Reprise

There’s lots to like about this energetic Norwegian film by Joachim Trier, but I suspect I’m just too old to remain enchanted with the self-dramas of artsy twentysomethings. I respect the homage to classics of the French New Wave like Jules et Jim (in my top five of all time), and it’s cool to see how international cultural artifacts of the ’90s played in Oslo (even though I only know Joy Division, e.g., through its portrayal in several movies ). There were lots of inside references in this story of two friends just out of school, sending off the manuscripts of their first novels, to varying effect, both in fantasy and in reality, which are sometimes hard to sort out. The two friends are appealing, and their cronies fitfully amusing, along with a Bjork-lookalike girlfriend. I was happy enough to go for the ride, but I didn’t catch every twist and turn. And in the end I didn’t care all that much. (2006, dvd, n.) *6+* (MC-79.)