‘Les Olympiades, Paris 13e’ is a drama centering around the relationships between the inhabitants of the titular district in Paris. Émilie meets Camille, as she is looking to rent out a room in her apartment, and soon the two begin a relationship. Later on Camille meets Nora who herself develops romantic feelings for Amber.
The film opens with Émilie and Camille, as the two meet, spend an evening together and quickly start a romantic affair. Unwilling to commit, Camille tells Émilie that he is not planning on beginning a serious relationship, creating a rift between the two. Camille then starts sleeping with a colleague, effectively ending what he had with Émilie, eventually leading to him moving out of the apartment.
Soon after we are introduced to Nora, a woman wanting to recommence her studies, moving into the apartment Émilie and Camille used to share. She tries to put herself out there and meet new people, but a party goes awry as she is mistaken for a camgirl and is subsequently socially ousted from her studies. Unwilling to give up and move away, Nora looks to secure a job at a realtors as she has prior experience. She goes to interview at a small agency where Camille is working as a favour for a friend and allowing him to finish his doctoral thesis. The two grow close and start a relationship. At the same time, Émilie is shown to be enjoying a carefree sexual stride, taking on hookups through dating apps.
Émilie and Camille reconnect after some time, and the two develop a friendship discussing and sharing in each others intimate lives. Convinced that he is not enough for Nora, Camille asks Émilie for advice, making her realise she is still in love with him.
In the meantime, Nora starts chatting online with the camgirl she was mistaken for and the two develop a close friendship. The two strengthen their bond by exchanging intimate details of each others childhoods, their insecurities and eventually their sexual desires. On a sort of sexual awakening, Nora goes to Camille and sleeps with him, realising that he is not who she is supposed to be with, parting from him never to return. Nora later meets up with Amber in person and the two look on to each other happily.
The film closes on Émilie as she gets ready for her grandmothers funeral. Before leaving, she waits by the door to see if Camille will come to be by her side, cementing that the two will start a committed relationship. As Émilie shuts the door behind her the intercom rings and Camille announces himself to have come for Émilie.
‘Les Olympiades’ is an interwoven tapestry of overlapping relationships, following their course, as a romantic fling leads to a falling out, a work relationship that leads to a love affair, and eventually friendships that culminate in deeply intimate and strong relationships. ‘Les Olympiades’ successfully follows Émilie and Camille, then seamlessly transitioning to focusing on Nora, with a smattering of updates on Émilie as the main focus of the feature is on Nora and Camille. The film is edited well and manages to keep the viewer up to date on each individual and where they are in their respective relationships without muddying the waters too much, creating a smooth ebb and flow of each players current state of affairs.
Just as in real life, ‘Les Olympiades’ tracks Émilie, Camille and Nora as they explore their feelings and progress through their respective relationships. The film traverses the different stages we find the characters in and tells their individual stories well, from start to finish, establishing a clear arc for each person. Through Émilie the viewer can experience a fun-loving and passionate individual who suffers through unrequited love and manages to temporarily find happiness through a liberating stride of a string of sexual partners, yet eventually is led back to Camille. We are also given a preview of Camille’s perspective as he goes from one lover to the next, clearly stating his disinterest in a committed relationship, seemingly viewing his partners as increasingly more challenging obstacles to overcome, rather than experiences to enjoy and grow through. Eventually however he is faced with a frank confession from Émilie that she still loves him, making him choose whether to carry on as before or to try a committed relationship.
Conversely we also get to follow Nora, a strong-minded person who suffers through a traumatic stint of bullying and scorn when mistaken for a camgirl. She is shown to persevere as she seeks out the woman she is mistaken for and surprisingly forms a friendship with Amber. The two bond and share and through Amber's work, Nora comes to the realisation of what she is looking for in a romantic relationship, feeling liberated as she grows closer to Amber.
The cast comprises Lucie Zhang as Émilie, Makita Samba as Camille, Noémie Merlant as Nora and Jehnny Beth as Amber. Collectively they form a varied selection of adults, each with their unique perceptions and expectations from those around them, collaborating to deliver a contrasting yet balanced narrative, playing off each other through conflict and more peaceful times. Ultimately each actor manages to present the notion that no matter how varied our needs may be, we are all looking for love, to be content and happy in sharing our time with another person. The triumph of the film lies with each actor as they are free to show their insecurities and fears, to explore their shortcomings and to illustrate their flaws in the pursuit of love, thereby rendering their journey to love more meaningful and memorable.
‘Les Olympiades’ is a fantastic slice-of-life insight into the trysts and relationships of four separate individuals, showing the audience the messiness of love, the everyday trials that we all go through, no matter what our perspective on love may be. The film succeeds in delivering fully realised characters and a cohesive story, even though the multitude of challenges each character faces could have rendered the project over-stuffed with the various trials each of them go though. Ultimately however, ‘Les Olympiades’ is a versatile story as it presents a number of different persons each with their own individual thoughts and feelings on love, life and the future.
Score: 3/4
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