Olive Kitteridge

I have a lot of love for HBO. Of course they sometimes miss the mark, but that is a rarity. As far as I'm concerned, The Leftovers was a genie that they could have left in the bottle and Boardwalk Empire – yes I'm just going to say it – ultimately made less of an impression on me than I had hoped when I first saw the trailer. But HBO is above all a pearl grower. Pearls like Girls, How To Make It In America and True Detective, which – perhaps except for channels like AMC and Sundance Channel – probably hadn't seen the light of day anywhere else. The book adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's novella Olive Kitteridge can now be added to that list. An impressive four-part with acting that you have not seen in any other series. Indeed, you read it right. Not in any other series. In Olive Kitteridge you get 25 years in the life of Olive, her husband Henry and son Christopher. They live together in a dormitory town in Maine, where good-natured Henry runs the local drugstore and Olive provides the youth with knowledge. Olive's hard, unfiltered, sometimes cynical appearance creates tensions, both within the family and beyond. Some people will find Olive Kitteridge too slow and boring. I can get in there. I personally found it a relief between all the screaming serial violence. After a hectic day at work, it's like closing the door of your car with a dull thud and being surrounded by silence. It's on a stormy day fighting the elements with your umbrella, turning the corner somewhere and suddenly ending up in complete silence. Maybe it's even a bit of dreading the dentist for a few weeks and then standing on the doorstep again after ten minutes of cavities. It is – at times – heavy fare, which, oddly enough, still regularly puts a smile on your face. Beautiful, intelligent, tranquil and with Frances McDormand (Olive) in the possession of an actress who deserves awards. Lots of prizes.

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