Howard Schumann Have you ever seen a movie and wondered afterwards, "what would have happened if…" or "how would it have turned out if …?" The immensely talented Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st) does the wondering for us in his intelligent, innovative, and highly entertaining Reprise. Using a fractured narrative that is awash in flashbacks, flash-forwards, and imaginative fantasies, the film moves with a dazzling rush of energy, propelling us into the world of aspiring writers Erik Høiaas (Espen Kloumer-Hoinen) and Phillip (Anderson Danielsen Lie), both in their twenties. While Reprise has its quiet moments of contemplation, it mostly moves at an energizing pace, displaying images from each character's past and examining a stream of potential outcomes in an alternate universe.As the two friends stand in front of a mailbox ready to mail the manuscript of their first novel to potential publishers, an unidentified narrator (displayed in italics) speculates about what might happen in certain situations, presumably reflecting the imaginings of each character. In their minds, the novels become so successful that they have worldwide repercussions. They are banned by the Vatican, cause disillusionment in the Dalai Lama, and create a revolution in an East African country. When we at last return to reality, Erik's novel titled "Prosopopoeia" is rejected while Phillip's work is published and he achieves recognition as a major young talent.Phillip falls deeply in love with Kari (Viktoria Winge), a glowing part-time student and salesperson, and they visit Paris together in a trip so perfect that they attempt to recreate it later in the film, but little of the original magic remains. Unable to handle fame, Phillip attempts suicide and lands in a psychiatric hospital, his doctor attributing his breakdown to his obsessive love for Kari, a cause that prompts his mother to remove all pictures of Kari from Phillip's room. Phillip recovers but his mental health remains fragile, flying high one minute and immersed in despair the next. Meanwhile, Erik continues to work on his novel which is finally published, but when it receives some negative reviews, and a TV interview goes badly, he likewise teeters on the brink of losing control.Reprise has many ups and downs and, at times, seems to go overboard in its attempt to be clever, but it has a charm and wit that keeps us engaged throughout and we never doubt the humanity of the characters. Lie in particular is a very expressive actor and the pained look on his face (even when he's smiling) creates a lot of empathy. His game of counting down from ten to zero conjures up various scenarios from possible suicide to a breakthrough into another realm of being, but we are left to guess what he has in mind. Through it all, the friends support each other even in the most difficult times. Reprise is not only a film about letting go of illusions, but also about the tortuous path of the creative process. A Scandinavian "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," Reprise is a coming of age film with a difference.

Hunky Stud I have watched many many movies, this movie is so boring! It failed to catch my attention. Whenever I watch a boring movie like this, I just let it play on the TV and read something else at the same time. Even though I don't speak that language, I don't need to read the subtitles all the time.This movie is definitely overrated. I have never seen a movie from Norway before. And I checked it out from the library because it has over 7 rating! I thought that it must be good, but I was totally wrong. I usually try to watch all the things on the "special features", too, but I didn't watch all of them for this DVD.This movie is not coherent. It jumps from places to places. And it is also confusing. For example, one of the guy was riding a bike, and he was counting from 10 to zero. Then all of sudden, after he counted to zero, he didn't even park his bike, he was already inside a room? I don't know why he keeps counting at the end of the movie.

aedine35 This film - especially toward the beginning - contains intermittent 3rd person narrative a la Amelie, but with none of the quirkiness or art. Moreover, these lighthearted voice-over segments seemed rather out of place with the seriousness of the subject matter. Maybe this was an homage to Bergman or some other cinematic reference but the result is i found it purely pretentious. i don't recommend this film, which i found boring apart from glimpses of Norway and Norwegians and the sideline about the reclusive writer stalked by the 2 main characters (i did find the scene on the bench pretty amusing but somehow the beauty and humor of these 2 writing geeks going to such lengths to capture proof of their prey just fell flat). Finally, like others commenting here, i found it difficult to keep track of what was going on or what had happened.

Joseph Sylvers Good direction, great soundtrack, dialog, editing, a surprisingly full movie from a first time director.Two Norwigian friends in their early twenties Philip and Erik, submit there first manuscripts on the same day, one is accepted and becomes a...(read more) critical darling, the other swims in a sea of rejection letters. In the first five minutes we see at least two altered timeliness of what might have happened to these characters had they both been accepted or had they both been rejected, Run Lola Run style in accelerated montage lead by voice over.The world which could have been, is then followed by six months later, when Erikis getting out o mental institute after a having suffered a breakdown sometime before, Philip is sticking with him, keeping a spare key, making sure he takes his medication on time, and still trying to get his own work published, which it shortly is.Erik and Philip, and their motley crew of friends like the the crude Morten singer of such classic punk songs like "Fingerfucked by the Prime Minister", and the intellectually over-zealous "Porno Lars", all hang out and well just hang out.Erik is trying to recreate his obsessive relationship(against dr's orders), going as far as to meticulously re-create a trip they took to Paris. Philip is debating whether or not to dump his girlfriend so he can sew his whitely oats, and trying to escape the shadow of Eirk and their hero Stein Egl Dahl, their favorite author who also happens to live in their home town.As the title suggests, the film is about these characters trying to re-create, re-capture the past, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Are you holding onto your dreams or are you clinging to them, are your friends a support group or a crutch to keep out the "real world", do you really love her, or is she just an obsession, should you leave him, or are you just selfish. Is there any way to escape cliché, and live "genuinely"? These are questions which are especially pertinent to the coming of age twenty somethings in the film, but they are universal questions everyone probably at numerous times in their life will have to face. And this film captures them, the highs, the lows, and the cream filled centers...good stuff.