A prizewinner in Norway, this debut feature by director Joachim Trier traces the friendship between two young novelists, one who makes a splash with his first book and cracks under the pressure (Anders Danielson Lie), and another who takes a while to find himself but seems poised for a much longer and more substantial career (Espen Klouman-Hoiner). In the opening scene, childhood buddies Phillip (Lie) and Erik (Hoiner) nervously stand in front of a mailbox about to ship their first novels to a publisher. We're told that cult status beckons, because mainstream celebrity is for losers. Then reality sinks in and deals them both a blow: Erik's novel is rejected, while Philip's is published to great acclaim – only for a psychotic break to undo him at the height of his success.
In "Reprise" time is fluid. Scenes meander, disappear and reappear and sometimes the film jumps forward, showing us what will transpire before it does. The movie has a smart and knowing script, inviting the audience for reflection of their own. Joachim Trier neatly encapsulates that take-on-the-world optimism of unsullied youth. "Reprise" is many things at once: a window into mental illness, obsessive love, the uneasy transition from youth to adulthood, and finally the most intriguing aspect of the story line-fraternal competitiveness. The only real problem with the movie is it doesn't entirely establish a genuine, heartfelt interest in the characters for the audience. Both protagonists' grew up idealizing Norway's greatest living writer, who tells one of them his novel is good and shows promise. In the same sense, the movie itself is good, and first time director Joachim Trier shows great potential.
In "Reprise" time is fluid. Scenes meander, disappear and reappear and sometimes the film jumps forward, showing us what will transpire before it does. The movie has a smart and knowing script, inviting the audience for reflection of their own. Joachim Trier neatly encapsulates that take-on-the-world optimism of unsullied youth. "Reprise" is many things at once: a window into mental illness, obsessive love, the uneasy transition from youth to adulthood, and finally the most intriguing aspect of the story line-fraternal competitiveness. The only real problem with the movie is it doesn't entirely establish a genuine, heartfelt interest in the characters for the audience. Both protagonists' grew up idealizing Norway's greatest living writer, who tells one of them his novel is good and shows promise. In the same sense, the movie itself is good, and first time director Joachim Trier shows great potential.