This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Allan Gutierrez’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
Oslo: The Road to Nowhere
Joachim Trier’s “Oslo, August 31st”, is a dramatic film that undoubtedly kept me engaged from start to finish. This is the first Norwegian-based film I’ve watched in my lifetime and I was pleasantly surprised with the whole production. A slight glance of the film’s synopsis might not be too appealing for an American viewer looking for something new to watch, but the film’s direction makes Anders’ frightful collapse all the worthwhile to see. As someone who has dealt with their fair share of mental health episodes, the film does an incredible job at capturing the world around Anders in such an unenthusiastic light. It’s evident that Trier wanted to enforce the idea of just how damaging the lack of hope can be in a person’s life. In their mind, there seems to be no possibility in which the situation gets any better. The decisions they made that lead them to such a hopeless state are seemingly so unrepairable to the point where they are simply waiting for their inevitable demise.
One of the major things I came to appreciate from this film’s production is their emphasis on sound. As the film began with Anders walking down to a river attempting to commit suicide, there was nothing but the sound of cars passing him by which then transitioned into silence as he stubbled into the forest. Once he travels out into the city with hopes of passing a job interview and reconnecting with old friends and family, the audience gets their first hint of music with an loud, upbeat rhythm, signifying the amount of opportunity that Anders could potentially take advantage of if he were to ultimately leave the past behind him. Visually speaking, the decision to follow Anders from a full 24-hour period showcases his steady downward spiral into the next morning. During the day, Anders hears multiple perspectives from people trying to make the most out of their daily lives. As he tries to incorporate himself in daily life one last time, he feels misunderstood and judged by everyone around him for his past, and thus believes there is no escape from his mistakes. By nightfall, he leans back towards his previous lifestyle of heavy drinking and partying, yet fails to find fulfillment in that either.
As the morning of August 31st rolls in, the audience is greeted with a soft, piano melody played by Anders in his final act of expression. The sun shining through the window felt like it portrayed the scene as the world giving him one last glimmer of hope. Although Anders plays the piano for a good duration, he fails to complete the full sheet of music, signifying the end of his efforts to find any sort of peace as he enters his childhood bedroom and ends his life. The audience is one again left with dead silence.