Oslo, August 31st

There have been many films about addicts going through recovery. Oslo, August 31st is a day in the life on such person, a thirtysomething named Anders. While watching this drama, which though a mere 95 minutes was kind of tedious, I wondered about why there are so many films about this subject.

Certainly many addicts come from the world of the arts, especially writers. This film is based on a novel, although I don't know if it's autobiographical, and similarly I don't know if the director, Joachim Trier, has any such trauma in his past. But the crisis of identity among addicts appeals to the artist.

But do they appeal to the viewer? Oslo, August 31st was released in 2011 to almost unanimous acclaim, winning an award at Cannes and receiving 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. I will be in the two percent and say that while it is well-made, I found the main character extremely uninteresting and the whole thing smacks of solipsism and narcissism.

The main character is Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie). He is just about done with a rehab program in a group home. He has been given evening leave. He sleeps with his girlfriend, then wanders to a lake and makes an unsuccessful suicide attempt. He goes back to the home as if nothing had happened, has some group therapy, and then heads into Oslo. He visits an old friend, an academic who likes to quote Proust, goes on a job interview which he sabotages, and wants to meet with his sister, but she sends her girlfriend instead, which annoys Anders. Then he goes to a party, meets an old flame, steals from the coats on the beds, buys heroin, goes to a club, and then shoots up. End of story.

What made this film annoying to me is that Anders is extremely self-pitying. He's a whiner, calling himself a loser and being passive-aggressive with the suicide attempt. The job interview scene in infuriating, because he tells the interviewer that a gap in his resume is because he was a drug addict. The interviewer, while taken aback, seems perfectly willing to continue the interview and consider hiring him, but Anders won't let him, taking his application and leaving.

For some ridiculous reason I have never known any drug addicts, at least not closely, so I don't know if this is common behavior. I imagine it is--many people in this situation are there because of their own failings, as well as external circumstances, but that doesn't mean I have to watch them. I just wanted to slap Anders silly, which means I should never be a drug counselor, I guess.