Joachim Trier's Reprise begins with friends and would-be novelists Phillip (Anders Danielsen Lie) and Erik (Espen Klouman-Høiner) sending off their manuscripts to publishers, after which—as we see in a swift flash-forward—both achieve renown. Or do they? A quick reversal reveals that only Phillip's book was accepted, and during the ensuing publicity, he falls apart and winds up spending time in a psychiatric hospital, but is unable to continue writing. Meanwhile, Erik finally succeeds in landing a publisher for his book, while also meeting a reclusive author (an intensely sad man) whom he and Phillip admired for years. In order to expand his career, Erik leaves Norway, and later returns to find his circle of friends much changed for the better. Or are they? Ultimately, this uncertainty is both the charm and bane of Reprise: while the combination of seriousness and flippancy is engaging (since the disparate elements are presented with a considerable élan and visual panache that are reminiscent of the French New Wave), the switches from fact to fantasy (assuming there's any “fact” at all) make the whole enterprise seem slight. Recommended, overall. (F. Swietek)
Reprise
Miramax, 107 min., in Norwegian w/English subtitles, R, DVD: $29.99 Volume 23, Issue 6
Reprise
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: