert says

Tory who said eagles unwelcome in constituency funded by shooting estate

GB News recruiting from Brexit party after Andrew Neil quits

Israel bans visit by US congresswomen – Trump backs the decision

18-year-old Brit who is youngest person to cycle around the world solo returns home

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.