Do you ever find yourself putting off watching something for no particular reason? Something that you've been told a lot about by someone yet the years go by? Perhaps you've even lost contact with that person or forgotten who recommended it in the first place. Perhaps that person no longer talks to you because you just never saw the thing they recommended. Well, this is happening to me now. I can't remember who recommended Olive Kitteridge to me, nor do I know if that person even talks to me still. I just remember a long time ago someone told me I need to watch it, and it sat idle on a watchlist of mine for quite literally years. I realised this the other day, and that enough time had finally managed to pass. It was time to give it a chance. Not knowing anything about it or what I should expect. In fact, I actually thought something was wrong with the show and that it had been cancelled upon discovering it has just four episodes to it. This being instead just a very small miniseries.
Truthfully, I love seeing these. A miniseries is precisely enough entertainment for most audiences. A short story, one that comes and goes. Nothing too long or stretched out for no reason that benefits the story. No excessive seasons that contain filler and backstory and again just try to spread out the story. Miniseries tend to be my favourite shows. Full of artistic directing and very good writing. So upon discovering this had not been cancelled and was instead intentionally short, my interest immediately rose to new heights. Especially after the first few minutes of watching and discovering the cast it had. Some incredible talent! Upon reading after viewing the show, it seems the Olive Kitteridge name comes from a book, to which I'm sure the stories are just as deep and engaging. Though I most likely won't read it to find out. But this additional context helps establish that this is indeed an adaptation of some sort. Perhaps not in all its glory, but utilising the characters and focusing on some of the drama that ensues within that world.
Olive Kitteridge
Olive Kitteridge seems like pure misery. A show in which its main character barely seems like the main character at all. And the only times in which we see her are when she is bringing the mood down for those around her. Endlessly being rude and passive aggressive towards people, and constantly putting them down even if they have good intentions and get to help others. Olive Kitteridge is her name, and she is by far an absolute disgusting hag of a person. But I can't help but find this so incredibly engaging. A protagonist that is just horrible, an insufferable being yet we are following her along. To begin with, there isn't even really any context behind why she is like this in the first place, and it only made her more interesting as a character. Of course as an audience we immediately jump to conclusions; perhaps she's mean out of personal trauma. Perhaps those she's mean to actually are deserving of it. Or, just perhaps, Olive Kitteridge is a horrible person. It's really interesting how well the show instantly pulls you in with this, and it holds you close without revealing anything. It is actually hard to even see her as another human due to her cruelty. In one episode, we even see her stealing items from her son's fiance's bedroom on the day of their wedding; a totally unprovoked act that seems incredibly cruel and unjustified. Spiteful and jealous, Olive's actions are often fueled by the fact that others seem happier than she does. Her attempts purely there to try to bring others to her level.
Aside from all of this, it comes after the introduction to Olive Kitteridge, the show and person: playing music in nature, looking around, while also loading a gun. This is a powerful scene to open the show. We see close-up shots of this firearm and there are heavy implications as to what is to unfold at this location. Or, at least, what is planned to unfold. It doesn't really show us when this event takes place, it could be the past for Olive, or the future. It may even very well be the present. Questions managed to arise for me almost instantly. I was hooked. As mentioned, however, much of the show isn't really about Olive either. The first episode is mostly the perspective of her husband, as he works at a pharmacy and supports a frail, mouselike young woman that works with him. Offering a fatherly support to her which inevitably leads to Olive's jealously towards the whole scenario, even if she genuinely needs guidance at the hand of genuine suffering and hardships. Though we also see Olive's husband falling close to temptation. The show is full of scenarios like these, to which it spreads misery far and wide. Frances McDormand plays Olive, and Richard Jenkins plays her husband, Henry. These two actors are phenomenal in their performances, both offering something very different to their characters and stories.
This comes with the very beautiful cinemaotgraphy and directing which makes Olive Kitteridge a very appealing show. I noticed it got creative in parts, but was mostly utilising static camera angles which amplified the beauty of the lighting and set design. For a show with four episodes, each at an hour or so in length, it is evident that it had a very good budget to play around with. Sometimes these miniseries don't get exactly what they need and it hinders quality, but there's none of that here. Especially in an environment that seems so full of gloom, both in the show's themes of depression and visuals as it displays a small town with a depression small town life to it. Even dull in weather and home design as it displays life as some mundane bore to which Olive just rides along out of having nothing better to do. But that again is what makes her appealing: is her own jealous ways and cruelty a mere extension of her own beliefs and depression? To which her suffering is mostly self-inflicted with a refusal to ever acknowledge and address it. Well, I'm not going to tell you anything more. With just four episodes, you should check it out yourself!
Olive Kitteridge was a short surprise for me, one that I'm sure led to a friendship of mine dying out of my own neglect. Perhaps fitting for the show's themes. But I certainly recommend it for the performances and unique look on a depressive, cruel protagonist that is incredibly difficult to root for. I don't think we get enough stories such as these, to which the characters we follow are difficult to like, and they are far from the hero of the story. The quality is there with Olive Kitteridge, I can't think of any faults to it other than the fact that I could've easily had more episodes. I'm glad I finally gave it a chance. It certainly deserves one from you too.
