Is Motherhood Sacred?
Movie: The Olmo and the Seagull
Dir: Petra Costa, Lea Glob
“I feel like there’s an alien in my belly” says Olivia, a pregnant stage artist who is straddled between choosing a life of following her passion and her untimely pregnancy which alienates the woman from her own choices. The Olmo and the Seagull discusses the false imposition of undue importance to motherhood, which in fact takes its toll only on the women involved.
The film meanders on a thin line between non-fiction and fiction and is played by real characters (Olivia Corsini and Serge Nikolai), with intermittent additions from the director’s angle to manipulate the setting of the cinema. What distinguishes cinema from a documentary is it’s power to manipulate the performers in action. The Olmo and the Seagull doesn’t intend to hide the timely interventions from the creator's side on the drama happening between the husband and the wife, it in fact showcases the directors' promts of “you can do that scene better” in a way that it doesn’t want to hide the manipulative angle of cinema. This technique makes the film more personal and trustworthy. Olivia’s desperation and reflections about her plight is given ample time and importance; her monologues as voiceovers makes up for about half of the movie. It made me think about how less women are provided a vent to express their contemplations even in the world of cinema. The difference of a women making a film that talks about their issues is entirely different from a man taking on the same issue. We feel for Olivia, empathise with her and take her side when she grimly recollects what her friend said about losing a teeth during pregnancy: “That’s normal. The baby needs calcium. During pregnancy woman often lose teeth.” This tends Olivia to contemplate on the idea of “A life for a tooth” for a while before laughing it away. As simple as this may sound, it espouses the intentions of the film and enunciates the need for more feminine voices in Cinema.
There isn’t much to talk about the cinematography or the sounds here as it moves forward in a documentary-cum-observer fashion. The setting of the film reminded me of Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman that juxtaposed the personal life of a stage acting couple with their careers. But other than the superficial similarity, both these films talk about different things, in a deeply personal manner.
The film gave a space for Olivia to talk about how she felt when her husband was away, and how the pregnancy was acting as a barrier for her to go out at her own will. In one scene, Serge is seen to advice her not to step out of the house, as the streets are full of dangerous people. This irritates Olivia, and she shows it on him. The silver screen that is more than often corrupt with celebrations of manly irritations (Arjun Reddy, take a bow), often fails to acknowledge the other side of things, which more than often tempts women to suppress their irritations.
Perspectives matter, Petra Costa's and Lea Glob's personal take on issues worked for me. See if it works for you... Or else?... Well, try and make it work.
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