MIFF NOTES: Louder Than Bombs (2015, Dir. Joachim Trier)

Another title from MIFF that others were anticipating far more than I. I've liked what I've seen of Joachim Trier's work but never enough to rave. That said, I haven't yet seen his most lauded film, Oslo 31 August.

Louder Than Bombs, his English language debut, keeps me in that same state: impressed but not exactly blown away.

There's no denying Trier is a sensitive and observant director. His work here rides a cool, detached tone. It is the perfect complement to the icy drama onscreen, in which a father (Gabriel Byrne) attempts to piece together his fractured family (Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid) after the death of his war photographer wife (Isabelle Huppert) and in the lead up to a retrospective of her work.

Trier's many themes here breathe the same air: dealing with tragedy, dealing with living a life away from family, dealing with living a life with a family who can't deal. And his approach to all this processing takes on his trademark literary flair. Trier isn't afraid to flip into visualisation of written word; it is interesting but it takes a while to integrate into the overall tone.

Realised I wasn't interested in the narrative at all. Couldn't care less what happened to the characters in the film's truncated storyline because it was more than evident that there is no way Trier could, or should, deliver simple closure.

I could recognise that. Trier's characters could recognise that. It's just that Trier himself doesn't appear to, so when he attempts it, it works against the depth of the overall film and in direct conflict with the hard earned roundedness of the performances.

Huppert in particular.

That face.

★★★☆

Trailer:

Louder Than Bombs screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2015.