FILMS/
REPRISE
New Directors
Norway, 2006, 106 minutes
SHOWTIMES
Fri, Apr 27 / 05:00 / Kabuki / REPR27K
Fri, May 4 / 09:00 / Clay / REPR04Y
Sun, May 6 / 09:30 / Kabuki / REPR06K
Tue, May 8 / 09:30 / Aquarius / REPR08A
CREDITS
- dir
-
Joachim Trier
- prod
-
Karin Julsrud
- scr
-
Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
- cam
-
Jakob Ihre
- editor
-
Oliver Bugge Coutté
- mus
-
Ola Fløttum, Knut Schreiner
- cast
-
Espen Klouman Høiner, Anders Danielsen Lie, Viktoria Winge, Christian Rubeck, Pål Stokka, Odd-Magnus Williamson, Rebekka Karijord, Henrik Elvestad
- source
-
Norwegian Film Institute, Dronningensgt 16, N-0152 Oslo, Norway FAX: +47-2-247-4597 EMAIL: mailto: ph@nfi.no
Within a gang of twentysomething friends, none are closer than lifelong best buds Phillip and Erik. No envy or professional rivalry can come between them, even as Phillip’s acclaimed first novel makes him part of Oslo’s literary glitterati while Erik’s book is rejected. But when their fortunes reverse, the relationship frays. Phillip’s success and his obsessive love for his girlfriend, Kari, lead to a crippling breakdown. The dogged Erik regroups, intent on living the dream that he and Phillip have so carefully nurtured through the years. His devotion to fulfilling that ambition parallels Phillip’s growing disenchantment with the writer’s life, and their suddenly divergent paths threaten to rupture a bond that once seemed unbreakable. A pulsing punk rock soundtrack—the music of Erik and Phillip’s adolescence—underlines the kinetic energy of Joachim Trier’s exhilarating first feature. Trier and cowriter Eskil Vogt blend a winsome coming-of-age tale with a witty and sometimes poignant meditation on friendship and art. The storytelling—replete with deviations from the narrative that offer alternative twists in the friends’ lives—is as vivid as Trier’s brash visual style. The filmmaker pays homage to his idols in the French New Wave in myriad ways: a story that recalls François Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, pilgrimages to Paris by both young men, and the use of flashbacks, quick cuts, flash-forwards and other stylistic flourishes. The casting is genius, featuring an ensemble of mostly nonprofessionals who are funny and touching in their evocation of youth crossing the threshold into adulthood.
—Pam Grady
SKYY Prize Contender. Presented with support from the Consulate General of Norway, San Francisco.