Oslo, August 31st
Director: Joachim Trier
Year Released: 2011
Rating: 1.5
A recovering drug addict (Anders Danielsen Lie) travels back to Oslo to reconnect with old friends, walk out of a job interview (when an unexplained gap in his resume is brought up), party a bit and, of course, slink back into drug addiction. The poetry of the first third quickly dissolves as it becomes apparent every single interaction Lie has with other people is leading him back to 'old habits' - when he takes what's presumed to be his final hit of heroin and (most likely) dies on a bed, it's difficult to feel pity for him. The cinema is littered with movies about drug addicts trying to put their lives right - this is a movie about a man who knows he lost and gives up and gives in. Despite Lie's efforts at conveying unshakeable sorrow, this isn't as nuanced as it could have been.
