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Espen Klouman-Høiner, Anders Danielsen Lie, Christian Rubeck, Odd Magnus Williamson, Pål Stokka ... see more see more... , Viktoria Winge , Henrik Elvestad , Henrik Mestad , Sigmund Sæverud , Rebekka Karijord , Silje Hagen , Thorbjørn Harr , Elisabeth Sand , Tone Danielsen

Two buddies are taken down different paths in life when one becomes a success and the other fails to grab the brass ring in this comedy drama. Erik (Espen Klouman-Hoiner) and Phillip (Anders Danielsen... read more read more... Lie) are close friends who have known each other since they were children. Erik and Phillip grew up sharing a passion for literature, particularly the work of novelist Sten Egil Dahl (Sigmund Sæverud) and they each dreamed of becoming writers themselves someday. Both Erik and Phillip completed their first novels in their early twenties, but while Phillip's book was accepted by a major publisher and became a best-seller, Erik's book instead earned a sheaf of rejection slips. The harsh glare of the celebrity lifestyle and his obsessive relationship with his girlfriend, Kari (Viktoria Winge), cause Phillip to suffer a nervous breakdown, and after a stay in a treatment facility he tries to resume his relationship with Kari and his friendship with Erik. Erik, meanwhile, is still struggling to join the ranks of the published, and his romance with Lillian (Silje Hagen) begins to fray as the frustrated would-be author spends more time with Phillip and his pretentious compatriots. Reprise received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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82% liked it

4,506 ratings

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88% liked it

80 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Joachim Trier

Release Date: July 3, 2006

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DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (537)

  • blacksheepboy
    March 11, 2012
    blacksheepboy
    In his first film, Trier comes up as a promising director, using a stylish approach to tell a playful story about the literary youth. A likeable drama that has some good moments but fails to be more engaging, ending in an optimistic, perhaps too poetic conclusion.
  • mrbungle7821
    December 6, 2008
    mrbungle7821
    [font=Arial][color=DarkRed]This very New Wave-styled Norwegian film manages to be thoughtful and intelligent, stylish without being vapid, touching, and it brilliantly captures the exuberance of youth on the cusp of adapting into maturity. [i]Reprise[/i] follows two best friends ... read moreand aspiring writers; Phillip finds success immediately but cannot handle it, and Erik must fight through rejections. Director/co-writer Joachim Trier (cousin to Lars) has given the film a hypnotic triptych narrative structure, meaning there are flashbacks, flash forwards, flashbacks within flashbacks, and the viewer is best advised to just succumb to the thrills of the narrative and sort it all out later. The structure made me feel totally immersed in the lives of this small unit of 20-somethings. You get a lifetime of detail thanks to the tangential narrative structure and the help of an occasional narrator. The film has a remarkably deft touch when it comes to crafting realistic characters; the pangs of uncertainty, jealousy, and insecurity all ring true without being trite or obvious. But the movie never gets dour or pretentious as it covers weighty topics. The movie also has an indelible energy that is hard to ignore. [i]Reprise [/i]is playfully edited and constantly moving, sometimes forward, sometimes backwards, sometimes telling us a possible scenario that sounds better than reality. I found several small moments to be provocative, like Phillip trying to replicate the happy memories of time and place by trying to restage a photo of his girlfriend with his girlfriend (a lovely Viktoria Winge). [i]Reprise[/i] is full of small tender moments that speak volumes. This is a terrific film brimming with life and verve and clearly targets Trier as an inspiring filmmaker to watch.

    Nate's Grade: A[/color][/font]
  • dunmyer
    June 19, 2008
    dunmyer
    [size=3]During the first third of "Reprise," a new film from Norway, I thought I was watching a masterpiece. During the second half, I felt I was watching a film made by a pretentious bore. That's quite a long distance to travel.[/size]

    [size=3][img]http://labuzzblog.com/wp-con... read moretent/uploads/2008/05/reprise_galleryposter.jpg[/img][/size]

    [size=3]Director [b]Joachim Trier[/b], here making his film debut, is without doubt a supreme talent for the 21st century. He clearly has studied the films of Ingmar Bergman and Jean-Luc Godard, among others, and created a work of art in that vein that is at times breathtaking. But if Trier doesn't learn to put story and characters first and cinematic style second, his immense talent will be for naught. [/size]

    [size=3][img]http://fest07.sffs.org/i/stills/main/films/reprise.jpg[/img][/size]

    [size=3]Initially, "Reprise" has a laser-like focus on its characters, two men just out of college who aspire to be serious novelists. One mysteriously drifts into mental illness after becoming a literary sensation with his first novel. It is absolutely harrowing to watch his mind start to fray. But after about an hour the film runs out of things to say, and it becomes a celebration of itself. Look at me, I'm so innovative. Look at me, I'm so stylish. Look at me, I'm so artistically sophisticated. [/size]

    [size=3][img]http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2007/09/reprise_450x250.jpg[/img][/size]

    [size=3]"Reprise" ends up becoming an advertisement for the director, as if the director were trying to prove that he's well-educated. This was very disappointing. [/size][size=3]There is something uniquely depressing about a super-talented artist getting full of him or herself. What a waste of talent self-congratulation is. No true artist would sink to self-aggrandizement. I hope Trier fell into this trap because of immaturity. I pray that he gets himself out of it as he matures. If he does, he could become the next Godard or Bergman.[/size]

    [size=3][img]http://www.dvdoutsider.co.uk/dvd/pix/r/re/reprse2.jpg[/img][/size]

    [size=3]At its best, "Reprise" beautifully captures the vim and vigor, as well as the confusion, of intellectual youth. The protagonists have a tremendous amount of artistic inspiration, and the film itself seems to embody their inspiration. With all its jump-cutting and experimentation with sound and editing, it sumptuously brings to life the world of the young artists.[/size]

    [size=3]It also takes exciting risks in presenting the immaturity of young artists, rather than completely lionizing them. The two protagonists are part of a larger group of young men, and the film gradually starts to widen its lens to explore these other characters. We hear the most ridiculously misogynist ideas get presented by some of them, and then we watch some of them make absurd decisions in an attempt to live up to these silly ideas.[/size]

    [size=3]I like the idea of showing smart characters succumb to stupidity. But this is the point where the film began to come undone. It became kind of silly. We started laughing at the characters, but I wasn't sure what the deeper meaning of this laughter was. The film started losing its way, relying on shallow, predictable humor. The more the film started to make fun of its characters, the more I began to disengage. [/size][size=3]As the content thinned, the heavy style (jump-cutting, for example) began to feel more like a gimmick than a meaningful way to explore an idea.[/size]

    [size=3]Despite its flaws, "Reprise" is worth seeing. If this director develops properly, we could end up looking back at 2008 as the year we first saw a Trier film. That's how much potential he has. He could represent the return of auteurist cinema to Europe in the 2010s.[/size]
  • fb720603734
    July 30, 2008
    fb720603734
    A revelation. Wonderfully complex and emotional. A beautiful, elliptical film about friendship, competition, and fate. Highly recommended, although for the first time in my life, this film makes me want to avoid Oslo!
  • gator681
    May 27, 2008
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Reprise" starts at a mailbox where Phillip(Anders Danielsen Lie) and Erik(Espen Klouman-Hoiner), lifelong pals, are about to mail their completed manuscripts to publishers. They imagine that both their novels will be accepted, become modest successes, creat... read moree controversy before collaborating on a novel together.(Considering these fantasies do not include either movie deals or supermodels, they are rather modest.) In reality, Phillip's is accepted while Erik's is rejected. But several months later, Phillip is recovering from a nervous breakdown and is not allowed access to his girlfriend, Kari(Viktoria Winge), because it is assumed that his obsessive love for her drove him over the edge...[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Reprise" is an intriguing movie that tries to utilize a complex structure to mask some of its flaws,(Think "Run Lola Run" and "Last Year at Marienbad" mostly.) especially in how it confuses youth and immaturity in attempting to depict the lives of two writers. By its nature, writing is a solitary art and also one that earns very little money(I forget the exact numbers but they were not pretty.) which are two things that society usually frowns upon. There is nothing wrong with that when you are young and able to fully test your talent. But in this case, presumably because they are young, the writers spend their valuable time hanging out with a maladjusted and sexist group of men, following their lead, instead of leading their lives on their own terms.(Even the movie is not immune, since one promising female character is little more than a literary groupie.) In the end, the movie narrowly defines a decent job and a relationship as indicators for being a mature adult but they are not absolutely necessary, even though being in love is nice. [/font]
  • wbgoose13
    October 26, 2008
    wbgoose13
    Energetic and unique coming-of-age tale, and an impressive directorial debut.
  • Doctor0Quinzel
    April 25, 2009
    Doctor0Quinzel
    What an awesome treat. I really liked this film. The description makes it sound boring but it is not. It was interesting and I especially like the look of the film.
  • brunolot1
    November 24, 2011
    brunolot1
    Fast and energetic. It might have gotten a little bit dark. The imagery is beautiful, the acting is top notch and the pacing is exciting.
  • jes25924
    September 8, 2008
    jes25924
    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) .(read more) c... read moreritical 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.

View All Reprise Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Nilsen
June 12, 2008
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

If you are young, male and dream of making a name for yourself in the arts, Reprise is about the joys and sufferings of that quest: It is a Jules and Jim for the punk-rock generation. Full Review

Tom Long
June 6, 2008
Tom Long, Detroit News

The jagged energy of this film's opening and closing moments leave you wondering where it might have gone and what it might have been. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
June 6, 2008
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

The word 'Reprise' may mean recurrence, but Trier's fleet, joyously intellectual film comes at us like anything but a retread. Full Review

Steven Rea
June 5, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Drawing inspiration from the young-artists-in-angst tales of Godard, Truffaut and the French new wave, Joachim Trier's Reprise is both a charming homage and a vibrant work in its own right. Full Review

J. R. Jones
May 30, 2008
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

The movie is enjoyable for its flashy surfaces--the witty editing, the narrative forecasting, the droll omniscient voice-over--but as drama it seems superficial. Full Review

Ruthe Stein
May 23, 2008
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

Reprise has a smart and knowing script and will compel audiences to reflect on themselves at that age. Full Review

Colin Covert
May 23, 2008
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's an invigorating brew of dynamic visuals, quicksilver emotions, playful storytelling and chic, good-looking actors. Full Review

Ty Burr
May 23, 2008
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Reprise, a vibrant new Norwegian film, burns with the passions of literature and youth. Full Review

Roger Ebert
May 23, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The cinema is an ideal medium for considering characters like those in "Reprise," but you'd have to see Jules and Jim to find out why. Full Review

Michael Phillips
May 22, 2008
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

A kinetic delight, Reprise comes from director Joachim Trier, born in Denmark but raised in Oslo, Norway, and it's a highlight of the filmgoing year so far. Full Review

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Reprise Trivia

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