This week, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31, our favourite film of the 2010s, on both the site and the podcast. As part of the celebration, we are presenting a special edition of our December 2020 podcast episode, “Are men OK? Masculinity, mental health, & addiction in Another Round and Oslo, August 31st.”
This episode is a Seventh Row members exclusive, as are all episodes older than six months. Click here to become a member.
This episode features Editor-in-Chief Alex Heeney, Executive Editor Orla Smith, Associate Editor Brett Pardy, and Editor-at-Large Mary Angela Rowe.
We discuss Oslo, August 31st (2011) on the podcast
Joachim Trier’s brilliant and moving Oslo August 31st is as much about its protagonist — the over-educated, over-privileged, recovering heroin addict Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) — as it is about his generation and his city. Anders is our window into the city, and as a former drug dealer, he was, in the words of his former friend, “the best connected guy in Oslo” — although he spends the film feeling like the most disconnected one. When he returns to the city for one day in August, it’s from a ten-month exile in rehab. The occasion is a job interview, but he also uses the opportunity to catch up with old friends and family, in an effort to either start again or to say goodbye — he hasn’t quite decided which, having attempted suicide that morning, but changing his mind. We wait with baited breath to see which way it will go. – Alex Heeney
Read the rest of Alex’s essay on the film .
Oslo, August 31st is available on VOD, and is streaming on Kanopy in Canada
We also discuss Another Round (2020) on the podcast
“Another Round, or as my friend, fellow film critic Andrew Pope, calls it “Thomas Vinterberg’s Are Men OK?.” The answer this film gives is, very firmly, no. The four main characters, all school teachers, play out what they call a ‘social experiment’ — maintain a constant 0.05% blood-alcohol content and see if it improves their lives — which is really a very thinly veiled cry for help. Vinterberg’s film is funny and even contains some slapstick bits, like Mads Mikkelsen walking straight into a wall. But it’s also a deeply empathetic portrait of masculinity in crisis and how alcohol, while sometimes joyous, can become an unhealthy outlet for depression and pain. And what’s more, Mikkelsen gives a top form performance featuring everything from gentle crying to jazz ballet.” – Orla Smith
Thank you Andrew for inspiring the title of this episode
Another Round is available on VOD, and streaming on Crave and Hoopla in Canada; and Hulu, Kanopy, and Hoopla in the US.
Show Notes
- This episode is part of our week long celebration of Oslo, August 31st’s 10th anniversary.
- Oslo, August 31st was our best film of the decade. Check out our other 49 selections here.
- Read Alex’s essay “There is a world elsewhere: exile in Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st and Louder Than Bombs“
- Read our special issue on Louder Than Bombs, which includes a review and interviews with director Joachim Trier and cinematographer Jakob Ihre.
- Read our in-depth guide to director Joachim Trier
- We will be writing an ebook on Joachim Trier, to celebrate the release of his new film, The Worst Person in the World. It will be released early next year. Sign up here for updates
Related Episodes
- Ep. 40: Dead Mothers: Stories We Tell, Louder Than Bombs, & Mouthpiece (Members Only)
