Reprise

This is where I make an introduction. I’m supposed to mention that my name is Irene Hartmann and I’m a freshman in Dramatic Writing at Tisch. Because I study writing, I feeling entitled to post screenshots from pretentious foreign films with the occasional ’70s exploitation film thrown in.

Enough of this dilly dallying! On to the movie! It’s called Reprise! Exclamation marks!

Reprise is a 2006 Norwegian film directed by Joachim Trier (no relation to Lars von Trier). It’s difficult to say what the film is about, not because it’s one of those plotless time thieves that we’ve come to associate with foreign films. No, it’s because it’s about everything.

The plot line is this:  Two men, Philip (left) and Erik (right) want to be novelists. Not only do they want to be novelists, but they want to get published at the same time because they’re BFFs. But that doesn’t work out. Instead, Philip’s novel is accepted and Erik’s is rejected. Philip is shoved into the spotlight (which is blindingly white because this is Norway) and crumbles. After a stint in an asylum, Philip decides to abandon writing. Meanwhile, Erik has improved greatly. His popularity grows, as does his ego.

That’s about all I can say without ruining everything. There’s way more to it than that. It’s also about relationships, gender, family, insanity, failure, dreams, and reality. That doesn’t even cover it. This is one of the few films that actually feels like real life, if everyone was gorgeous and blond. It’s a beautiful film and available on Netflix.