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The best film about the worst person in the world?
Let me just start here. This film is absolute cinema magic. I loved every single thing about this picture. It was as wonderfully complex and surprising as its titular character was.
Let’s begin with the narrative.
This film Is an anti-romance story in the most heartfelt and honest way that I have seen in quite some time. The realism of the relationship at display. The way it showcases our lead, Julie, portrayed brilliantly by Renate Reinsve. Julie is not only magnetic and unpredictable she is undeniable in her conquest to find happiness in her life, and aren’t we all in one way or another? I love how many times during this film I was left speechless by the choices she made. And I was simultaneously rooting for her and lamenting what had been lost. The film plays the emotions and the reality of relationships like a fiddle. Every answer correct, but every question technically wrong. Truly a work of art dissecting human desires and wants, though most of desires and wants make seemingly no sense most of the time. I love it. I wish I could dissect every single plot point and event in this film as they are so many truly great moments. But I don’t want to spoil them all. One last thing I will say is I love the wat the writers Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt set up this film in multi-parts almost like chapters in a book, even with a prologue and epilogue. I love it. Seemingly more and more films are using this tactic of breaking scenes and moments like this. And I’m here for it. This is probably one of the best executions of it that I’ve seen.
Let’s move on to the stunning and simple camera work by Kasper Tuxen. It’s beautiful work that these two capture. The way they capture light is simultaneously elegant yet realistic and simple, it feels like I’m in this town with her, and when the film breaks reality, the camera follows with such a level of grace and care its undeniable. The few moments of slow-mo even accentuate the emotions. not all camera work has to be extremely flashy to be valid, but it all most highlight emotion and I think these two did just that. Whether it’s the dark and smokey house where she meets a man, the warm evening sun dipping below an ocean basking her in darkening orange lights, or the dark cityscape, or looking over the whole town at right hour of dusk. This film feels alive in its simplicity but also its care. And I loved the few moments where the camera had an extra amount of shake added to it to signify the characters volatility. And also, if I could touch on the two reality breaking scenes. I wont spoil them, but one use’s time in such an interesting and captivating way, and its such a beautiful metaphor for the desire to pursue something just out of your reach. And the way its shot with a Steadicam operator (I assume) following her through the city. The camera follows her in the same breathless way she is following her heart and desires in that moment. UGH so beautiful so beautiful. The last one I want to mention vaguely, is a moment where she is experiencing a metaphorical nightmare, and the way they shoot this with lights dimming and darkening to highlight the trippiness of it all, and what the camera and set designers did was so fun and captured the anxiety that she felt in that moment. Overall, I think the visuals of this film are stellar and much to be admired, though they probably seem simple to an untrained eye, this really is some fantastic work. AND SHOT ON BEAUTIFUL 35mm CELLUIOD I LOVE IT!
The score!! And the soundtrack! These two elements worked in perfect tandem with each other. The songs popping up during many of the montage-esque moments were the perfect selections for the mood and none of them were hugely popular songs so in an awesome way I was never pulled out of the film when they played and honestly there was times where I couldn’t distinguish from the soundtrack and the score in a great way they both felt like one voice. Now the big score moments do stand out in epic ways. The piece that accompanies both those reality breaking moments are stunning works of music! And the “not cheating” musical piece is to die for. I hope the films original score drops soon as it is not available anywhere.
The performances! The performances here are so fantastic its crazy we get three characters that are portrayed so wonderfully. Let’s begin with Reinsve. The entire film is anchored on her shoulders, and she is at times an unlikable character. yet her charisma and tenacity and self-propulsion in her performance make every second she’s on screen magnetic yet also life like. She just felt undeniably real, and she kept me so engaged and emotionally attached to her journey all the way to the end. UGH I love it. Its gonna be a tough year for any other actress do outdo her this year for me. Now onto to the two other lead males. Aksel the first love interest of Julie is portrayed by Anders Danielsen Lie. And holy shit did he capture the definition of what his character is. I won’t spoil it all, but there were times where I saw myself in him and it made me twinge and cringe with worry. Have I said those things before? Have I been that guy in a relationship? And Lie gets a lot to do in this film, if anything the film at times feels like a two-piece between him and Julie. He gets a few highlight scenes of painful emotional pour outs which were aching to see. The other male character, Elvind played by Herbert Nordrum is fantastic as well. Perfectly capturing the sauve coolness of a guy with no real plan or aims in life. again, this film somehow manages to not just have one great chemistry connections but two!
I can seriously talk about this film for another thousand words, but to be brief let me start wrapping this up.
This is the first film of Director Joachim Trier that I have seen and its impressive how he wrangled not one but two fascinating relationships on screen. most romantic films struggle to sell even just one romantic relationship. Under his direction this entire film just films like a brilliantly woven tapestry of life and love and all the things that come from that. Truly will keep an eye on him from now on.
So, in ending,
10/10 – Masterpiece.
Joachim Trier weaves a beautiful tale that takes place over 4 years of a woman’s life, Julie. It chronicles her hot and cold relationships, her flings, her romance, her desires, her wants, her fears, and eventually her finding her way in life. An anti-romantic film that somehow makes the ‘worst person in the world’ absolutely captivating. The cinematography by Kasper Tuxen, The Score by Ola Fløttum, the editing by Olivier Bugge Coutté, and the wonderful script by Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt all these elements combine together to make truly one of “the best movies in the world” I can’t wait to rewatch this again and again.