One man called Olivier Bécaille
Un Certo Olivier Bécaille (One man called Olivier Bécaille) is a short film noir written, produced, and directed by Alessandro Masella. Olivier Bécaille played by the director himself is a young farmer who lives with his wife and his sons. He is diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis when he coughs up blood and collapses in the fields he works in. The beauty of this film lies in the little twist that Olivier narrates the story of his death, funeral, and burial himself sitting in a bar contemplating the life after death. In this film, writers convey how the perception of life changes after a man experiences the death; a man who loves his wife and children comes back to life from death only to realise that he no longer is bound by any relationships and he does not want to go back to them notwithstanding his love for them.
A young farmer working on his farm cutting weed experiences heavy coughing and before he could come to the senses about it, he collapses. We then see him in bed being diagnosed by the doctor while his wife waits outside hoping for the best. With no treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis, doctor apprises Olivier’s wife of the inevitable. Soon after this, Olivier is dead and the relatives are called who convey their condolences. All this is narrated by the man himself drinking in a bar of what happened to him after he was assumed dead. The little details of how he could perceive a dim light from the left eye, and how no muscle reacted to his dead willpower only make the narration and the story interesting; those are the curious details the men are after, to know what happens to people who die. Although it elicits sadness, it really is frightening when he starts to unfold the story of how he regains his sentience after being buried under the ground.
It will be suffocating to watch Olivier Bécaille try hard to break himself free from his coffin from under the ground. We will be hoping for him to succeed so that he could go back to his family to stand before them a miracle, but what happens once he slithers out thanks to the recently dug grave just beneath his feat that gives in to his kicks, is beyond an ordinary intuition. Olivier Bécaille walks away from his own grave without anyone seeing him and he has no desire to run to his family after he faces the inevitable. That is the one moment this film stands to represent, the change in perception.
Alessandro Masella could not have found a better actor to portray the character he has created. Himself playing Olivier Bécaille, Alessandro has complete control over how he wants the character to respond to the most baffling experience one can face. It is truly laudable how he acted the part where he rises up from the grave next to him with an expression that is inexplicable to anyone who is not a revenant. With a mixture of emotions running through his face, we see a changed man who has no interest in his past, but would rather be someone else. With a beautiful score that complements the act playing on the screen, this film is an amazing work of art.
