Já, Olga Hepnarová

Felt this is an underachiever because the story is so strong and opens up possibilities for the filmmakers that they did not take advantage of. Maybe there wasn't such possibility because Olga Hepnarova REALLY happened after all. Michalina Olszanska is great as the poor man's 1990s Natalie Portman. If you are into slightly demented shit, go for it.

Dry, questionably acted, and somewhat boring. Olga is a fascinating character whose trauma as a child is thrown back at society -- or at least that's how she frames it -- so that drives most of the plot's power. The ending is sad and intense, even though its historicity is apparently disputed.

A tricky film to understand as it spends so long getting to its point. It's difficult to understand the personality and motivations of the eponymous anti-heroine, and equally hard to see where the director is trying to go with her. In the finale it becomes more black-and-white, more like the biopic it actually is. Not that compelling a story, but well filmed and I suppose well acted. I'd say the deliberate lack of sympathy for Olga hampered the film-makers' creativity.

It does a very good job in walking the very thin line between understanding its protagonist and sympathizing with her. It does so by keeping some ambiguity about how much Olga really is the victim of her circumstances (as she saw it) or how much actions are formed by her perceptions. I only don't get all the praise Michalina Olszańska is getting. I found her acting, to depended on mannerism. The black and white cinematography is gorgeous.