One fateful day in the life of a recovering addict
The best way I could describe Norway’s Oslo, August 31st would be to call it the ideal companion piece to Infinite Jest – one that necessarily avoids attempting to match its scope (going in the opposite direction, in fact, and zeroing in on a single day in one man’s life), but wonderfully capturing the depth and understanding, the compassion and bitter realizations. Most of all, Oslo shares those incredible insights into addiction, depression, happiness, family, friendship, and the horror of being unable to connect with the world around you. Beyond the dark beauty of the story, it’s also formally audacious – the film beautifully mirrors itself narratively and thematically. The camera is often poised far above the characters, slowly closing in on them, a telling technique that is memorably employed in one of the final scenes. The cast is terrific (especially star Anders Danielsen Lie) and the cinematography is striking.
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