The Bloody Olive

Although this short film has a very high score and favorable reviews, it just didn't do much to capture my interest. For me, there were just too many twists and turns and after a while the whole thing became a bit tedious--though the film is good from a technical point of view.

The film is made in black and white and deliberately tries to copy the look of a 50s Film Noir style movie. What I particularly liked was the husband--his mannerisms and way of speaking (though in German) fit the film's style very well. The man and his wife are planning on a Christmas Eve celebration when the husband's boss comes in to announce that he knows the man has embezzled company funds. However, the husband pulls out a gun and shoots the man. Then, in a twist, the man comes back to life--apparently the whole thing was staged. Not a bad idea, but when this happens again and again (with the boss, the wife and the husband) all appearing to be killed again and again and in each case you learn that it's all a trick, the whole thing becomes very tiresome. There are too many twists, too many faked deaths and too much to keep my interest. One or two twists in a short film are fine--not perhaps as many as 10.

Stylish and well made, this is a film that seemed to have no idea when to quit.