On the podcast, Alex Heeney delves into the beginning and ending of Oslo, August 31st with director Joachim Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt.
Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st starts with a sequence that doesn’t advance the plot — and yet shifts how you watch the entire film — and ends with a sequence with almost no dialogue but a lot happens.
They’re sequences I’ve returned to again and again over 14 years to figure out how they work — and keep discovering something new that shifts how I see the film.
In this episode, Joachim Trier talks about the problem the opening was trying to solve, Eskil Vogt talks about the challenges of writing the ending, and I talk about the pleasures of digging into them.
Want to dig into the beginning and ending of Oslo, August 31st in depth?
This month, I’ll be hosting in-depth workshops on the beginning and the ending of Oslo, August 31st as part of The Deep Focus.
👉 Find out more about The Deep Focus
Curious about joining my next film program?
I only run a few programs each year, and they’re all limited enrollment.
To be the first to hear about the next one and get first dibs on a seat:
Podcast Credits
Alex Heeney edited, produced, and recorded the episode.
Follow Seventh Row on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter. Read our articles at seventh-row.com.
Follow Alex Heeney on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitter.
An AI-generated transcript for the episode is available on Apple Podcasts.
