Director Joachim Trier (left) and actor Christian Rubeck (right) at the screening in New York City.
Rating: Popcorn
Erik and Phillip are young writers who trying to get their books published, but Erik is rejected because of lack of talent while Phillip’s book is published. Phillip rapidly becomes famous in Norway. Six months later, after a tragic accident, Erik and his friends visit Phillip at the psychiatric ward to take him home. Erik continues writing, attempting to get his book published, and tries to convince Phillip to continue his writing career.
Reprise is Joachim Trier’s first film as director. He wanted to produce a film that reflected a culture and characters that he knew intimately. He also wanted to make a movie about friendships and dreams that fail. He succeeds at fulfilling his purpose of the film as we can see the various conflicts this group of 23-year-old males have amongst themselves, with their love lives and with their dreams.
The movie feels real as Joachim chooses to cast amateur actors, whom mostly have never been on screen. Espen Klouman Hoiner, who plays the role of Erik, is an advertising copywriter who graduated from Westerdal’s School of Communication. Hoiner has acted once before in Petter Naess’ Just Bea. Phillip is played by Anders Danielsen Lie, who finished his medical studies at the University of Oslo shortly after the production of Reprise and is currently a doctor in Norway. Viktoria Winges, who studied at the State Theatre School, is Kari. After the shooting of the film, she has continued her acting career and has recently starred in Fritt Vilt (Cold Prey). Christian Rubeck, in the picture above, acts as Lars. Rubeck is currently working in theatre in London and Liverpool and has recently finished starring in a thriller that will release in Europe sometime soon. Although the cast has little experience in acting, Joachim trains the actors to perform in a professional manner.
Reprise is excellent in all its ways as it really speaks to young males transitioning into adulthood and all the conflicts they face with their friendships, love lives, and dreams. The only thing that could be improved is the colour of the subtitles because it is sometimes hard to read when the white letters are in front of a white background. Other than the subtitles, it’s worth your time if you have the chance to see it in theatres. Reprise opens in limited theatres in the U.S. on May 16th. I asked the director Joachim Trier when the film would release in Canada and he notified me that there is no distributor in Canada to release it in theatres, but that it will release on DVD at some point.
Release Date: May 16, 2008
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