Oslo August 31: Well-Made but Dull

 

OSLO AUGUST 31 (2011)

Directed by Joachim Trier

Strand Releasing, 95 minutes, Not rated.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.

★★

 

"Genius" is not a word I'd use

 

 Can a film about an important subject be made well, captured perfectly, and still be as dull as dishwater? Oslo August 31 that can be the case, even though that some critics hailed it an overlooked gem.

 

Anders (Anders Danielson Lie) is an addict trying to make the pain stop. He has tried suicide and rehab, failed at first, and is hollowed out by the second. At some point, even rehab must end. Anders has two weeks left in his rural residential treatment program, and is sent back to Oslo for a job interview and an overnight to test his ability to cope.

 

An opening voiceover gives a snippet of Anders’ pre-treatment life. We gather that he was the one-time golden boy of a well-to-do family. As we time travel through the Oslo of his boyhood, then cut to the present, we see the city hasn't changed that much.

 

At 34, Anders is older, but is he wiser? Before his job interview, he visits an old friend Thomas (Hans Olav Brenner), a researcher and scholar, and his family. Thomas is more comfortable quoting philosophers than dealing with damaged psyches, especially since he and Rebekka (Ingrid Olava) have their own crosses to bear. Few people do angst as well as Scandinavians, and that's true of others in Anders’ orbit–an old friend Mirjam (Kjaersti Odden), who is depressed by her birthday and childless state, people he meets at her party, and even a guy at the bar who dated his ex-girlfriend Iselin that Anders seeks to forgive. Instead, Anders suffers through a blistering lecture about a louse he is. Just what he doesn't need. Nor does it help that Iselin won't answer his calls, or that his own sister declines to see him. You might wonder what a junkie is doing at a bar. Or a rave, or an all-night party. You might also wonder why he can't find solace in Renate, an attractive young woman who is willing to be a sexual conquest. She's there for the taking, but Anders can't muster interest in her or anything else.

 

Danielson Lie is in control of his craft. It's tempting for actors to go over the top when portraying damaged individuals. Lies’ Anders is as it should be, a man who has hit rock bottom and sees no ladder out of the hole he has dug. Unlike many movies about addiction and depression, Oslo August 31 avoids sentimentalism and cheap triumphalism. Director Joachim Trier gets high marks for verisimilitude. More than half of all addicts wash out of rehab. It's even worse for opioid and alcohol abusers, who have failure rates in the 80-90% range. One can only applaud Trier’s disinclination to cue orchestral strings to score a weepy overcomes-all-obstacles miracle.

 

Another good thing is the cinematography of Jacob Ihre. He bathes Oslo in everything except sunshine, which he parses out like a dealer weighing heroin. Ihre depicts Oslo in grainy stock for flashbacks, and uses grays and blacks for the present. The streets are so empty we wonder where the city’s 634,000 people are hiding. Ihre does this to highlight Anders’ lack of connection to his past, present, or future. Is Oslo really this bland? I've never been there, but the film doesn’t encourage one to book a visit.

 

Mostly, though, the film hits off-key notes. Oslo August 31 gets ennui and depression right, but there isn't anything inherently cinematic about them. When coupled with a main character who lacks the will to act and surrounds him with others who seem similarly disinclined, we are left with a film in which nothing really happens. We feel bad for Anders.  End of story. Roll the credits. It’s a mercy when that happens. The film is just 95 minutes in length but feels much longer. Apparently, the Academy thought so too. This film was submitted for consideration for a Best International Film Oscar but failed to get a nomination.

 

If you want an honest look at the ravages of addiction, Oslo August 31 will do the trick. But I’d not blame you for switching it off once you know the score.

 

Rob Weir