Olivia (1951)
Directed by Jacqueline Audry

Film Review

It was with her daring adaptation of two Colette novels, Gigi (1949) and Minne, l'ingénue libertine (1950), that Jacqueline Audry made her name as a film director in France.  These she followed with a far more controversial piece, Olivia, based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Dorothy Bussy.  Now considered a landmark in the portrayal of lesbians in cinema, the film has not so much as a whiff of sensationalism about it but instead offers a candid and remarkably sensitive portrait of romantic love between women.   One of the few female directors to be working in France in the 1950s, Audry was something of a trailblazer in her depiction of women.  A proto-feminist, she would not shy away from the more scandalous realities of life and her subsequent film Mitsou (1956) was widely condemned for its overt scenes of extra-marital sex.  As a film director, her technique was rarely as adventurous as the subject of her films, and by the time of the French New Wave she was considered dépassé.  What most distinguishes her as a filmmaker is her commitment to go beyond traditional representations of women and show them as they really are, creatures of inordinate complexity, not as men imagine them to be.

Olivia is not only Audry's most groundbreaking film it is also, arguably, her most technically accomplished.  The laboured precision of her mise-en-scène with its suffocating elegance adds to the stifling sense of confinement of the girls' school, which is not so much an educational establishment as a psychological web in which innocent ingénues are lured into one of two camps, those of the two bitter rivals Mademoiselle Julie and Mademoiselle Cara.  These two pathetic examples of womanhood are brought to life by two of French cinema's great divas, Edwige Feuillère and Simone Simon, both impressing with a performance of exceptional depth and complexity. 

It doesn't take us long to work out just why these two women loathe one another so fiercely, and there is an exquisite cruelty to the way in which they perpetuate their feud, by seeing who is most successful at stealing their pupils' hearts - a dangerous game that can only end in tragedy.  The central role of Olivia is played with conviction and charm by the Swiss actress Marie-Claire Olivia, her first of only three screen appearances.  The other notable performer is Yvonne de Bray, a star of the French stage who virtually steals the film with her amusing portrayal of the plain-speaking cook Victoire.  Today, Olivia may appear coy and too understated for its own good, but for the time at which it was made it was a daring film for anyone to attempt, and in its delicate probing of the female psyche it was many years ahead of its time.

Film Synopsis

Victoire, the cook at a young women's institution, is charged with meeting Olivia, a young English student, at the station.  No sooner has Olivia arrived than she is indoctrinated into the secrets of the establishment by her fellow inmates.  The management of the school is shared by Mademoiselle Julie and Mademoiselle Cara, two very different personalities.  Julie divides her time between her students and her fashionable soirées.  Cara, by contrast, spends most of her time in her room, complaining about her health so that she can attract the attention of her students.  One day, Julie gives Olivia a luxurious room on the same floor as the managers' living quarters.  Cara then offers Olivia an even greater privilege, the chance to look at the institution's photo album.  Soon the innocent Olivia will become the victim of the two women's bitter rivalry...