sound + vision

on the radar

Joachim Trier
film-maker

words by Lucy Muss

Contemporary Scandinavian film-makers have some daunting footsteps to follow in. Young Swedes must surely quiver in the shadow of Ingmar Bergman’s epic poignancy; and the controversy and poeticism that defines Lukas Moodysson’s films make him an equally intimidating predecessor. Danish directors may feel the pressure to compete with the likes of Carl Theodor Dreyer and Dogme mavericks Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who arguably reinvented the form. The Norwegians, however, have smaller steps to follow in comparison.

Although born in Denmark and trained in London, 32-year-old Joachim Trier, whose Reprise recently won the Crystal Globe for Best Director at the Czech Republic’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is happy to cling to the heritage of the country he was raised in. “Norway has a gap. There is a space for someone to move into,” he explains.

Since graduating from the National Film and Television School just outside London in 2000, Trier (who is, in fact, distantly related to Lars von Trier) has made a string of celebrated shorts. His most successful are Pietà, Still and Procter – the latter won him the Prix UIP and the Kodak and Short Film Bureau Award for the Best British Short at Edinburgh International Film Festival 2002.

Reprise is Trier’s debut feature and, like his previous scripts, was co-written with his long-time buddy Eskil Vogt. It makes sense, then, that the film centres around two young men trying to succeed as writers. The Karlovy Vary judges described this winning debut as: “a subtle reflection on youth as a time of promise”, likening the narrative’s lightness of touch to the films of the French New Wave.

Although he’s something of a traditionalist in terms of style and format – choosing to stick with 35mm film, for example – Trier has an innovative approach to narrative. He considers the work of Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) a refreshing change from the mass of conservative film-makers. “There should be more effort to find interesting ways of entertaining people without patronising them,” he says.

Showing his film to a festival audience for the first time was a “vulnerable experience” for Trier, and the acclaim he received for Reprise took him completely by surprise: “I wasn’t expecting a Norwegian language film to go down so well outside of Scandinavia,” says Trier.

What will follow? “The next project will be an English-language one, but I haven’t decided on the script yet, so the future is still open,” he says. Armed with his Crystal Globe and his starry surname, he can’t go far wrong.

CD review

Sam’s Town – The Killers

Mixing widescreen Americana, a glint of ‘80s pop metal and plenty of Las Vegas-style showmanship, the second album from Brandon Flowers and co is both a hometown homage and a bid for global domination. Far more ambitious, eclectic (from ELO influences to piano ballads) and witty than we could have hoped for from a band that announced its arrival with indie disco anthems, Sam’s Town is a thrillingly scenic and surprising ride that suggests its creators are speeding down the road to lasting glory. Look out U2.

Sam’s Town – Mercury, €16.99, out now

Art review

Heal the Knife That Cuts the Wound

Picture Björn Borg contesting Wimbledon with Roger Federer and you have some idea of just how excited art lovers are about a joint exhibition of work by Joseph Beuys and Matthew Barney. Separated by both generation and geography, Beuys (1921-86) and Barney (Björk’s other half) are legends in performance art and installations, and this show aims to explore their affinities. Expect an array of myth, masculinity and mucus. Sculptures like Terremoto (Beuys’s political allegory) and Chrysler Imperial (Barney’s demolition derby) exert a massive hold on the imagination.

Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, until 14 January, 2007
www.deutsche-bank-kunst.com €4 (€3 concession).
Free entry on Mondays

Film preview

The Departed – Directed by Martin Scorsese

Not so much Gangs of New York as Cops and Robbers of Boston, Martin Scorsese’s latest examines organised crime in Massachusetts. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a policeman persuaded to infiltrate the Irish mob, led by its charismatic godfather Jack Nicholson. Meanwhile, Matt Damon, a fast-rising special investigations officer, is actually a mafia mole. The plot is a re-run of Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs (2002), but Scorsese says his movie is only “inspired by” its renowned forerunner. If DiCaprio and Damon are even half as tough as Andy Lau and Tony Cheung, this should be a cracker.

The Departed – Warner Brothers, released across Europe through October and November

Also out this month…
Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola’s pop-cultural biopic of the fatefully fun-loving French queen, which stars Kirsten Dunst (below), and Cecilie, a ghostly, Danish-language psychological thriller, directed by Hans Fabian Wullenweber.

How much do you know about film? Try our in-flight film trivia quiz

1. Which Oscar-winning, New Jersey-born star of The Devil Wears Prada is also playing an insect this year?
a. Glenn Close
b. Anthony Hopkins
c. Meryl Streep

2. Which veteran blue-eyed actor behind the character of Doc Hudson in Cars reportedly turned down a role in Ben Hur because he didn’t have the legs for the costume?
a. Frank Sinatra
b. Paul Newman
c. Charlton Heston

Keeping you entertained…
Through November and December, Cars and The Devil Wears Prada are being shown on selected Sterling flights. Turn to the back of this magazine for more information.

all about Eva

From a young Parisian radical in The Dreamers to a very different breed of Bond girl, Eva Green is an actress going from strength to strength. Expect to see more of her from now on

words by Holly Grigg-Spall

As far as ‘one to watch’ bets go, our money’s on actress Eva Green. Half French and half Swedish, the 26 year old made her movie debut in 2003 as a muse of director Bernardo Bertolucci (following in the footsteps of Liv Tyler) with a challenging lead in his erotic bohemian flick The Dreamers. Now her role as Vesper Lynd, an ally to Daniel Craig’s James Bond in Casino Royale, will see her reach an even wider audience. In possession of a genuine talent and with a growing fanbase already mobilising online, Eva’s more than ready for the new opportunities headed her way. Will Mads Mikkelsen’s Bond villain stand a chance against her? Not likely. For more Bond gossip, see our interview with Mikkelsen.

Ibsen for the iPod era

Did you know that Norway has been celebrating 100 years since Ibsen’s death? Time to check out a new museum in Oslo that gives the playwright the hi-tech treatment

Ibsen museum? That sounds so last century…
But it isn’t, I swear. Touchscreen-enhanced displays and a mini-cinema give the place a contemporary edge, in contrast with the traditional décor of his apartment upstairs.

So all his stuff was still in his apartment, then?
The museum had to restore the apartment and retrieve the furniture from a number of second owners. His bathtub was found on a farm, where it was being used as a cows’ water trough.

Did Ibsen get up to anything interesting when he was at home, other than scribing away?
The museum guide can tell you all about his life there with his wife Suzannah, including writing plays like When We Dead Awaken. You’ll get the gossip about his various ‘muses’ and 18-year-old lady friends, too.

The scoundrel. A lady’s man, was he?
He sure was! But he also created strong female characters who struggled to be themselves under the constraints of men. He was a feminist.

Crafty. Sounds like he had his feminine side sussed. Where can a new man find out more?
Go and visit the Ibsenmuseet, Henrik Ibsen Gate 26, Museumsveien 10, Oslo, +47 2212 3700 www.ibsenmuseet.no