Joachim
Trier's brilliant Oslo, August 31st opens with a
lovely montage of Oslo, Norway showing its
quaint cobblestone streets, sidewalks where
children are playing, and a captivating view of
a nearby lake. As we watch long shots seen in a
car ride from the viewpoint of the passengers,
we hear voice-overs talking about their memories
and impressions of Oslo. Many recollections are
good, some are bad, but all are personal and
intimate, the stuff of life, not of movies.
Based on Pierre Drieu La Rochelle's 1931 novel
Le Feu Follet, Oslo, August 31st takes place in
a 24-hour period, following recovering
drug addict 34-year-old Anders (Anders
Danielsen Lie) as he takes on his first job
interview in years after being given a one-day
release from a state-run rehabilitation center.
All is not going well, however. As Anders
explains during a group therapy session, he
hasn't felt much of anything since becoming
sober. Two weeks away from completing his rehab,
in the morning of the interview he fills his
pockets with stones and jumps into the water of
a lake in an attempt to drown himself.
Unsuccessful in his attempt, he must confront
his job interview that afternoon as an Editorial
Assistant for a publishing company. The
interview goes well and Anders responses are
articulate and quite insightful and the employer
seems impressed. When the applicant is asked to
fill in the gaps in his resume for the last five
years, however, he is unable to do so, admitting
that he was a drug addict, using cocaine,
heroin, DMT, and also alcohol, providing details
not requested by the interviewer.
Anders sets himself up to fail and, without
waiting to see how his past has affected his
chances for employment he grabs his resume out
of the employer's hand and walks away from the
interview. Rather than return to the center
immediately, he visits old friends and makes an
afternoon date with his sister Nina, but,
unwilling to confront the pain in their
relationship, sends a surrogate instead. One of
the most moving segments of the film is Ander's
extended conversation with former close friend
Thomas (Hans Olav Brenner), now a Professor of
Literature and married with a young child. In a
conversation that is devastatingly real, Thomas
tells Anders that he would be crushed if Anders
did anything stupid and asks how he can support
him.
He tells Anders, however, that his parents are
selling their home because of his financial
debts, a fact that, no matter how true, does not
support his friend in regaining his self-image.
Later in the conversation, the talk shifts to
Thomas' lack of joy in his own relationship as
he wonders what happened to the promise of his
youth, not a reassuring message for the
struggling Anders. When Thomas tells him “It
will get better. It will work out.” Anders looks
at him with a knowing smile and says, “Except it
won't.” Looking like a somewhat hip, almost
tough young professional with an open leather
jacket, Anders then walks around the town with a
detached look on his face, more of an observer
than a participant in the world around him.
Sitting in an open air café watching
people pass by and listening to other people's
conversations, there is a palpable sense of
isolation so deep and so penetrating that it can
tear right into the heart of any viewer who has
experienced feelings of alienation. Night clubs,
parties, and raves occupy Anders as he starts to
fall back into old habits. Though he tells a
young student that he sleeps with after one of
the parties, “Everything will be forgotten,” it
is obvious that he does not believe it. He
desperately tries to contact his ex-girlfriend
Iselin in New York, leaving three messages that
tell her he has changed and that he still loves
her, but his calls are not returned.
Honest, reflective, insightful, and intimate,
Oslo, August 31st is a powerful and
unforgettable achievement and Lie's performance
is towering. Trier does not allow sentimentality
to intrude on his character study of a lost soul
whose pain cannot be hidden, nor the hurt he has
caused others. We can see the kindness in
Anders' heart but not the strength, or feelings
of self-worth, and we just want to reach out to
him to tell him to listen to the words of the
poet Rilke, “And if the earthly no longer knows
your name, whisper to the silent earth: I'm
flowing. To the flashing water say: I am.”
Sadly, we cannot get through.
