Oslo August 31st

Anders Danielsen Lie

Joachim Trier's Oslo August 31st is framed as the last day in the life of a suicidal heroin addict. When we meet Anders, he is finishing up a long stint in rehab. On leave from the clinic, ostensibly to attend a job interview, Anders tours the titular city trying to make amends to the lovers, friends, and relatives he neglected as he spiraled out of control. He is continually rebuffed after tentative overtures. His parents are vacationing in Nice, his sister won't meet with him, and his ex won't take his calls. Anders returns to the poppy and succumbs after an injection.

Trier based his 2011 film on Pierre Dieu La Rochelle's 1931 novel Le feu follet. The novel is also the source of Luis Malle's 1963 film, The Fire Within. Trier's film places many demands on his leading man who the the focal point of the film and is in every scene. Happily, Anders Danielsen Lie is up to the challenge. He nimbly displays how seclusion has made Anders gird the protective carapace of his psyche, ensuring his further isolation.

Besides Lie's outstanding performance, the film greatly benefits from Trier's portrait of Oslo. As in The Worst Person in the World, Oslo is the major supporting character in the film, brought to life by overheard conversations and reveries of times past. This elegiac ode to a city helps prevent Oslo August 31 from succumbing to the torpor of its morbid focus.