Addictions run deep. We may find a way to begin recovery, but soon we get addicted to our own guilt and depression. Even if we are given a break, do we deserve it?
“Oslo, August 31st” is a quietly expressive film about a man whose greater problem than addiction is normalcy. It’s an artistic, but down to Earth film that exposes the pains of recovery and the burdens of society.
Joachim Trier’s film follows one day in the life of Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie), a recovering addict. What was he addicted to? Cocaine, heroin, booze, parties, women, you name it. The important part is that he was addicted. Now he’s contemplating suicide, but he’s close to finishing his rehab program, he’s 10 months sober and he even has a promising job interview.
When he goes into the interview, the manager asks what he’s been doing for the last five years, and he finally can dodge the question no longer and admits he was a drug addict. As a person struggling through job interviews myself, it’s amazing how powerful and honest this scene is. Tell lies to get the job yet be trustworthy and open at the same time? How the hell do you do that? Any job you’ve weaseled your way to get is one you probably don’t deserve, and that’s Anders’s position on both this and the rest of his life.
Lie gives a powerful performance in appearing wounded and broken yet completely functioning. What’s harder for him is keeping a straight face as he hears from others how his problem is a greater problem for them. What they see in him is someone who avoided the tough choices of having kids, selling their parents’ house, socializing in uncomfortable situations. He took the easy way out.
Trier finds a delicate mix between hard-hitting character drama and more figuratively metaphorical reflections on life. There’s a scene where Anders sits in a coffee shop listening in on other people’s conversations. One girl reads off a list of things she wants to accomplish in life, and his mind wanders to follow the people he sees on the street back home. It’s enough that for a moment he’s left his own body and taken another, even one that is troubled, mundane or beautiful.
“Oslo, August 31st” is named as such because it allows us to recall a time and a place, but more importantly a feeling. In that moment of pain or comfort, we need to know we’re rooted down somewhere. Trier’s montages and visual poetry are artistic and beautiful, but the film grounds us and quietly, observantly, lets us know who we are.
3 ½ stars
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