In Joachim Trier’s Louder than Bombs, Isabelle Huppert plays Isabelle Reed, a celebrated war photographer who, three years before the movie begins, has died, not while on assignment but in a car crash just miles from her home in upstate New York. Her absence in the family is very much a presence in the film. She’s seen repeatedly in flashback, and her death — a suicide, the fact of which has kept from her youngest son, Conrad, a withdrawn player of online roleplaying games essayed with compelling sullenness by Devin Druid — is the fulcrum by which the other actors […]
by Scott Macaulay on Apr 9, 2016“So I didn’t suffer for my art!” Feminist poet and lecturer Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin), an irreverent, confrontational carryover from the hippie era, yells defensively at Olivia (Judy Greer), a much younger former student of great promise as well as her girlfriend in a recent doomed relationship. The bitter ex has just aimed what in literary circles are insulting barbs at the seasoned author. “Writer-in-residence!” she screams outside the café where she is now waiting tables after abandoning her studies, much to Elle’s consternation. “Solipsist!” she adds to the sting. I did suffer for my art. Sort of, and not for […]
by Howard Feinstein on Aug 21, 2015(Oslo, August 31st is being distributed by Strand Releasing. It opens Friday in NYC at the IFC Center.) Joachim Trier’s follow-up to his much-loved 2006 debut, Reprise, begins with an audio montage of voices sharing their memories of the titular city: “I remember taking the first dip in the Oslo fjord on the first of May.” “I don’t remember Oslo as such, its people I remember.” “We moved to the city. We felt extremely mature.’” On the screen, stationary shots of empty city streets are followed by home movies—children at play, friends enjoying each other’s company—then back to the streets […]
by Nelson Kim on May 24, 2012In March, Joachim Trier introduced his second film, Oslo, August 31st, to an enthusiastic audience at the 2012 Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films series. The film focuses on Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie), a recovering drug addict who aimlessly roams the streets of Oslo trying to reunite with friends and family. Oslo, August 31st is a tremendous work featuring an intense yet understated performance by Danielsen Lie and exquisite cinematography by Jakob Ihre. During the post-screening Q&A, Trier explained that with his latest film, he wished to portray Oslo as a character – a city in constant change […]
by Byron Camacho on May 23, 2012The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art have announced the lineup for their annual New Directors/New Films festival, running March 21–April 1 in New York City. This year’s festival opens with Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now, which premiered last year at Cannes and is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. Also screening this year are several Sundance alums, including Gareth Huw Evans’s The Raid, Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st, David Hamel’s How to Survive a Plague, and Mads Brugger’s The Ambassador. The full lineup is below. For […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Feb 23, 2012Select stories from our Winter Issue are now available. You can now read online our interview with Joachim Trier about his Sundance-bound sophomore effort, Oslo, August 31st, our joint interview with directors Braden King (Here) and Joshua Marston (The Forgiveness of Blood), and Kinetic Trailer co-founder Stephen Garrett’s comprehensive piece on crafting a winning trailer. Plus, Lance Weiler’s Culture Hacker column. The issue premieres later this week at Sundance, and hits stands shortly after that, but you can read it now on your desktop by subscribing to our digital issue. Learn more here.
by Jane Schoenbrun on Jan 17, 2012
Following up his impressive debut, Reprise, Joachim Trier uses a Pierre Drieu La Rochelle novel and the Norwegian capital to create the beautifully somber Oslo, August 31st. By Scott Macaulay