Film review: Alive
Jimmy Olsson’s new short film is an honest, intelligent, and fun alternative approach to living.
During the COVID-19 period, all we need is some type of lightness to keep us going, keep our strengths as we wait for better days. For that, we must look for new perspectives and narratives to envision a healthier horizon in our future. Streaming services offer us an infinity of movies and tv shows, but we are continually looking for something else, different, something that opens our eyes and messes — positively — with our minds. Jimmy Olsson gives us that with his new short film, Alive.
Victoria (Eva Johansson) is a woman with special needs. She lives with a physical disability and faces a hard time talking and moving. Ida (Madeleine Martin) is the caregiver who helps her with physiotherapy, takes her to places, keeps her company. When Victoria meets Ida’s boyfriend, she realizes that something is missing in her life, a will to be alive, human contact, or just feeling something. Together, they decide to create a Tinder profile for Victoria, and Ida starts wondering if the future encounters are the best and safer plan for Victoria. A world of ideas in no more than 23 minutes.
Olsson’s direction is sharp, he builds tension in a way that we lose track of time as we watch his film. The narrative control in a short format must be the same as in a short story in opposition to a novel: precise but not succinct, concise without missing its nuances. Alive captures us when we meet these women and we start to feel the need to know them, to understand their desires and feelings, and then how the possible dates will evolve, making us join the drama. It is a film with no rush and when it ends, we go out with mixed feelings of satisfaction for seeing a well-crafted story, surprise, and a wish of staying there a little longer.
Between the worried looks of Ida and Victoria’s desires, we notice two women who overcome work relations and develop a friendship based on women’s power of courage and understanding. Eva Johansson amazes us with a magistral performance of restrained gestures, expressing an attempt of control in a noncontrolled condition. At the same time, Madeleine Martin gives us a mature yet young Ida in a professional relationship without patronizing her patient, while keeping the kindness needed in such circumstances.
The Swedish director has experienced social sensitive subjects before. His other films, Repressed (2011), Caesar (2014) and 2nd Class (2018), have the same regard we see in his Alive. Even though each one focuses on a specific idea, together they confirm a careful look on social behavior, making his stories universal. It is no surprise that all of them have had huge recognition, winning several awards in film festivals around the globe. Alive acts on our intimacy and affections, the way we relate with one another while bringing to the debate dating apps and women safety — especially for those in a vulnerable situation. At the same time, it puts us in front of a mirror, making us face the prejudices and perceptions we carry within ourselves. It is a lot to think in limited time, and it works well with the dialogue economy. It is worth every minute.
The film is on tour. Recently it was shown at the Cleveland International Film Festival. At the end of May, it will be at the Brooklyn Film Festival and in June, it goes to the Festival Internacional de Cine de Huesca, in Spain. We are expecting it in Brazil around September and October for the 14ª CineBH and the 44ª Mostra de São Paulo. You can watch the trailer here and know more about the director’s work on Instagram and Twitter.
