FIND MOVIES
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

Review: Oslo, August 31

Surveying a failed life
By BRETT MICHEL  |  August 21, 2012
4.0 4.0 Stars

Thirty-four-year-old Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) considers himself "a spoiled brat who fucked up." Judging how acquaintances react to his unexpected presence during a day-long leave from a drug rehab center, he's also a bit of a ghost; a suicidal specter once blessed with promise, now he haunts his home of Oslo, surveying a failed life. Note that the opening montage of this second feature from Joachim Trier (Reprise) concludes with the controlled implosion of a building. "Remember what you once said," Anders later reminds an old pal," 'If someone wants to destroy himself, society should allow him to do so.' " Derived from Pierre Drieu La Rochelle's novel, Le feu follet (previously adapted by Louis Malle), the movie captures moments of lyrical beauty, from a bike ride through improvised clouds to the echoes of footfalls on stone. As the final shots mirror the first, you reflect on how life goes on, with and without us.

  Topics: Reviews , Movie Reviews, Oslo, Oslo,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: THE LAST REEF 3D: CITIES BENEATH THE SEA  |  February 13, 2013
    The Last Reef , like Cameron's environmental epic, is the vehicle for a message, a call for cutting carbon emissions that are destroying the Earth's coral reefs — home to wondrous life forms, including crocodile fish, giant sea worms, and Finding Nemo –fan favorite, the clown fish — as the seas become more acidic.
  •   REVIEW: STAND UP GUYS  |  January 30, 2013
    Has Al Pacino ever looked so small?
  •   REVIEW: MOVIE 43  |  January 30, 2013
    Don't subject yourself to this crap, which is credited to nine writers and 12 directors, among them Farrelly, Steven Brill (the auteur behind Adam Sandler's Little Nicky ), Steve Carr ( Paul Blart: Mall Cop ), and (sigh) Brett Ratner.
  •   AS IF OUR EYES WERE IN OUR HANDS: THE FILMS OF SUSUMU HANI  |  January 22, 2013
    Susumu Hani was one of the strongest voices of Japan’s early independents working in the postwar cinema of the ’50s and ’60s, before he moved on to making nature documentaries for television.
  •   REVIEW: SUNDANCE SHORTS (2012)  |  January 15, 2013
    As Robert Redford's Sundance Institute turns 35, these 10 short films make good on its mission to "champion the risk-takers and pioneers whose stories reflect and shape our world."

 See all articles by: BRETT MICHEL