OLMO is a funny, heart-felt, glorious film about a good kid trying to get the girl of his dreams while real life gets in the way. The kid is a teenage boy called Olmo who lives with his Mexican immigrant parents and big sister in a shitty New Mexican town in the late 70s. The girl of his dreams, Nina, lives across the street and is having a party on Saturday night. Olmo is too young and uncool to really stand a chance, but maybe, just maybe, if he turns up with his dad's killer stereo and his Saturday Night Fever dance moves he can get the girl. The problem is that his dad has MS and needs constant care, his sister is going to the local roller disco, and his mum has to work a double shift.
Writer-director Fernando Eimbcke (DUCK SEASON) captures moments of pure joy often set to wonderful music. Apart from the aforementioned disco scene, there's a lovely scene where Olmo and his best mate manage to fix the record player under Olmo's father's painfully detailed tutelage, and suddenly the whole family is dancing around the living room. Even getting a cranky old car to start can be a scene of spontaneous happiness.
But the film also has its quiet moments of desperate sadness. In an early scene the kids are having an argument about who is going to babysit the dad, while he sits mute in his wheelchair - a once proud man conscious of the burden he has become. And later, without giving away too many spoilers, there's a plot pivot that confronts Olmo with the responsibilities of being an adult.
And then there are just so many moments that will ring true to those of us who grew up in immigrant families. The parents still speak their native language - Spanish - in the house, but the kids, born in the USA, reply in English. Both sides understand each other perfectly but don't have the confidence to actually speak the others' native tongue. The parents who are always worn out and tired. The kids who so desperately want to fit in. It all rings true.
Kudos to Plan B who are financing these low budget films. I really hope this gets distribution. It's so valuable - not to mention entertaining - to see well told, beautifully made migrant stories in these divided and violent times.
OLMO has a running time of 84 minutes. It played Berlin and Toronto and will play the BFI London Film Festival. It does not yet have a commercial release date.
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