Oslo, August 31st (2011)
"Oslo, 31. august" (original title)

One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.

Director:

Joachim Trier

Writers:

Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (novel), Joachim Trier,

Stars:

Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava

6 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Anders Danielsen Lie	...	Anders
Hans Olav Brenner	...	Thomas
Ingrid Olava	...	Rebecca
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anders Borchgrevink	...	Øystein
Andreas Braaten	...	Karsten
Malin Crépin	...	Malin
Petter Width Kristiansen	...	Petter
Emil Lund	...	Calle
Tone Beate Mostraum	...	Tove
Renate Reinsve	...	Renate
Øystein Røger	...	David
Kjærsti Odden Skjeldal	...	Mirjam
Iselin Steiro
Aksel Thanke	...	Therapist
Petter With

Storyline

One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.

---

Plot Keywords:

old friends | drug addict | suicide thoughts | despair | house party | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian English

Release Date:

31 August 2011 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Oslo, August 31st

Filming Locations:

Henrik Ibsens Gate 36, Oslo, Norway

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,564 (USA) (25 May 2012)

Gross:

$100,713 (USA) (14 September 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Don't Look Now, Motlys

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The demolition of the 15-story Philips Building in Oslo is shown early in the movie. The building was destroyed April 30 2000.

---

Quotes

Anders: It will get better. Everything will be alright.
[laughing]
Anders: Except it won't, you know.

---

Connections

Referenced in Fokus på Film fra Sør (2011)

---

Soundtracks

"Exit Ghost"
Written and performed by 'Torgny Amdam'

User Reviews

Drug addiction is tough *sigh*

The opening and closing minutes of Oslo, August 31rst are peerless filmmaking, a simultaneously nostalgic and disturbing slideshow of images from the titular city, which appears as some kind of larger supernatural entity with a will of its own. The film that they bracket is pretty decent too. It's a quiet slice of cinema verite about Anders, a recovering drug addict.

This isn't your standard AA-approved narrative of redemption, and that's what makes it good. Anders discovers that the world outside is frosty, ambivalent towards him, and most of all banal and meaningless. Of course, the difficulty is portraying banality without being banal yourself, and Trier doesn't entirely succeed here. But it does provide, on top of the more philosophical statement, a great representation of the difficulty of getting back into society after leaving it. Oslo, August 31rst is smart enough to see the social barriers that make the standard addiction narrative so deceitful.

Other than the immediately striking opening, there's nothing overtly impressive about this film. It has its flaws, such as the ending, which seems contrived compared to everything that's come before. But it's a quietly solid picture that certainly deserves a little of your time.