"Olivia" captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress Julie and through this screen of love observes the tense romance between Julie and the other head of the school Cara in its final months.
Edwige Feuillère
Mademoiselle Julie
Simone Simon
Mademoiselle Cara
Marie-Claire Olivia
Olivia Dealey
Yvonne de Bray
Victoire
Suzanne Dehelly
Mademoiselle Dubois
Marina de Berg
Mimi
Lesly Meynard
Frau Riesener
Rina Rhéty
Signorina Palletto
Tania Soucault
Georgie
Elly Claus
Laura
Nadine Olivier
Cécile
Sophie Mallet
Student
Hélène Rémy
Boarder
Michèle Monty
Boarder
Ludmilla Hols
Boarder
Marcelle Arditi
Boarder
Martine Bridou
Student
Patricia Solair
Boarder
Lisette Lebon
Boarder
Jacqueline Siber
Boarder
Violette Verdy
Boarder
Suzy Dumas
Student
Catherine Alba
Student
Jocelyne Jany
Student
Eliane Salmon
Student
Evelyne Salmon
Investigator
Gabriel Sardet
Investigator
Paul Mesnier
Investigator
Gilles Ange
Investigator
Christine Tsingos
Renée Coriou
Renée France
Chantal Schoenlaub
Christine Carère
Student (uncredited)
Jacqueline Delannoy
Boarder (uncredited)
Danièle Delorme
Former Student (uncredited)
Fernand Fabre
(uncredited)
Philippe Noiret
Béatrice's Lover (uncredited)
Roseline Prince
Student (uncredited)
Director
Jacqueline Audry
Adaptation, Writer
Colette Audry
Dialogue, Writer
Pierre Laroche
Novel
Dorothy Bussy
January 7, 2025
7
There are two pivotal women in this film, and it's not going to be easy for the young and impressionable "Olivia" (Marie-Claire Olivia) to decide in which camp to put her feet! She is an English lass who has arrived at a posh finishing school in France where she is welcomed by the school's charismatic and enigmatic "Miss Julie" (Edwige Feuillère) with whom she forms an instant attachment. Then there's the more cutely manipulative "Miss Cara" (Simone Simon) who has some sort undefined illness that sees half the school constantly pampering her and indulging her every need. She, too, is fascinated by their tutor and doesn't take at all kindly to the idea of this visiting, foreign, interloper... To put it mildly there's now an enjoyable frisson developing that has a very slight sexual change to it, too, as the women square up nicely in the most dignified and ladylike of fashions of course. Sure, there are some coming of age elements to the plot, but actually it's the rather subtly played games of jealousy that I liked here. There are few male characters to clutter up the toxicity of the dynamic of longing, yearning and back-stabbing and it proves that some clever writing and decent photography can convey tension and raw desire far more potently than nudity and profanity ever could. Ninety minutes flies by, and it's worth a watch.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
French
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00